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 Table of Contents
Editorial
Event Profile
Preventive Conservation: a mere fad or far-reaching change? Gaël de Guichen Over the last twenty or more years, the museum profession has incorporated a new term, ‘preventive conservation’ to add to those of ‘conservation’ and ‘restoration’. How this came about and its thoroughgoing implications for the future of the cultural heritage is explained by ICCROM’s Gaël de Guichen, one of the most well-known and respected spokesmen on this question. Top A Strategy for Preventive Conservation Training Magdalena Krebs Tackling the problems of conservation on a national scale with few qualified professionals on hand was the challenge facing the museums of Chile. Magdalena Krebs explains how strategic planning and an emphasis on training have dramatically changed a once bleak situation. The author is an architect and, since 1998, the director of the Centro Nacional de Conservación y Restauración (National Centre for Conservation and Restoration) in Chile. Top The Delta Plan: a nation-wide rescue operation M. Kirby Talley Jr A byword in the international museum community, the Delta Plan for the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage has made The Netherlands a leader in the field of preventive conservation. Moreover, it has demonstrated how enlightened political vision and commitment can buttress the efforts of heritage professionals to benefit the community at large. M. Kirby Talley, Jr. is an art historian, author, educator, and Executive Counselor for International Cultural Heritage Policy, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, The Netherlands. He was the Founding Director of the State Training School for Restorers, The Netherlands; Director of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio; and Curator of Old Master Paintings for the Dutch State Collections. In 1989, he drew up the Delta Plan for the Preservation of the Dutch Cultural Heritage for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. A contributing editor to Art News, Dr. Talley publishes and lectures extensively. His latest book, as co-author and co-editor, is Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, published by the Getty Conservation Institute in 1996. He is currently serving as Acting Director of the St. Petersburg International Center for Preservation, an initiative of the Getty Conservation Institute, The Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Municipal Government of St. Petersburg. In 1996 The Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science joined the founding partners in support of this project. Top Preventive Conservation on a Day-to-Day Basis: the Antoine Vivenel Museum in Compiègne Eric Blanchegorge A modest museum with an eclectic collection, a small staff and fluctuating budget, housed in an historic building never intended to serve as a museum what could have spelled a conservation nightmare was, instead, turned into a model of teamwork and resourcefulness that made ‘preventive conservation’ an integral part of the daily life of the museum. Eric Blanchegorge has been the French National Heritage Department’s curator in charge of the Antoine Vivenel and Historical Figurine Museums of the City of Compiègne since 1993. In that capacity, he has undertaken a comprehensive reorganization of Compiègne’s museums, and has concerned himself more particularly with problems of conservation and restoration. He is also President of the Picardy section of France’s Association des Conservateurs de Collections Publiques. Top Who Cares? Conservation in a contemporary context Carole Milner Conservation ‘is not an end in itself but a means to an end’, emphasizes Carole Milner. Properly understood, this means that care of collections and access to them cannot be seen as separate and competing objectives but must be viewed as the twin pillars that underpin all museum functions. The author has been Head of Conservation and Collection Care at the Museums & Galleries Commission, London, since 1994. In her present role she deals largely with issues of conservation policy, advocacy and management for the UK’s 2500 museums. Previous to this she worked extensively abroad as a conservator and as a teacher and trainer of adults. She has been UK delegate to ICCROM since 1995. Top Documentation in the Service of Conservation: an African training experiment Alain Godonou If the collection is the heart of the museum, it may be said that documentation is its head; both constitute the vital organs of the institution and their constant interaction is essential for its survival. How this basic premise of sound conservation policy has been taught to a generation of African museum professionals is described by Alain Godonou, a specialist from Benin who holds a Higher Specialized Studies Diploma (DESS) in preventive conservation from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. He worked as researcher at Benin’s Direction des Musées, Monuments et Sites and subsequently as curator of the Palais Royal in Porto-Novo. Since 1996 he has been participating actively in ICCROM’s PREMA Programme (Prevention in the Museums of Africa), in which connection he is responsible for PREMA House in Porto-Novo where various training sessions for African museum professionals are held. Top The Restorer: key player in preventive conservation Eléonore Kissel In this article the author presents and clarifies the concepts of preservation, preventive conservation, curative conservation and restoration. She then sets out her personal view as a practitioner of conservation-restoration about the scope for and value of integrating restorers into preventive conservation projects in French museums. Eleonore Kissel is a conservator-restorer of graphic documents and a consultant in preventive conservation. She holds a Master’s degree in the sciences and techniques of conserving and restoring cultural property and a Higher Specialized Studies Diploma (DESS) in preventive conservation from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. She is a specialist in preventive conservation work, which she carries out mostly in archives and museums in France and Canada. Top The Professional Guide: building bridges between conservation and tourism Felicitas Wressnig The tour guide is the vital link between a country’s heritage and the visitors who come to explore it. More than a mere purveyor of information, the guide can play a significant role in sensitizing the public to conservation questions and in influencing policy with regard to the complex issues raised by mass tourism. Felicitas Wressnig is a Viennese tour guide who obtained her license in four languages while studying art history and journalism in 1969. She holds the training pass issued by the World Federation for Tourist Guides and is in charge of updating guide training in the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. As representative of Austria within the European Federation of Tourist Guides, she works on special topics and on comparative training in member countries. Top Going Public: a new approach to conservation education Roberto Nardi Bringing conservation projects out into the open under the eye of public scrutiny is a recent phenomenon that has been taken up by a growing number of museums and heritage sites. The programme described by the archaeologist Roberto Nardi is one of the most ambitious to date and makes clear why such an approach goes well beyond the simple explanation of technical interventions to have a resounding impact on public perception and appreciation of the broader heritage questions. Since 1982, the author has been director of the Centro di Conservazione Archeologica (CCA) in Rome, a private company undertaking public orders for the conservation of ancient monuments and archaeological sites, and has supervised conservation projects and training courses in Italy and abroad. Under his leadership information for the public and the media has become a crucial activity in all the CCA conservation programmes, and work sites under treatment have been opened to visitors whenever circumstances permitted. He is an associate professor at ICCROM and is currently involved in the opening of a new training centre set up by CCA in a recently restored sixteenth-century convent near Rome. Top The Globe-Straddler of the Art World: the Guggenheim’s Thomas Krens Michael Kimmelman Though often attacked and disdained, Thomas Krens of the Guggenheim has recast the role of the art museum for the 21st century, according to Michael Kimmelman, an American journalist who is a regular contributor to The New York Times. Top The Executioner’s Museum Jacques Lucchesi In the town of Fontaine de Vaucluse, near Avignon, stands a small museum that is unique in all of France: the Museum of Justice and Punishment. Approximately 500 items - documents and instruments of justice - are on display in a space of 400 square metres. They were collected from all over Europe by the museum’s founder Fernand Meyssonnier who, with the aid of Jean-Louis Bessette, author and criminologist, created this collection for educational purposes and the study of history. The museum is open to all, but the warning ‘not for the sensitive’ has never been more appropriate. Jacques Lucchesi is a freelance journalist living in Marseilles, France. He has contributed to various local and national publications and is also pursuing a literary career, having published poetry, short stories and essays. Top
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