WILLIAMSBURG-Colonial Williamsburg will host its 75th Annual Antiques Forum this year from Friday, February 24 through Tuesday, February 28. The event will be offered in-person and virtual for the second year.
This year, the theme will honor the past, embrace the present, and look toward the future. Presentations will take place in the Virginia Room of the Williamsburg Lodge unless otherwise noted.
The forum will bring together world famous scholars, curators, and conservators of fine antiques. Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury, will deliver the opening keynote, The Magic of St. Giles.
Other presentations include: Fighting for Freedom: Black Craftspeople & the Pursuit of Independence; Colonial Williamsburg Turned Inside Out; and a Young Antiquarians Panel: Inspiring the Next Generation of Collectors and Connoiseurs, with Jeffrey Ricketts, East Nottingham Antiques & Michael Diaz Griffith, Design Leadership Network.
Staff members will also offer updates on research throughout Colonial Williamsburg’s Collections and Historic Area. Adam Bowett, an independent furniture historian, will close out the forum with his keynote, “From Strawberry Hill to Carbon 14 and XRF: Two Centuries of British Furniture.”
The first event was held January 1949 and was sponsored by The Magazine Antiques and Colonial Williamsburg.
“It’s a remarkable thing when an annual gathering to celebrate and study antiques becomes an antique in its own right,” said Ronald L. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg’s senior vice president for education and historic resources and chief curator. “We are delighted that the Antiques Forum has served so many collectors, scholars, and antiques enthusiasts for so long, and we look forward to continuing to build on this rich legacy in the coming years as the Foundation approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026.”
For more information on the Antiques Forum and to register, visit the event website.