The concluding NACCA conference was a joint event in collaboration with The Maastricht Centre for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH) and the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht. It took place in the inspiring setting of the Jan van Eyck Academie.

On the final day of this year’s European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), from 24–27 March 2019, around 150 international conservators, researchers and a wide range of museum professionals and professionals in the cultural sector met to discuss new theories in contemporary art conservation, and their implementation in practice. Together with invited speakers from various professional backgrounds, the 15 NACCA PhD researchers presented their investigations.

The keynote speakers laid out paths to look upon conservation issues, providing valuable insights from different angles. Theodore Schatzki, social scientist and philosopher discussed the impact of artworks on change in society from the viewpoint of practice theory. The performance and media theorist, Gabriella Giannachi, gave a lively illustration of an ethnographic documentation of audiences and participants, and the art adviser and specialist in legacy planning Christy Maclear told stories detailing how conservation is guided and restricted by different characters and aims in the art field.

The conference was structured around six panels that addressed pressing aspects and opened up new perspectives in the conservation of contemporary art. Recurring themes in presentations and discussions included: acknowledging and identifying the role of various stakeholders in the conservation decision-making process; determining knowledge that lies outside of museums or which, when found inside the museum, challenges museum structures because of its complexity; and the challenges involved in finding ways to collaborate appropriately and effectively using interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary structures.

Two round table discussions gave room to examine the future of conservation in depth. Jill Sterrett (The Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago) chaired the round table about future research, which asked: What are the significant research priorities now? Who is our research for and who are we listening to? What are some of the crucial bridges we need to build now? Whilst Glenn Wharton (New York University) led the table about future of training and education that asked how new theories and approaches can be effectively inserted in training programmes.

The addition of a visit to the Bonnefantenmuseum allowed the mind to drift and to settle on more visual impressions. Here participants experienced and discussed the exhibition A Posthumous Collaboration. Ine Schröder and her Archive with works by the deceased artist Ine Schröder (1951-2014), which has been restaged through an intense personal discourse by the curator Paula van den Bosch and the artist Joep Vossebeld. Another highlight was the second edition of the INCCA speed-mentoring sessions where conference participants had the opportunity to meet with esteemed professionals in the field, including Christian Scheidemann, Gunnar Heydenreich, Louise Lawson, Maike Grün, Anke Moerland, Sanneke Stigter, and Tatja Scholte (for more information see https://www.incca.org/incca-mentoring-programme).

Artemis Rüstau & Iona Goldie-Scot

Note: Another report from the conference was written by Jonathan Debik and Leonie Colditz for the Verband der Restauratoren, in German. Read the report.

Link to review.

From 25-29 June 2018, Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences, TH Köln, hosted the third and final Summer School for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network ‘New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art’ (NACCA).

The week involved a two day symposium on the conservation of contemporary art From different perspectives to common grounds in contemporary art conservation, and three days of internal activities for the NACCA Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) and supervisors.

The two initial days of the week, 25th and 26th, were dedicated to the NACCA 2018 Symposium which gathered nearly two hundred members from different fields interested in the conservation of contemporary art. During these two days, five clusters were presented as central themes of the symposium sessions. Each cluster comprised five speakers, opening with two keynote speakers presentations, followed by three NACCA ESR papers, and closing with 20 minutes discussion panels.

The sessions comprised Intent, authorship, authentication with Marina Pugliese, Antonio Rava, Nina Quabeck, Maria Theodoraki, and Tomas Markevicius, and chaired by Erma Hermens; Production and reproduction with Ursula Schädler-Saub, Ulrich Lang, Sophie Lei, Marta García Celma, and Panda de Haan, chaired by Glenn E. Wharton; Challenging institutional conventions with Renate Buschmann, Johannes Gfeller, Artemis Rüstau, Claudia Röck, and Iona Goldie-Scot, chaired by Pip Laurenson; Musealisation with Salvador Muñoz Viñas, Hanna Hölling, Brian Castriota, Joanna Kiliszek, and Aga Wielocha, chaired by Renée van de Vall; and finally, Cross-disciplinary networks with Renata Peters, Caitlin Spangler-Bickell, Dušan Barok and Zoë Miller. The symposium was concluded with a tribute to Heinz Althöfer, a pioneer in the theory of contemporary art conservation, presented by Carlota Santabárbara Morera.

During the remaining three days of the Cologne summer school, researchers and supervisors collaborated in various sessions specially prepared to fit the needs of the ESRs, carefully taking in consideration and applying feedback collected from past NACCA Schools. The programme curated by Prof. Dr. Gunnar Heydenreich, introduced high quality sessions as well as space for developing and strengthen networks and relationships among all NACCA members.

The summer school program included feedback sessions, where the fifteen ESRs engaged in a peer review of draft chapters of their theses. These peer review sessions were undertaken in small groups of two or three supervisors together with three ESRs. The reseachers also received a session on didactics, in order to prepare them for a possible future in academia or education. Finally, Friday was dedicated to revising the Decision-Making Model for Contemporary Art Conservation, with a session developed by Gunnar Heydenreich, Julia Giebeler and Andrea Sartorius. This last session took the form of a group workshop, and involved an even larger network of specialists in contemporary art, including some of the curators, conservators, and art historians involved in the initial development of the Decision Making Model for Conservation in 1999, as well as other specialist and theorists in contemporary art conservation. This session re-evaluated the model and its efficiency when treating 21st Century artworks and provided a much-needed opportunity for discussing key terms used in the conservation of contemporary art.

In addition to the valuable theoretical and professional development sessions, the week also included cultural visits and activities which enhanced personal relationships between the group members. Among them, a visit to Cologne cathedral – Dom, a trip to Thomas Schütte Stiftung and Hombroich Museum, and few dinners in Cologne Südstadt.

This exciting week was successfully organised and executed thanks to the support of Diana Blumenroth, and concluded as the last NACCA School for ESRs and supervisors. The NACCA group will next be brought together for the program’s final conference, organised in conjunction with the Annual MACCH conference in Maastricht in 2019, where they can reflect on the results of a magnificent three years.

Marta Garcia Celma

Link to review.

The Authentic Instance: Reframing Authenticity in the Conservation of Contemporary Art
Brian Castriota

Values and Valuation of Modern and Contemporary Visual Art: The Role of Reflective Practice – Collection of the Museum of Art in Lodz, 1931-2018
Joanna Kiliszek

Interpreting Artist’s Intent: The Notion of Intent Tested Against Joseph Beuys’ Capri-Battery
Nina Quabeck

Authenticity and Reproducibility: Conservation Strategies for Contemporary Photography
Marta Garcia Celma

Long-term Preservation of Software-based Artworks: From Single Case Studies to Best Practice
Claudia Roeck

Exploring Ethnography in Conservation Research
Caitlin Spangler-Bickell

Tracing Meanings: The Artist Interview as an Interpretative Tool for the Artwork as an Open-Ended Archive
Aga Wielocha

A Participatory Approach to the Conservation of Performance-based Art
Iona Goldie-Scot

Documentation and Digitization Meet Digital Preservation to Make Time-based Art Last for Posterity
Dušan Barok

The Creative Process is Collective
Sophie Lei

What happens when a work like Equivalent VIII (1966) is presented enclosed within protective barriers?
Maria Theodoraki

Low-level Conflict in Contemporary Art Conservation Research
Zoë Miller

Private Collections as Care-takes
Artemis Rüstau

The presentations will be followed by a networking opportunity during a poster session from 17:45 to 18:45.

The event is free to attend however spaces are limited and we must ask those interested in attending to please register with John McNeill, Tate’s Collection Care Research Manager (john.mcneill@tate.org.uk) by the 9th December 2016 4th January 2017 (deadline extended!).