Dissociation and loss: a challenge for sustainable and inclusive conservation/ Disociación y Pérdida: un Desafío para la Conservación-restauración Sostenible e Inclusive

Henderson, Jane ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3027-8452 and Waller, Robert 2024. Dissociation and loss: a challenge for sustainable and inclusive conservation/ Disociación y Pérdida: un Desafío para la Conservación-restauración Sostenible e Inclusive. Studies in Conservation 69 (S1) , pp. 169-175. 10.1080/00393630.2024.2339768 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

he agents of deterioration (AoD) offer a structured categorization of hazards to collections: they are a basis for risk-informed preservation management. In drawing up the AoD their creators were not ignorant of wider societal issues of concern to conservators, but they envisaged them to be part of a broader institutional activity located beyond the scope of preventive conservation. Within conservation, there have been discussions about additional agents; social, cultural, or political causes of loss. Their continued exclusion from the ten AoD may mistakenly be interpreted as a lack of consideration of such concerns. There are reasons to limit the scope of an institution’s preventive conservation system but not everyone agrees that those reasons are sufficient to justify this limitation. This paper is a discussion and disagreement by two authors. Henderson argues that dissociation should capture any loss of meaning resulting from any aspect of conservation practice, including cleaning, documentation, failure to respect beliefs, etc. She argues that dissociation from context may stop preventive conservators from identifying and respecting optimal traditional sustainable methods and techniques. Waller argues that the threat of losing context information about collection items should be managed as part of the wider cultural heritage institution’s role and resolved through its engagement with the community. He acknowledges that preventive conservation can contribute to understanding and mitigating this form of loss, but advocates that primary responsibility must be situated at a higher level than the preventive conservation remit.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	A General Works > AM Museums (General). Collectors and collecting (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Dissociation, respectful disagreement, risk, loss, meaning
Language other than English:	Spanish
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	0039-3630
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 June 2024
Date of Acceptance:	4 April 2024
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2024 19:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/170079

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