New list: Spiritual and ethical considerations in heritage conservation

CONS-SPIRITUAL<-a t->jiscmail< . >ac< . >uk
<URL:http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CONS-SPIRITUAL>

How much do we need to know about the spiritual, religious and
ethical aspects of material heritage in order to be effective
conservators? If you would like to share your views or are
interested in the debate, see
<URL:http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CONS-SPIRITUAL>

This mailing list and its web archive have arisen from classroom and
staffroom discussion at the University of Lincoln's Conservation
Unit. Over time, we have realised that this area of our work has
engendered more strong feeling and heartfelt debate than any other.
This discussion presents some questions that have been posed and
seeks to encourage further discussion.

Conservation no longer simply involves the technical aspects of
materials but is increasingly considering ethical issues regarding
artist intent and spiritual beliefs.  The work, so far, in this area
has been interesting, but piecemeal with the major emphasis being
currently on curatorial issues. The discussion group intends to
develop a dialogue between the conservators, and others with a focus
on the religious and spiritual dimension with the creation and
conservation of material culture.

I would like conservators to address the question of how much do we
need to know?  I would like to encourage debate about how do we, as
conservators, gain this knowledge and what are the consequences, if
any if we do not have an acceptable level of understanding.  Can we
ever have a true understanding of other cultural and spiritual
beliefs if we are not of that culture? Does it matter?

I have invited conservators, artists and others who are involved
with the spiritual development of cultures to contribute to the
debate. I welcome your contributions and hope this develops into a
full and frank debate.

John Greenwood
Senior Lecturer Conservation and Restoration
University of Lincoln
Chad Varah House
Lincoln LN1 3BP
+44 1522 895171


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:14
               Distributed: Saturday, September 10, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-19-14-010
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