Histories of Conservation and Decay as Pathways for Future Practices of Care

Abstract

The aim in the field of art conservation has for a long time been to restore an object to an earlier state, or to freeze it in its current state; and how to reach this aim has been considered the expert decision of the scientifically trained conservator. In nature conservation, on the other hand, the idea of ‘fortress conservation’, preserving nature excluding the (interests of) local communities, has been left for quite a while. The idea of freezing an art object in time is likewise typically alien to other than European cultures recognizing the perishable nature of materials and things. One example which is often mentioned in this context is the art of mending ceramics or repairing broken pottery with lacquer practiced in Japan since the sixteenth century. The value of the mended ceramics increased, and these repairs were emphasized by a technique of coloring lacquer, sometimes even mixing it with gold, in which case it was known as kintsugi, quite different from the idea of restoration as a return to the previous or even original state, and the role of the conservator made invisible in Europe. Yet, this idea of conservation as antagonistic to change and of the conservator as the sole expert still dominates the domain of art conservation in the museum world. For example, the conservation and restoration program at the University of Amsterdam portrays his future alumni as ‘masters of decay’. This situation is not sustainable as the unfortunate consequence is that most resources continue to be invested in the conservation of a small number of masterpieces. Therefore, we need to develop an alternative view of conservation which acknowledges the inevitability of change and decay for the domain of art.

With an eye towards a different future for art conservation, in this talk, I will turn to the history of conservation. First, I will show that this idea of conservation as primarily about stability and continuity, either as a return to an original state (restoration) or as the preservation of an object in its current state, slowing down inevitable decay, while change and transformation is typically considered undesirable, is a relatively recent invention. Connected to the emergent emphasis on material authenticity and the rise of science as the most authoritative form of knowledge in the world of art conservation, I will show that these ideas of conservation were only solidified in the 1920s and 1930s and globalized building upon the ruins of the Second World War. Second, I turn to archives of pre-20th century practices of repair and care in European craft history to reveal alternative ways of dealing with decay, mending, and broken things.