The technique of conservation: on realms of theory and cultures of practice

Abstract

What is conservation? Simplistic as it may seem, this question has many possible answers. Today, conservation no longer aims simply to prolong its objects’ material lives into the future. It is seen as an engagement with materiality, rather than material—that is, with the many specific factors determining how objects’ identity and meaning are entangled with the aspects of time, the environment, ruling values, politics, economy, conventions and culture. Additionally, beyond the concerns with objects, conservation now also engages with subjects, and the accompanying notions of the transmission of skill, tradition, memory and tacit knowledge. By glimpsing into the theories past and present, this paper argues that conservation is a complex techno-cultural practice with a strong, retroactive impact on its objects and subjects. Conservation offers an invaluably rich context to study a man-made world. Simultaneously, it allows us to pursue fundamental epistemic questions related to what, when and how artworks exist in the world and how our engagement with them is contingent upon the prevailing cultural–historical conditions.