The Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) is now accepting proposals for the upcoming Photomechanical Prints: History, Technology, Aesthetics, and Use symposium taking place at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, October 31-November 2, 2023.

The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2022. Proposals are welcome across disciplines and a broad range of subjects that reflect the diversity of the field. Practitioners and scholars at any stage of their career are welcome. Proposals may investigate the following questions as well as other topics:

What were the desires driving the creation of photomechanical printing processes?
Who are the inventors? What is the early history?
What are the historic and contemporary contexts for their creation and use?
What is their place in the history of printing or the history of books?
How have race and gender been represented in and affected by photomechanical print media?
How have fine artists used photomechanical processes?
How have views on value and collecting of photomechanical prints evolved over time?
What are the approaches to cataloging, description, and terminology?
What impact do these categorizations have?
Who takes care of these prints? How are they preserved?
What can instrumental analysis, characterization, and data science tell us about these prints?
What printers are working with these processes today?
How are these processes taught today? How is knowledge obtained and transferred?
How are historic processes being adapted to contemporary needs?
How are lost processes revived and reconstructions made, and to what aim is this being done?
What is the future of photomechanical printing?

Proposals should include a 500-word abstract and a 150-word biography. Presentations will be approximately 20 minutes in length and will be delivered in person in English. Speakers will be required to provide a recorded version of their talk after the symposium to include for a limited time in a virtual program for paid registrants.

Notifications of proposal status will be sent via email in January 2023. Accepted speakers will be provided with complimentary symposium registration (registration to workshops and tours not included) and a travel stipend.

Submit an abstract here. Please contact learning@culturalheritage.org with any questions.