Opening a Large-Scale Cultural Institution during a Pandemic
It amazes even those who were there on the front line. Overcoming all odds, the staff of the M+ opened one of the most significant art museums to come online in recent memory amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These tasks would have been challenging in normal circumstances, but the additional restrictions on travelling, gathering, and working from home presented compromises that shaped the institution and, specifically, our conservation approaches to communication and knowledge production. This conversation reflected on how we overcame challenges preparing the complex artworks in our collection for our opening display. We faced it all, from limited physical access to objects as collections were consolidated from disparate locations worldwide to being forced into quarantine when we should have been working on site with the artists (they joined us by video feed). Setting up M+ museum became, indeed, a real challenge.
This conversation with Alessandra Guarascio, Conservator of Installation Art, Jo-fan Huang, Senior Conservator and Marc Walton, Head of Conservation & Research at M+ explained the original aims for the M+ Museum and where we ended up, for the better.
Be a part of the ongoing conversation about the opening of M+ and their future plans on INCCA Slack. In the spirit of the INCCA Cafés, we aim at creating an informal opportunity for members to connect and exchange ideas and practices. Join us there to talk about INCCA Cafes or simply take part in the regional channels. You can take part by clicking this linkand create a Slack account.