ABSTRACT In response to the recent trend of implementing less stringent climate control practices for museum exhibition and storage areas, issues related to the conservation of soft and dripping paints need to be addressed. Soft and dripping paint has been documented in paintings created by more than 30 Western artists between 1917 and 2008, with the majority executed in the twentieth century. For conservators, it is important to recognize the condition issues as they indicate several kinds of sensitivities to high relative humidity, transportation, vibration, touch, and solvents. Risks connected to soft oil paint are an understudied area. Through novel nanoindentation testing of micro samples, performed in a climatic chamber, a correlation has been established between increased relative humidity and increasing softening for soft bone black paints identified in oil paintings by Asger Jorn (1914–1973) and Karel Appel (1921–2006). These paints were also tested for dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) to determine their moisture sorption isotherms. This paper will discuss what these new nanoindentation findings can mean for preventive conservation of paintings composed of soft and dripping paints.

ABSTRACT Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), particularly traditional music, is vital yet vulnerable. Traditional music intertwines with cultural rituals, embodying spirituality and diverse human experiences. However, how cultural heritage is negotiated and preserved in modern Oman remains underexplored. This study utilizes ethnographic interviews with government officials, institutional archivists, grassroots archivists, and musicians to reveal perspectives on preserving Omani musical heritage. Findings indicate that governmental institutions regard ICH as pivotal for national identity, tourism, unification, and economic growth, prioritizing structured archiving and formal presentation. Institutional archives thus provide extensive yet static collections of musical recordings and visual media, emphasizing curated representations over dynamic authenticity. Conversely, grassroots archivists favor participatory, flexible preservation methods driven by personal commitment and cultural concerns. They document live, spontaneous musical events, leveraging social media to promote community engagement and cultural continuity. Grassroots efforts effectively capture the evolving, lived experience of musical traditions, complementing institutional strategies. The coexistence of institutional and grassroots archival practices creates a balanced preservation framework, combining structured protection with community-driven authenticity. This dual approach provides a holistic model for sustaining Omani musical heritage as both a national asset and a living tradition.

ABSTRACT FAIC and AIC have been involved in cultural heritage protection since the establishment of conservation as a profession. Disaster protection, salvage, and recovery efforts have become both a standard in cultural heritage institutional management and integral to FAIC/AIC’s community and collegial outreach. A solid infrastructure has been built through the efforts of pioneers like the Monuments Men and women who salvaged collections during the second World War, as well as early leaders within museums and governmental agencies. This article is an effort to chronicle the development of key emergency initiatives and programming to train conservators, paraprofessionals, and the public, building and strengthening a dedicated national network to safeguard all types of collections and sites. This work is done now by FAIC staff and AIC member volunteers through committees, regional Alliance for Response groups, the FAIC National Heritage Responders team, and by dedicated people and organizations focused on mitigating disasters of all types and sizes.