The Balance Between the Conservation and the Dissemination of the Art Museum of the
Central Bank of Colombia Collections
Adriana Paez Cure
Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative: Learning in Collaboration
Nora W. Kennedy, Debra Hess Norris, Zeina Arida, Rima Mokaiesh, and Tram Vo
Heritage Without Borders – Tackling Skills Shortages In The Developing World
Dominica D’Arcangelo
This interesting session addressed three initiatives in South America, the Middle East and Europe that provide conservation training, preservation resources, and public education to underserved regions of the world.
Heritage Without Borders brings together qualified and motivated young professionals (volunteers) to help solve heritage problems and build local capacity. While participation is limited currently to UK residents there is the possibility that this restriction will change. They seek people who are excellent communicators and value education and training and who enjoy the challenge of developing creative solutions to real problems. Emerging conservators and senior professionals are welcome to participate in wide ranging projects. Removing the barrier of cost Heritage without Borders aims to help alleviate poverty through the improvement of heritage provision. 2011 projects were organized in Turkmenistan and Bosnia.
See info@heritagewithoutborders.org OR www.heritagewithoutborders.org
The Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative (MEPPI) is a strategic training and outreach initiative to promote the preservation and awareness of photograph collections in the broad Middle East, from North Africa and the Arab Peninsula through Western Asia. MEPPI is collaborating with several partners. This multi-faceted initiative includes a survey of collections in the region, a series of courses for collection custodians with a distance mentoring component, and a symposium focusing on the rich photographic legacy of the Middle East. MEPPI Beirut 2011 welcomed 18 participants from leading photograph collections of the greater Middle East, including national archives and libraries, museums, press agencies, and universities from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Syria.
See http://www.meppi.org/ Or http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/education/cons_photo/cons_photo_meppi.html
While the Central Bank of the Columbia Museum of Art is not leading a global training initiative, this presentation reaffirmed the conservator’s varied role as administrator and practitioner, especially when dealing with the challenges of modern and contemporary art and a demanding exhibition schedule.
See http://www.banrepcultural.org/museodearte.htm
Lessons learned from these unique projects and global preservation activities include;
- Importance and value of collaboration with multiple partners who contribute expertise and financial or in-kind support .
- Enormous value of on-site and engaged partners who welcome expertise, can mediate project development and implementation, and remain committed to public access to collections at-risk
- Need to develop sustainable solutions to build capacity and better ensure continued impact
- Need to respect and embrace regional traditional preservation practices while advancing conservation practice and understanding
- Importance of multilingual glossaries to facilitate conversation and advance understanding
- Need for cultural sensitivity and clear understanding of goals of all global partners
- Focus on the highest of standards connected with unvarying flexibility
- Always identify in-country resources, including adequate storage enclosures
- Potential for international projects to advance preservation awareness and best practices and connect communities globally
- Value of distance mentoring to strengthen education and build a strong cohort of workshop participants
- Opportunity to connect our efforts to successful and prominent global initiatives, including Doctors Without Borders
- Potential for these projects to build confidence, advance skills, and expand marketability of emerging conservators
N.B. This post was written by Debra Hess Norris, Henry Francis DuPont Chair of Fine Arts, Chair and Professor, Art Conservation Department, Associate Dean for Graduate Education & Interim Associate Dean for the Arts, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Delaware.