The latest Work-in-progress Meeting for Emerging Researchers in Contemporary Art Conservation took place in Lisbon at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa on June 19th, 2013 on the occasion of the conference “Performing Documentation in the Conservation of Contemporary Art” (http://performingdocumentation.fcsh.unl.pt/Site/home.html). The meeting was jointly organized by the Network for PhD Candidates and Postdoctoral Researchers in Conservation of Contemporary Art and the Network for Conservation of Contemporary Art Research (NeCCAR) Draft chapters of four PhD researchers were discussed between peers and senior scholars who were invited to provide their comments. The participants’ contributions to the session concerned mainly theoretical issues of conservation of contemporary art. It was very beneficial to confront different perspectives due to specific areas of conservation interests and activities under examination. The discussion encompassed diverse topics: the problem of authenticity in net art (Annet Dekker, NL/UK), crossovers between artistic strategies of reconstructing historical performances and media art preservation (Jo Ana Morfin, Mexico), interpretation of some aspects of art dematerialization in material terms (Kinga Olesiejuk, Poland) and framing of photographs as a conservation approach (Monica Marchesi, NL). Each author received extensive comments and suggestions, which fostered lively and inspiring debate. The meeting provided a very confidential and friendly environment for participants to introduce their work in progress. It proved to be an exceptional opportunity to share knowledge about topical areas of research and revise the ideas that we work on in a constructive and informed way. Special thanks go out to the senior discussants for providing such fruitful feedback: Glenn Wharton (New York University), Renee van de Vall (Maastricht University), Pip Laurenson (Tate) and Gunnar Heydenreich (Cologne University of Applied Sciences). The Work-in-progress meeting was facilitated by Vivian van Saaze (Maastricht University), Ariane Noël de Tilly (University of British Columbia), and Rita Macedo (Universidade Nova de Lisboa).
Kinga Olesiejuk
Click here to see the program of the meeting.