Issues in conservation of contemporary art

The conservation of contemporary art has practical and theoretical challenges provoked by aspects that may be intrinsic to some contemporary art works, which should be understood as part of the conservation process. Conservators worldwide have responded to these new challenges by developing innovative principles and methods.

Rodin's Dutch Thinker comes back to life

This poster focuses on the impact of 3D technologies as effective instruments to preserve, protect and document cultural heritage. Besides, as 3D digitalization is non-contact it helps to avoid unexpected problems that direct touch can cause. The chosen case of the Vandalized Rodin’s Dutch Thinker explains how useful 3D digitalization is to document, conserve and restore objects.

Digital technology

Digital technologies are used in many fields nowadays, including archaeology and conservation. Technologies such as different kinds of digital photography and 3D modeling may facilitate or enhance conservation work. However, these technologies are not perfect, and conservators still face many challenges when trying to incorporate them into their work.

Ephemeral Works: Approaches to Static and Living Street Art

Street Art is a wide field, ranging from static city murals to the ever changing world of graffiti tagging and grand works. This poster discusses Conservator approaches to Street Art, exploring the concepts of static and living in Dimitri Vrubel’s work on the Berlin Wall. 

Is street art a crime?

Street art is an artistic movement emerging from the Hip Hop culture in New York City between the 70s and the 80s. In contemporary culture, this movement is at the heart of a lively debate. How can preservation be in line with its evanescent nature?

Participatory Conservation

In the last two decades, conservation has become more open to collaborations and partnerships with various interest groups and communication and mutual respect have become an important aspect of successful decision making. In these cases, conservators are presented with great opportunities to gather more knowledge about objects, but also have come to realize the limitations of their actions.

The state of public awareness of conservation in museums

Museum visitors are often unaware of what conservators do, and seem to only learn about conservators when an object is severely damaged. This poster considers three case studies to examine the efficacy of efforts at public engagement with conservation, and considers what more can be done to increase visitor awareness

Multispectral Imaging in Conservation: Opportunities and Challenges

Digital technologies offer potential for developing alternative and new conservation approaches but they also bring challenges. This poster focuses on multispectral imaging and discusses the opportunities this technology provides as well as difficulties.

Illicit Trade & Conservators

Looting and illicit trade of cultural material is a topic widely discussed currently. Lack of protection of archaeological sites, ease of transportation and high market demand for antiquities facilitate the theft of artifacts. Conservators face a dilemma when presented with stolen objects and must consider whether to perform a treatment.

Graffiti: What happens when it starts to gain value?

As graffiti starts to gain value within society the action of conserving the work becomes more likely. By comparing the works of two different graffiti artists it is argued that conservation alters the dynamic and geopolitical nature of the piece, therefore changing it into something else entirely. 

SYRIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE CRISIS

This poster addresses the struggle of conservators to protect and preserve the Cultural Heritage of a country burdened by perpetual conflict.  Syria is home to a number of sites and collections in danger of destruction. Conservators have been combating this danger, working to safeguard these important pieces of cultural history.

TRAINING CONSERVATORS THROUGH VIRTUAL REALITY

 This paper explores the feasibility of using virtual reality (VR) to train conservators. Novice conservators could use visuo-haptic training to hone their fine motor skills when dealing with delicate work. Conservators who practice salvaging works in emergencies could conduct drills more frequently and economically by using VR headsets.

Disaster Preparation and Recovery in Japan

Disaster recovery is an important part of conservation. Being able to react fast enough to prevent as much damage as possible to a collection is a part of a conservator’s job. In Japan where disasters happen regularly, disaster recovery of museum objects and cultural heritage is very important and needed.

Conserving Frescos: Detrimental Change Due to Moisture

Moisture has been one of the leading causes of deterioration for fresco wall paintings, causing them to fall apart to the point where their meaning becomes lost. Many frescos contain highly symbolic moral or social messages that reflect the attitudes and perspectives of the time of their creation, and thus contribute to art, history, sociology, and teaching. The hope for these remarkable works of art is to reduce the need for large-scale interventions and ensure sustainable conservation solutions so they can remain in the context of their building or site, preserving the messages and artistic and technical merit of the heritage that created it. 

Looted objects? NO CONSERVATION!

Abstract: Although reasons for both "treating" or "not treating" looted artifacts may be compelling, most conservators agree that conserving looted objects may help the looting of archaeological sites. From a broad point of view, we could say that conservators are responsible not only for individual objects but for all objects, archaeological sites, histories and civilizations. Professional ethics indicate that conservators should try to help the fight against looting.

CONSERVATION OUTREACH IN SCHOOLS: CREATING NETWORKS

ABSTRACT:
As conservation remains mostly unknown to the general public, it is important to tackle the problem from various angles. This poster illustrates how conservators can collaborate with schools to establish the foundations of a diverse network that would allow more awareness towards cultural heritage conservation in a sustainable and inexpensive way.

Approaches to conservation practice and theory

The poster is about frameworks and guidance practice. It asks questions to foster discussion between attendees at a conference. It is intended to be mildly provocative. The choice of images relates to discussion within the accompanying essay regarding cleaning, functionality, in-painting and subjectivity. Five of the six images have an emphasis on texture. The intention is to suggest the pleasure in the materiality of things that conservators have. With thanks to the British Museum and Tate.

Outside the comfort zone: The social context of conservation and its influence on decision-making.

Most heritage conservators recognise that their practice is not neutral to differing ideologies in society. In this poster, I explore why conservation decisions vary in different social contexts by applying a value-based model system to a case study of the drastic changes made to a Prussian Palace in Communist- and Post-Communist Poland. This illustrates some contextual issues that affected decision-making in this specific case, and may assist conservators in analysing how cultural circumstances shape priorities in the care of cultural heritage.

What's Gone Is Forever Gone: The Role of Conservation Treatment in Looted Antiquities

This poster explores how conservators treat looted objects by making a comparison with the ideal conservation process. Although looted objects may seem to be intact in shape and form, there is something important missing: the context, the history, and the associated values. I chose the case of Kanakaria mosaics to demonstrate a restoration treatment focused solely on economic value.

I also want to thank Renata F Peters, Kathryn Walker Tubb and Laura Chaillie for their support and advise.

Deliberate Damage of Cultural Heritage in Conflict: The Bamiyan Buddhas

Deliberate damage to cultural heritage for symbolic purposes during times of conflict has a long history, but international frameworks for preventing it have been slow to develop.  The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in 2001 highlights some of the problems facing conservation of conflict damage, including the important meaning of the damage itself and the difficulty of creating general international laws that can conform to the case-by-case nature of heritage.