We are pleased to announce the Call for Presentations for a Virtual Joint Interim Meeting organized by ICOM-CC’s Theory, History, and Ethics of Conservation Working Group and the Modern Materials and Contemporary Art Working Group. The meeting will explore community participation in the conservation of contemporary art within institutional collections. It will be free and open to both members and non-members.
Title: Participation and Community Involvement in the Conservation of Contemporary Art in Institutional Collections
Date: 19 February 2026
Time: TBA
Where: ICOM-CC Zoom platform
We invite proposals for 15-minute presentations highlighting both successful and unsuccessful examples of participation and community involvement in the conservation of contemporary art in public collections. The goal of the meeting is to examine how contemporary art conservation practices are involving communities, the value of “expert knowledge” in these settings, and the challenges that arise in practice. How do institutional practices maintain professional standards while working with communities, and what roles do conservation professionals assume in these contexts? What does community participation look like beyond the assumed binary between conservation professionals and “non-experts”? How are diverse perspectives brought together, and how is (or isn’t) consensus achieved?
While the meeting aims to map existing practices, we also welcome presentations showcasing projects and initiatives currently under development, slated for implementation in the near future.
Please find the full Call for Presentations attached for more details or download it here:
https://www.icom-cc.org/en/downloads/call-for-presentations-modern-mate…-
Submission deadline: 20 December 2025