Conversations on Conservation of Cultural Heritage: April 2014

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Continuity Matters: Maintaining training outcomes in conservation and museum practice by Misa Tamura (British Museum)

Tamura addresses issues with attaining a long-term positive impact on the conservation and museum practice training provided by external consultant conservators and other museum practitioners to museums in challenging contexts. She discusses some of the considerations in such projects drawing on the data collected from a survey of sub-Saharan African museum professionals, as well as a case study from the National Museum of Ethnology, Mozambique, where she had an internship placement.

This is the abstract of a poster to be presented at 'The impact of cross-disciplinary conservation on social development', the UCL Institute of Archaeology Annual Conference 2014.
The conference will be held Friday and Saturday, 16 & 17 May 2014, at the UCL Institute of Archaeology in Lecture Theatre G6 from 8:30 to 18:00. Conference posters will be on display all day Friday in room 612.
You can book your tickets here!

The role of the conservator in the illicit trade of antiquities by Patricia Torres Sepulveda (UCL Institute of Archaeology)

The looting of antiquities robs people of their material culture, hinders the development of academic knowledge and often compromises the cultural identity of people when they are most vulnerable. The conservation of looted artefacts is not only morally and ethically wrong, but it may also render police enforcement useless. Torres Sepulveda draws on these ideas to explore the impact of looting and how conservators can fight against it. She argues for a set of ethical standards and rules that would empower conservators to act more ethically and responsibly.

This is the abstract of a poster to be presented at 'The impact of cross-disciplinary conservation on social development', the UCL Institute of Archaeology Annual Conference 2014.
The conference will be held Friday and Saturday, 16 & 17 May 2014, at the UCL Institute of Archaeology in Lecture Theatre G6 from 8:30 to 18:00. Conference posters will be on display all day Friday in room 612.
You can book your tickets here!

Working together to preserve our intangible cultural heritage cultural centres: The Modern Museum by Louise Smith (UCL Institute of Archaeology)

Smith explores participatory conservation between the museum, conservator, the indigenous community and the general public in Australia through the use of cultural centres. The poster illustrates new ways in which intangible heritage is being presented to the general public and explores the functionality of cultural centres in contemporary society. It also discusses the benefits for each group and the impact of engaging the local communities through the practice of conservation. Besides bringing awareness to the conservator the poster aims to raise new ideas on how to approach intangible heritage.

Tuesday, 29 April 2014

In pursuit of an impact: the Watts Towers Conservation Project’s education and outreach efforts by Sylvia Schweri (Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA)

The Watts Towers, a U.S. National Historic Landmark in Los Angeles, are a work of art created by Italian immigrant Sabato Rodia between 1921 and 1954. Since 2011 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has worked to formulate a preservation and maintenance protocol for the Towers and provided daily preservation maintenance. Schweri discusses LACMA’s recent conservation efforts and how its project, in which local hiring has been an important feature, has contributed to local economic well-being and provided training opportunities for community members. Her poster furthermore explores some ideas for future preservation-related outreach and local investment.

Why is Participatory Conservation Important by Yuqi Chock (UCL Institute of Archaeology)

Yuqi Chock contends that public participation is essential to decision-making in cultural heritage issues because this leads to major benefits such as the successful identification and preservation of intangible heritage values. By outlining the advantages to be gained and by listing possible methods in which the involvement of interested parties in the decision-making process may be attained the poster aims to encourage the practice of participatory conservation to people who have yet to fully engage in this relatively new concept.

Focus on Afghanistan by Laura D'Alessandro (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, USA)

D'Alessandro discusses the experience of conducting two six-month training programs for conservators from Iraq and Afghanistan. Funded by the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the two programs provided an informative look at many of the differences in the experiences of the conservators who took part. Lack of technical support and dependable funding in their own countries continue to be a critical issue for the staff at the museums throughout Afghanistan, and to a lesser extent in Iraq. Recently, with generous funding by the United States Embassy, Kabul, it was possible to follow up with our Afghan colleagues through a three-year inventory project at the National Museum of Afghanistan. D’Alessandro discusses the issues confronted by conservators in Afghanistan and some of the (temporary) solutions that are in place.

Conservation impact on the interaction between communities and their living heritage: a case study from the community of Tixcacalcupul, Yucatán, México by Elia Quijano Quiñones (UCL Institute of Archaeology)

Quijano Quiñones shows that conservators’ decisions can impact social systems of meaning, as well as uses and functions of objects. Her discussion focuses on the polychrome sculpture of “San Juan Bautista” (Saint John the Baptist) from the Mayan community of Tixcacalcupul in Yucatán, Mexico. It shows the benefits of working on tangible and intangible spheres at the same time and with the participation of the community for whom the material is significant. It also demonstrates how conservators’ work can affect interactions between communities and their living heritage.

Participatory Conservation by Megan Narvey (UCL Institute of Archaeology)

Megan Narvey explores the manner in which participatory conservation as a process not only benefits indigenous communities, but can also be seen as a meaningful and effective endeavour for conservators themselves. She also highlights some of the main benefits of participatory work for the field of conservation, for example, how engaging with public audiences can make the field better known and demonstrate conservators' roles as enablers of collections use. The poster furthermore aims to start a conversation among professional conservators on the subject.

Conversations on Conservation of Cultural Heritage