Destined to Deteriorate: Conserving Street Art

As street art gains values, its conservation becomes a necessity. The conservation of street art with its diverse range of techniques and materials presents a variety of challenges for the conservator. Rapid documentation, investigation and collaborative communication become crucial to raise awareness of the often neglected artform and its conservation.

Threat of Armed Conflict to Cultural Heritage and Efforts to Mitigate its Loss - Poster

The preservation of heritage sites is an important endeavor, but it becomes even more critical in areas of armed conflict.  Protecting the site, its artifacts, and those protecting it poses unique challenges, which are often enough to justify waiting until hostilities cease before any preservation or restoration is attempted. 

Conservation on Contemporary Art

Conservators face technical difficulties when working on contemporary art, as new materials and techniques may be employed in the artworks. Moreover, physical and conceptual properties of these works usually overlap or even compete. Therefore, conservators need to think about the material and immaterial contexts of the work and come up with new decision-making models.

The Role of the Conservator in Disaster Preparation and Response

This poster discusses the role(s) of the conservator in times of crisis caused by natural disaster and their resulting aftermath. The conservator functions as disaster planner, trainer, and organizer during disaster preparation as well as coordinator, consultant, and materials expert during and following disaster.

Participatory Conservation in Post-Disaster Contexts

This poster presents two case studies highlighting the importance of participatory conservation in post-disaster contexts. The first illustrates the benefit of having local networks to safeguard heritage during and following a disaster. The second case study is on training programs for Syrian refugees, which seek to create networks of heritage professionals who may safeguard their culture in the future. 

The House Museum and the Conservator: A Unique Perspective

Historic house museums are global symbols of culture, nationalism, and education and a major part of the museum sector. In contrast to other heritage institutions, their conservation is centered on a tri-part focus, emphasis on preventive conservation, the question of authenticity, and management of open displays. 

Scroll Across the Screen: Opportunities and Challenges for Digitising Cultural Heritage

Digitisation has been widely applied to conservation of cultural heritage. The case of Qingming Shanghe Tu (清明上河圖) illustrates there are opportunities and vulnerabilities brought by the application of digital technology: whilst the advancement of digitisation brings opportunities regarding arts interpretation and investigation, it could challenge the authenticity of object and its appreciation.

'The idea becomes the machine that makes the work of art': problems in the conservation of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings

The problems inherent in the conservation of Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings are presented: their (contradictory) status as an idea for an artwork that can exist without material expression, and their later acquisition of material authenticity. LeWitt’s oeuvre is then considered genealogically, finding for each work both conceptual and material significance. 

Open for Restoration: Conservators as Effective Communicators

The project “Open for Restoration” by the Centro di Conservazione Archaeologica is an excellent example of conservators teaching the public about the importance of conservation in a hands-on manner. CCA conserved the Furietti Centaurs under the scrutiny of the Capitoline Museum’s patrons rather than behind closed doors. 

Values-led Conservation and how it relates to cultural and individual identities

The history of the ground-breaking concept “values-led conservation” is relatively new but its impact on the broad conservation field is magnificent. Although the value assessment is challenging due to the complexity of the contexts of objects, it allows conservators to balance out the voices of the various interest groups.