from The Art Newspaper -
Heritage marketing: Love is not enough
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Heralding the rise of a new breed "museum worker" - the interpretation expert - whose job is to make historical information more tasteful and digestible for the (imaginary?) general public. What a load of condescending bung!
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from The Royal Academy of Arts -
Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and Uncomfortable Truths
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download talks and discussions

"Conservation today is as much about conserving intangible values as it is about conserving material culture, yet the Codes of Ethics for conservators fail to guide them in understanding and prioritising such values."

Still no answers to be had, but this is a first step in opening up a space for honest discussions within the profession - rather than hiding behind "mantras" derived uncritically from such "codes of ethics".
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from The New York Observer -
Copy That! Wait, Don't. Whitney Ponders Problem of Replication in Modern Art
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Yet another take on the issues surrounding the preservation of contemporary art. Perhaps, it is more useful to see such diverse preservation efforts not in a monolithic or unified way but as pragmatic measures in the race against time. Let's argue less about (impossible) philosophical ideals and think more about setting acceptable standards beyond which all manner of approach is (to be) welcomed.

See earlier link to various papers published online on the 2007 conference held at the Tate mentioned in the article
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from New York Times -
Digging Into the Science of That Old-Book Smell
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A non-destructive method of detecting elevated levels of harmful chemicals inherent in the paper. If proved consistent, this could be potentially useful in prioritising and targeting efforts in the preservation of paper-based artefacts.
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from Getty Conservation Institute Newsletter -
Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art
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go to PDF (6.7 MB)

A timely overview of some of the latest research directions and thinking in the preservation of contemporary art and materials.
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from Art 21 Blog -
Concepts Around Interviewing Artists: a Discussion with Glenn Wharton
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An important aspect in the preservation of contemporary is that crucial artist "interview" - be it an e-mail or an oral exchange - which has to be seen as a means towards an end.
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from The New York Times -
When Ancient Artifacts Become Political Pawns
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"But the larger truth is that all patrimony arguments ultimately live or die in the morally murky realm of global relations, meaning that modern governments like Egypt’s and Iraq’s may win sympathy today by counting on Western guilt about colonialism when asking for the return of art from ancient sites within their current borders. At the same time there’s no international clamor for Russia to return storerooms of treasures it stole from Germany at the end of the war, or, for that matter, for Sweden to fork over the spoils of a war 350 years ago with Denmark. It’s about emotion, not airtight logic and consistent policy."

Perhaps, the way to take all these twists and turns of events is to realise that when a field of professional work becomes sufficiently mature, petty politics moves right in. Welcome to the world ...
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from The Art Newspaper -
Disposing of cultural artefacts in university collections
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Treating all artefacts in a collection as "equally valuable" would seem like an enlightened approach - but in fact it is a mask to hide unthinking wasteful practices and a deep reluctance to make (and live with) subjective decisions.
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from Art21 Blog -
Concepts Around Interviewing Artists: a Discussion with Glenn Wharton
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A good and clear overview of the issues pertaining to the use of artist interviews as a strategy in the preservation of contemporary art. In the final analysis, such interview should be treated less as documentation (which is a 1-way process akin to trying to uncover the artist intent, whatever that might mean) and more as an exercise in building understanding (as a 2-way interactive and collaborative process).
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from -
Rice [University] students changing art of art storage
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Definitely a good idea that could be expanded and made useful for museums everywhere. However, the part about - 'next steps include filing for a patent and exploring "a startup or some sort of venture."' - does not sit well with the open spirit of sharing in the museum and heritage fields.
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