PROGRAMME

Workshop 1 - Physical Encounters: What Do We Mean By Condition?

Led by Principal Investigator Elizabeth Pye (Monday 30 March 2009)

The first workshop established the concept of the heritage object, how this shapes our perception of change in physical condition, and affects our definitions of value and damage. It explored the nature of the physical object, the dematerialised (digital) object, surrogates and replicas.    It examined other concepts that impact on condition, considered the shifting views of acceptable and unacceptable condition and evaluated the extent to which conservation and museum policies and activities are governed by condition.   For links to workshop materials see the workshop page.

Workshop 2 - Physical Encounters:  What do we Know About Damage and Loss?

Led by Co-Investigator Jonathan Ashley Smith (Thursday 30 April 2009)

The second workshop examined the physical factors that impact on condition, how physical change in objects relates to damage and loss. It focused on methods of access to the physical object and the effects of this interaction on the object itself. It explored techniques for recognition of early stages of change, assessing the rate of change, measurement of loss and assessment of the consequences of damage.  It evaluated the impact of current conservation policies and practice and encouraged reassessment of our precautions against and reactions to damage and loss in museum collections. For links to workshop materials see the workshop page.

Workshop 3 - Physical Encounters: Increased Benefit or Increased Risk?  

Led by Co-Investigator Dean Sully (Tuesday 2 June 2009)

The third workshop considered whether the value of increased physical access to heritage objects is worth the perceived or actual risk to the long term conservation of collections. It reviewed our ability to assess the results of these encounters, and explored the implications for conservation strategies which focus on limiting physical damage. It evaluated the impact of increasing access through remote technologies, and the consequences of the dematerialisation of objects and collections for the value and use of the physical collections.  It examined the implications for future conservation policy and practice of pressures for increased access. For the workshop abstracts see the workshop page.

Conference - What's the Damage?

(Wednesday 23 September 2009)

The conference aimed to draw together the key findings from all workshops and discussions and define areas of future research. For the conference abstracts see the conference page.