Photographs and Preservation project receives funding

"Photographs and Preservation. How to save photographic artworks for
the future?"

Within the Science4Arts program, the Netherlands Organization for
Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded funding to the research
project "Photographs and Preservation. How to save photographic
artworks for the future?".  The research is dedicated to understand
and develop conservation strategies for contemporary photographic
artworks. The works examined will mainly be post-1960s photographic
works of art to which different materials such as paint, dyes,
adhesive, paper, metal are deliberately applied onto the surface or
are manufactured by unconventional means. The selected works of art
will be studied from three different disciplines: art history,
organic chemistry, and conservation and museum practices. The
project started on 1 June 2012 and will run until June 2016, with an
extension to 2017 for the concluding international conference.

The project is divided in three subprojects:

    Subproject 1: PhD researcher Caroline von Courten under the
    supervision of Prof. Kitty Zijlmaans and Dr. Helen Westgeest,
    Leiden University of Leiden.

    Subproject 2: PhD researcher Bas Reijers under the supervision
    of Prof. Leo Jenneskens, Utrecht University.

    Subproject 3: conducted at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam by
    Monica Marchesi under the supervision of Kitty Zijlmans,
    Universiteit Leiden and Sandra Weerdenburg, Stedelijk Museum
    Amsterdam.

Subproject 1 will research what the used materials can tell about
the photographic works of art from an art historical point of view.
This subproject will focus on the consequences of the material
changes and how these influence the interpretation and perception of
the case studies and photographic works in general.

Subproject 2 will shed new light on the photo-works by analyzing the
used materials, the (possibly undesirable) interactions between the
materials and the environment. Furthermore it will be examined
whether the standards for long term storage and the exhibition
policy commonly used for photographic materials can also be applied
to mixed media photographic works.

Subproject 3 will create an intake- and decision making model
specific for mixed media photographic works of art that cover all
aspects required for the documentation and preservation of
photographic works of art such as registration and identification of
materials, presentation, artists' intent, storage, exhibition and
conservation policy. In this context the characteristics specific to
the photographic medium such as replicas, later editions and
copyright aspects will also be examined.

Specialists of different fields, such as John Havermans,
conservation scientist at TNO, Sanneke Stigter, lecturer and program
leader of the masters program in Contemporary Art Conservation at
the University of Amsterdam, Hripsime Visser, photography curator at
the Stedelijk Museum, Clara von Waldthausen, photo conservator and
Bill Wei conservation scientist at the Cultural Heritage Agency
(RCE), will be closely involved in the project, together with Leo
Jenneskens, Professor at the Debye Institute of Utrecht University.

In addition to the support from NWO, the project will receive
structural contributions from the Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE),
Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, all in The Netherlands.

If you have question about the project please contact:

    Monica Marchesi
    Paper conservator
    Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
    m.marchesi<-at->stedelijk<.>nl


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:31
                 Distributed: Sunday, December 23, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-26-31-005
                                  ***