Conservation of African objects and authenticity

Kim Tinnell <kmenninger [at] ufl__edu> writes

>I am taking an African Art seminar and am writing my final paper
>on issues with the conservation of African objects, specifically
>those used in ritual or religious contexts. I am interested in
>tackling the issue of authenticity, a topic that is widely
>discussed usually from a curatorial angle, from a conservation
>perspective. A main question I seek to answer is how much can you
>remove from the object before it becomes "inauthentic"?

I was wondering if you would find relevant literature by looking for
articles concerning ethnographic conservation including sub-themes
such as ethics, philosophy, etc.  It is not specific to Africa, but
many of the concepts overlap culturally.

There is a book called: Surfaces edited by Leonard Kahan, Donna Page
and Pascal James Imperato

    <URL:http://www.amazon.com/
        Surfaces-Substances-Applications-Sculpture-Expressive/
        dp/0253352517>

    **** Moderator's comments: The above URL has been wrapped for
    email. There should be no newline.

One of the editors works on a wide variety of African art and may be
able to steer you: Donna Page.

Also, have you thought about contacting the Smithsonian's
conservation department at the Museum of African Art in Washington
DC? Good luck,

Martha Singer


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:26
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