According to Pia Catton in “Conservators Take Up Fight” (November 19, 2012), one of the many articles which The Wall Street Journal has published about the effect of Hurricane Sandy on the visual arts in New York City, conservators are now “art world superheroes” to the galleries and artists whose works were destroyed by the flooding. The widespread dissemination of information about the conservation profession –including its emergency response capability– may be the one good thing to come out of this terrible event.
Category: Conservation in the News
Conservation affects many aspects of the world. This category tracks stories about conservation in the media.
When It’s Cats Versus Monuments
Rome is known for its street cats and for its archaeological sites. When the two come together there are problems as the cats and the tourists who come to see and feed them are damaging to the ancient monuments. The Area Sacra of Largo Argentina, an archaeological site in downtown Rome consisting of four Republican era temples is also the site of a very long standing but unofficial cat shelter. According to an article in The New York Times (“Strays Amid the Ruins Set Off a Culture Clash”, by Elisabetta Povoledo. November 8, 2012), when the shelter recently applied for a permit to install a toilet, it came to official notice and the Culture Ministry is now trying to close it down. Whether the shelter remains or is closed, there will still be cats at this and other Roman sites. Umberto Broccoli, Rome’s superintendent for culture acknowledges that “the cats of Rome are by definition as ancient as the marble capitals they lounge on”. Can the preservation of the cultural heritage prevail when the cats of Rome are seen as being equally important?
Why don’t we follow the Italians on this?
According to an article in the December 2012 Wall Street Journal Magazine (“Preservation, Italian Style”, by Christina Binkley), Italian luxury fashion brands have seen that the sponsorship of the preservation of the cultural heritage is a good business move as “high-culture deeds burnish the luxury brand”. Ilaria Borletti, Chair of the Italian national trust (the Fondo Ambiente Italiano) is working hard to get new companies on board. While an American luxury brand has occasionally underwritten a preservation project—Ralph Lauren’s sponsorship of the conservation of the “Star Spangled Banner” comes to mind— in the United States, such relationships are not as common or as not as publicized if they do exist. Perhaps an article like this will encourage some American brands to follow the Italians.
AIC-CERT Mentioned in New York Times Article
Wet prints and paintings being laid out to dry at Gallery Henoch.
“At most of the art galleries in Chelsea the water that poured in from the Hudson River during Hurricane Sandy has been pumped out, and the business of sorting out artworks — separating those that survived intact from those that didn’t, figuring out which of the damaged works are reparable — is well under way. Gallery owners no longer sound as despondent as they did last week, when they returned to their businesses in the strip between 10th and 11th Avenues, from 18th to 29th Streets, and found flooded basements, high water marks five feet up their walls, and a loss of art, documentation, catalogs and reference books, to say nothing of physical spaces that will need to be rebuilt”
Galleries Need Disaster Plans Too
The destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy to many Chelsea area art galleries described in recent issues of The New York Times (“Where Creations Faced Destruction”, by Allan Kozinn, November 1, 2012) and the Wall Street Journal (“Cultural Community Suffers Losses”, November 2, 2012) points up the need for art galleries, like museums, to have disaster plans. Of all the gallery directors quoted in the articles, only two had made any (albeit inadequate) preparations for flooding—one moved works from the basement to the first floor and the other used waterproof storage containers in basement storage.
Peru’s “Sistine Chapel” shines again
In a remote Peruvian village, 3,100m up in the Andes (700m higher than Machu Picchu), sits South America’s version of the Sistine Chapel.
An elaborate Mudéjar-style ceiling and a complex scheme of murals have earned the Baroque church of San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas, located 41km west of the colonial city of Cusco, its exalted nickname. But centuries of grime, bat droppings, earthquakes and dodgy restorations have dulled the original beauty of the church. The World Monuments Fund has worked with regional and national bodies to return San Pedro Apóstol to its former splendour and draw attention to other churches on the Andean Baroque route. The organisation plans to mark the completion of the four-year, $1.5m conservation project at Andahuaylillas with a celebration in the town on 31 October.
Eating Near Monuments Banned, Italians in Uproar: Perhaps it should have been posed as a means to preserve the cultural heritage
According to an article in The New York Times (“Buon Appetito, but Not Next to the Monuments“, by Elisabetta Povoledo, October 24, 2012), this month Rome instituted a new municipal ordinance outlawing eating and drinking and camping in areas of “particular historic, artistic, architectonic and cultural value”. The ordinance has been met with great opposition by Romans who have formed flash mobs with food on the steps leading to City Hall. The ordinance has been posed as a matter of civility and decorum. Perhaps opposition to it would be less if the ordinance had been posed as a means of preserving the cultural heritage of Rome since we all know that food and beverages can be destructive to stone, metal, wood, and other materials.
AIC’s Ethics and Standards of Practice Committee Seeks New Member
The 
is seeking to fill the vacancy of one of its five membership positions. We seek a Fellow (preferably) or PA with a specialty, geographic location, and type of practice (institutional or private) that will increase the diversity represented on the Committee.
The AIC Board of Directors sends cases of dispute involving AIC members to the E&S Committee for consideration of what if any AIC ethics and/or standards of practice are being challenged or compromised. The Committee researches details of the dispute and the intent of the Code of Ethics and Standard of Practice and reports their findings to the Board for consideration of a solution.
If you are interested in serving and believe you will have the time to devote to the occasional obligations of research and deliberation (by email and conference call), please send us a brief statement of your interest, the reason for your interest in serving on this committee, and what you feel you might bring to the deliberations. Your email should be sent to Christiana Cunningham-Adams at cunningham.adams@gmail.com.
Call for Nominations: Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award
Deadline for nominations is December 1, 2012.
Please help recognize an outstanding colleague by nominating them for the Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Award. The award is given to recognize the contribution of a professional preservation specialist who has been active in the field of preservation and/or conservat
ion for library and/or archival materials. The winner will be determined by the person’s accomplishments as they relate to preservation leadership in such activities as:
- Leadership in professional associations at local, state, regional or national level
- Contributions to the development, application or utilization of new or improved methods, techniques and routines
- Evidence of studies or research in preservation
- Significant contribution to professional literature
- Training and mentoring in the field of preservation
To submit a nomination, please send the following to the jury chair by the deadline
- Name of nominee;
- A formal statement of nomination, with a brief rationale for the nomination;
- A resume or narrative career outline upon which the award jury can base its determinations.
Beth Doyle, Jury Chair
b.doyle [at] duke__edu
Duke University Libraries
Letters of endorsement are encouraged and should provide additional evidence of the worthiness of the nominee. Nominations for persons not selected for the award in one year may be updated and resubmitted. Current employees of Preservation Technologies are not eligible.
For complete information on the award including a list of jury members, please visit www.ala.org/alcts/awards/profrecognition/banksharris
Call for Nominations: George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award
The was established by the Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS) to honor the memory of George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg, early leaders in cooperative preservation programming and strong advocates for collaboration in the field of preservation.
The award acknowledges and supports cooperative preservation projects and/or rewards individuals or groups that foster collaboration for preservation goals. Recipients of the George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Award demonstrate vision, endorse cooperation and advocate for the preservation of published and primary source resources that capture the richness of our cultural patrimony. The award recognizes the leadership and initiative required to build collaborative networks designed to achieve specific preservation goals. Any person or group is eligible for this award; membership in ALA is not required. The Cunha/Swartzburg Award is sponsored by Hollinger Metal Edge and includes a $1,250 grant and citation.
Send nominations, including the name of the person or group being nominated; address, phone number and email address of nominee and nominating party; a formal statement of nomination, with rationale for the nomination; resume, vita or extensive narrative career outline upon which the award jury can base its determination; and letters of support and endorsement, to Kris Kern, chair, Cunha/Swartzburg Jury, kernk [at] pdx__edu
For more information, visit www.ala.org/alcts/awards/profrecognition/lbicunhaswartz
Kristen Kern
Fine and Performing Arts Librarian
Portland State Library
503-725-5218