SBMK Day and OH-SMArt Symposium 2024

We invite you to attend the joint SBMK Day and OH-SMArt Symposium 2024, themed FAIR use of Artist Interviews for Conservators and Curators, an in person international conference to be held this November 29th, 2024.

This event is being hosted by the University of Amsterdam, in conclusion of its three-year research project Oral History - Stories at the Museum around Artworks (OH-SMArt) (2022-2025) and SBMK (Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art). It’s meant to share expertise, address concerns and initiate future collaborations. Symposium contributions as such will be published in a peer reviewed open access publication, in line with the project’s goal to be FAIR about insight into artworks and their care.

Central to this project is the use of oral history for conservation research, following the FAIR Principles for research data which should secure and improve its findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability. This can be a challenge with spoken narratives, due to ethical questions, the laborious strain of processing interview materials, and lack of tools and infrastructure. However, all of these elements are crucial to consider for knowledge dissemination. Museums and institutions often hold a surplus of unique interview materials that often go unseen by researchers and professionals who would use it as a tool in their conservation practice. How then, can this be shared and prepared for further analysis in research, given the ever-growing possibilities for digital analysis? The three-year project OH-SMArt, funded by the Dutch Platform for Digital Infrastructure – Social Sciences and Humanities (PDI-SSH), has made a start in addressing this by developing a long-term digital research infrastructure for oral history with research into artworks as a use case. OH-SMArt is led by the University of Amsterdam in collaboration with DANS-KNAW (Data Archiving and Networked Services), Sound and Vision, Foundation for Open Speech Technology (SOS), the University of Twente and various Dutch museums, included through SBMK. The symposium as a result will focus especially on interoperability and reuse.

The symposium will span November 29th with an optional free on-site presentation by Ursula Davila-Villa and Miranda Samuels on the work of artist Cecilia Vicuña which will be held at the Stedelijk Museum the afternoon prior. 

The symposium's morning will consist of a series of presentations followed by a catered lunch and an afternoon of workshops. Workshops will be presented parallel but double so that attendees will have the opportunity to attend two workshops of the selection of five. The afternoon will then conclude with a panel discussion, closing remarks and drinks giving an opportunity to discuss at ease with colleagues and continue the conversation on FAIR use of artist interviews.

Price and Registration

The OH-SMArt Symposium 2024 and SBMK day 2024 costs €125 excl. VAT and €60 excl. VAT for students. The day is free for museum partners of SBMK who pay an annual subscription. Interested parties can register via the registration form on the SBMK’s website. Workshops can be registered for the morning of the symposium.