Thank you to those who joined us for our two events:
- INCCA Talk with Monica Marchesi and Vivian van Saaze on June 19, 2025, 3 pm CEST.
- INCCA Special Interest Meeting, a smaller session providing an opportunity for in-depth discussion on the guidelines on July 10, 2025, 3 pm CEST.
In the INCCA Talk, Monica Marchesi (paper conservator Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam) and Vivian van Saaze (Senior Specialist Modern and Contemporary Art at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and Associate Professor at Maastricht University) presented their research project on the (re)printing of photographic artworks, funded by a Museum Grant from the Dutch Research (NWO) and the Stedelijk Museum. They explored the theoretical implications of reprinting as a conservation practice and as an exhibition practice. In conservation practice, reprinting replaces works that are too damaged for display, with the artist’s involvement ensuring the ‘authenticity’ of the new print. As an exhibition practice, artists may anticipate deterioration and use reprinting as part of their display strategy. Some works are intended to exist only during the exhibition, with museums acquiring digital files and printing rights rather than physical objects. In such cases, the print may either be preserved or disappear after the exhibition, lasting only as a digital image.
Monica Marchesi also presented the newly developed guidelines, “From Bits to Ink - Preserving and Printing Digital-Based Photographic Artworks,” to the INCCA community. The two diagrams, one titled “preservation of digital files” and the other “(re)printing of digital-bases photographic artworks”, aim to raise awareness among collection caretakers about the specific care required for digitally based photographic artworks. To ensure broad applicability, the diagrams outline general topics and concepts that conservators or other caretakers are likely to encounter. The goal is to develop a guideline flexible enough to be useful across various users, institutions, and artwork types. For instance, it can support preparations for interviews with artists or printing specialists.
The talk ended with an inspirational Q&A session.
The INCCA Special Interest Meeting, a smaller, interactive session limited to 20 participants led by Monica Marchesi, provided an opportunity for in-depth discussion and valuable feedback exchange on the “From Bits to Ink” guidelines and its future use by the conservation community. Participants were divided into four breakout rooms to foster discussion in smaller groups. Each group was assigned a different case study of a digitally based photographic work, loosely inspired by artworks from the Stedelijk Museum collection. Participants had 30 minutes to discuss practical and theoretical issues related to acquisition and reprinting, using the guidelines as a reference. This was followed by a plenary session where each group presented their case study, shared their experiences, and provided feedback on the guidelines which will be used to further develop the guidelines. The meeting concluded with a group discussion on the specific care digital-based photographic art requires and its challenges.
The two events were supported by INCCA steering committee members Zeeyoung Chin and Pip Laurenson, and INCCA coordinators Paula Chang and Megan Levet.
The presentation recording of the INCCA Talk is accessible by request. The guideline will be made available on the Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (SBMK) and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam website.
Image: Copy of Preservation of digital files, provided by Monica Marchesi 2025.