IIC S&ECC - 2011 London, Conservation: Futures and Responsibilities
Thursday, 15 September, 2011 - 23:00 to Friday, 16 September, 2011 - 23:00
Place: London, UK
IIC was delighted to present its first Student & Emerging Conservator Conference, held at the very centre of London, in Bloomsbury, at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Conservation: Futures and Responsibilities
The conference focused on the relationship between conservation education and the actualities of conservation in practice. It aimed to offer an international perspective and to facilitate communication between students and emerging conservators on the one hand and, on the other, professionals active in the field of conservation in national institutions and museums as well as in the private sector. One of our main objectives was to enable dialogue and debate about current needs in conservation, and the relationship between expectations and reality in conservation education and work. The themes discussed were supported by visits to some of central London’s conservation studios, at both not-for-profit cultural institutions and conservation businesses.
The Conference had a two-day format and the programme was broadly as follows:
Friday 16th September
After registration, for participants able to attend in person the morning of the first day was devoted to visits to conservation studios, followed by a Live Web Broadcast session in the afternoon and a wine reception in the evening.
Session 1: Questions & Answers
Saturday 17th September
The morning and afternoon of the second day was devoted to two Live Web Broadcast sessions, followed by a closing reception.
The presentations were held in the form of live Web Broadcasts from the Conference venue, in IIC’s familiar Round Table format, which allowed an international community of speakers and participants to join the conference, either in person or on-line. Participants, including those attending via the web, were able to ask questions and join in the debate.
Conservation professionals, active in the private sector as well as in museums/galleries/training institutions, discussed their career paths and work experience and addressed the relationship between their expectations at the outset of their careers and the reality of where they are now and where they see themselves going. Speakers gave their views on the future of the profession, and the evolution of the conservators’ responsibilities. Experienced conservators addressed the issues of getting started, professional accreditation, and setting up one’s own business, as well as looking at conservation training.
Though held in London, this was an international conference and we hope the event provided a useful platform for the exchange of ideas among those studying conservation, archaeology, art history, curatorship and related disciplines, people who are soon to share the professional responsibility for a wide array of heritage-related issues.
Session 2: Questions & Answers
Transcripts
Conference Organising Committee
Jo Kirby Atkinson | IIC |
Graham Voce | IIC |
Mikkel Scharff | IIC |
Amber Kerr-Allison | Smithsonian American Art Museum |
Adam Klups | UCL |
Francesca Lemass | Camberwell College of Arts |
Kathleen Froyen | UCL |
Marie Louise Liwanag | UCL |
Elizabeth Ralph | Camberwell College of Arts |
IIC Council Officers and Members
Jerry Podany | President, J. Paul Getty Museum, USA |
Jo Kirby Atkinson | Secretary-General, National Gallery of Art, London, UK |
Velson Horie | Treasurer, UK |
Joyce Townsend | Director of Publications, Tate, UK |
Julian Bickersteth | Vice-President, International Conservation Services, Sydney, Australia |
Sharon Cather | Vice-President, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK |
Gabriela Krist | Vice-President, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria |
Rick Kerschner | Shelburne Museum, USA |
Hans Christoph von Imhoff | Ecole superieur d'Art, Avignon/Independent conservator, Switzerland |
Tuulikki Kilpinen | National Gallery, Finland |
Anne Rinuy | Musées d'art et d'histoire, Switzerland |
David Saunders | British Museum, UK |
Mikkel Scharff | Konservatorskolen, Denmark |
Naoko Sonoda | National Museum of Ethnology, Japan |
Michael von der Goltz | University of Applied Science and Art, Hildesheim, Germany |
Valentine Walsh | private practice, UK |
Cornelia Weyer | Restaurierungszentrum der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, Germany |
IIC Staff
Graham Voce | Executive Secretary |
Valerie Compton-Taylor | Membership Secretary |
Web Editor
Dr Athanasios Velios | Research Fellow, University of the Arts, London |
Supporting and Partner and Sponsoring Organisations
The conference had the support of the History of Art Department and the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL), Willard, Maney Publishing and Rotaset.