Project on communicating conservation UCL-IoA 2012-13

This was the last of a series of posters designed by students from ARCLG141 (2012-13),  one of the core courses of the MA in Principles of Conservation at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

Each poster explored a specific conservation issue and tailored it to the targeted audience. The posters were accompanied by a paper where the same issues were explored in more depth. Unfortunately you will only have access to the posters!  But watch this space and you will certainly know more about the amazing work these conservation students are doing!
You can see all the posters in this blog by scrolling the page down or on our UCL page

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Issues in conservation: reversibility, neutrality and objectivity, by V Ford

Conservation theory is pervaded by the notions of reversibility, neutrality and objectivity. This poster re-examines the terms, questioning their usefulness and attainability in modern conservation practice. The aim is to increase awareness and understanding about their implications and to encourage conservators to think beyond individual terms when making treatment decisions as well as in their interactions with others.

Photos taken with kind permission from Magdalen College, Oxford.

Target Audience

Primary audience: Conservation professionals. Secondary audience: Museum professionals. Context: International or national academic conference.

Survival through reign of two suns, by Y L Wu

This poster introduces the Taoyuan Martyrs Shrine first built as a Shinto shrine in 1938 while Taiwan was a colony of Japan, and later transformed in to a Chinese Martyrs Shrine after the second world war.(The Administrative Committee of Taoyuan County Confucius Temple & Taoyuan Shrine 2009). The different stages and events that took place on the shrine reflects how socio-political and economical factors could influence its conservation process, with some comparison to the shrine in Taichung.

Target Audience

The poster is aimed for the visitors of the shrine, with possible interest to cultural heritage, in hope of inspiring them to think about the history of this heritage, how it came to its recent state, what were the influences behind the process.

Caring for sacred ruins, by W Q

This poster presents an over-intervention case—Leifeng Pagoda reconstruction in order to demonstrate the context of religious heritage conservation and comparatively lowly status of professional conservator group in devising and implementing religious heritage conservation approaches in China. Also the poster explores values of religious heritage in three groups(conservator group, religious community and local authorities) in China and highlights the importance of mutual consultation in conservation decision-making. 

Target Audience

Conservators, Religious community and the Chinese authorities for cultural heritage.

The Conservation of Oral History and the Public

The conservation of oral history brings conservation into the community, allowing ‘everyday people’ the chance to conserve, control and aid how they wish history, and they, will be remembered. The necessity for the conservation of oral history is paramount because unlike physical objects that may be able to be brought back if left untouched or as an untapped resource for knowledge, oral histories are forever gone and unrecoverable after the death of their ‘owner.’

Target Audience:
All members of the community and/or public with both an interest in oral history and those who might not know anything about it.

Controlling the past, owning the future, by S S F

The expansion of necessary developments have a direct impact on cultural recourses. Iran is an ideologically driven country currently undergoing development.  The state now called Iran is currently covering a land enriched with variety of historical and archeological values. Any kind of development projects should primarily take this into an account to avoid destruction and disturbance of these nonrenewable sites. Yet there are different kinds of motivations for the authorities, when it comes to dealing with cultural heritage site. Lets see under what conditions cultural heritage sites are carefully preserved and why in some cases they are being neglected and almost deliberately destroyed.

Target Audience: Cultural heritage managers, conservators and archaeologists.

 

Uncommissioned Interventions: Unofficial Heritage Management + The Untergunther (UX), by R Price

If it is not possible to reform the fundamental authority structures and power relationships that continue to contribute to the misinterpretation and misrepresentation of cultural heritage despite ‘progressive’ efforts, maybe the ideal solution is to empower and train communities to manage their own heritage. ‘Uncommissioned Interventions’ conducted outside of the official sphere, by groups like The Untergunther, while problematic, are worth exploring as a form of true community participation.

Target Audience

Conservators and Cultural Heritage Management Professionals.

The Fall of the Mighty: Iconoclastic Vandalism in Post-Soviet States, by E L Peirce

This poster discusses the iconoclastic aspect of vandalism, especially pertaining to the evolution of political regimes.  What happens to symbolic objects after they fall from grace and how can we preserve them? Both the physical destruction of statues and the creation of statue parks (which destroys the context of the object) are discussed.

Target Audience

Conservators in areas of severe political change, such as the Middle East or North Africa where there are frequent changes in regime.

Save the Acacus. World Heritage Site in Danger, by K W

The Acacus is a World Heritage Site in South-West Libya on the Algerian border.  It is remote, wild and beautiful and it has ancient rock art – paintings and engravings – which are being lost because of vandalism, uncontrolled tourism and the effects of the oil industry. This poster is a plea to do something soon to protect this unique environment and its important cultural heritage before it is lost forever.

My thanks go to Dr Hafed Walda, who kindly supplied the photographs, and Dr Peter Howard, for granting permission to reproduce his map.

Target Audience

The target audience are UNESCO and the Libyan Government.  The reasons this audience was chosen is because they have the power to protect this heritage.  There is an urgent need to conserve the art of this area which is under threat from so many different quarters.  Without urgent help we may lose some of this unique cultural heritage.

The Great Compromise, by L Sharples

The Great Compromise poster addresses the argument within the Organological community in relation to playing historically functioning musical instruments. In no uncertain terms this issue continues to present challenges within the community and a viable solution needs to be found so as to maximize the information we can gain from these objects. The poster briefly explores both sides of the argument and suggests a way in which a “Great Compromise” could be implemented.

Target Audience

Anyone involved with Organology. Restorers, Performers, Conservators, Academics and Members of the Public.