Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises
Vienna 2013
The Interim Meeting of the Working Group Graphic Documents will be held in Vienna from 17 to 19 April 2013, hosted by the Austrian National Library. The two-day conference, complemented by half a day of visits to museums and conservation laboratories, will provide a forum for the broad spectrum of activities in the Paper Conservation community. Challenges of digitization, changing cultural policies and economic constraints on one hand, current research and advancements in materials and techniques on the other hand demand growing competences of paper-, library-, and archive conservators. To which extent are decision processes in conservation influenced by changes in ethics, politics and science? Do conservators have the profile to shape these processes and to negotiate a compromise?
The meeting will present an overview of the current state of research, practice and progress in the field of paper conservation.
The specific topics that will be presented in the Interim Meeting are:
- Reflections on treatment decisions and processes, particularly concerning case-studies in paper conservation.
- Conservation of graphic documents in the digital age: decision making, compromise and collaboration between conserving analogue cultural heritage and providing digital access to this heritage. To which extent are ethics in paper conservation affected by digitization?
- Paper conservation in the era of ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions: the influence of exhibitions on decisions in conservation
- Latest scientific research on characteristics, degradation and conservation of paper, parchment and papyrus: How do results of research impact choices in conservation?
