New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art
A significant part of European cultural heritage, modern and contemporary art, runs a great risk of getting lost for future generations, because it is particularly difficult to preserve. Proper care requires resolving fundamental questions concerning the identity, values and authenticity of modern and contemporary artworks and the consequences for their conservation, rethinking historically grown professional distinctions as those between the curator and the conservator, re-organizing the institutional ecosystem, and establishing frameworks for international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral research and training collaboration.
The research and training programme New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art (NACCA), held from 2015-2019, aimed at meeting these demands by educating a new generation of professional curators, conservators and academic researchers who are properly equipped to face these challenges. The programme was designed by experts working in museums, heritage organisations and universities that have a profound experience in the field of contemporary art conservation and conservation research. It consisted of a research and a training part, which are closely connected and mutually inform each other. It focused on the development of a reflective professional attitude, which is a pre-requisite in the increasingly complex and collaborative field of contemporary art conservation.
The NACCA programme was coordinated by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University. In total, 15 PhD projects were part of the programme, each investigating different, as yet under-explored aspects of contemporary art conservation. Project partners: University of Amsterdam, University of Glasgow, Tate London, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, University of Porto, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, University of Roma III, MUDEC, Academy of Fine Arts Warsaw, and New York University.
Public events included:
- Material Futures: Matter, Memory and Loss in Contemporary Art Production and Preservation, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, UK, 28–30 June 2017.
- NACCA Symposium 2018: From different perspectives to common grounds in contemporary art conservation, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Germany, 25–26 June 2018.
- MACCH Conference 2019: Bridging the Gap. Theory and Practice in the Conservation of Contemporary Art, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 24–27 March 2019.
Project coordinator: Renée van de Vall.
Publications[edit]
- Book
- Conservation of Contemporary Art: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice, eds. Renée van de Vall and Vivian van Saaze, Springer, Jan 2024, viii+401 pp. Open access.
- Journal issue
- ArtMatters 1: "Expanding Notions of ‘Making’ for Contemporary Artworks", eds. Brian Castriota, Erma Hermens, Gunnar Heydenreich, Zoë Miller, and Dominic Paterson, Sep 2021. Special journal issue.
- PhD theses
- Joanna Kiliszek, Wartości i wartościowanie nowoczesnej i współczesnej wizualnej sztuki. Rola praktyki refleksyjnej – kolekcja Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi [Values and Valuation of Modern and Contemporary Visual Art. The Role of Reflective Practice – Collection of the Museum of Art in Łódź 1931-2018], Warsaw: Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie, 2019. (Polish)
- Brian Castriota, Securing a Futurity: Artwork Identity and Authenticity in the Conservation of Contemporary Art, Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2019. Abstract.
- Nina Quabeck, The Artist's Intent in Contemporary Art: Matter and Process in Transition, Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2019. Abstract.
- Aga Wielocha, Collecting Archives of Objects and Stories: On the Lives and Futures of Contemporary Art at the Museum, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, 2021, 358 pp.
- Maria Theodoraki, Contemporary Art in the Museum: Responsibilities and Professional Roles of Care, Lisbon: NOVA University, 2021, 198 pp.
- Zoë Miller, Mapping Authorship and Ownership in Contemporary Art Conservation: A Study of Law and Practice, Maastricht: Maastricht University, 2023. Excerpt. PhD defense (video), [1].
- Claudia Röck, Sustaining Software-based Art: Conservation Strategies and Institutional Requirements, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, 2024, 239 pp. PhD defense.
- Dušan Barok, Publishing as a Conservation Strategy: Platforms, Care and Contemporary Art, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, 2024, 179 pp, PDF. PhD defense.
