One of the first tasks when caring for objects is to examine, research, and document. What is an appropriate ethical framework for doing this? How do we think about the objects in our care, where do we seek the information to contextualize them, and how do we communicate what we learn and how we came to learn it? Who is listening?

This is a frank discussion between a conservator and a non-conservator about these very things.

Episode notes:

[1] Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. https://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/. Accessed 10 January 2021.

[2] “A brief history of IIC.” International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. https://www.iiconservation.org/about/history. Accessed 10 January 2021.

[3] “Our history.” American Institute for Conservation. https://www.culturalheritage.org/about-us/association/our-history. Accessed 10 January 2021.

[4] “About us.” American Institute for Conservation. https://www.culturalheritage.org/about-us/association. Accessed 10 January 2021.

[5] “Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice.” American Institute for Conservation. https://www.culturalheritage.org/docs/default-source/administration/governance/code-of-ethics-and-guidelines-for-practice.pdf?sfvrsn=ca344aed_21. Accessed 10 January 2021.

[6] “Certification.” American Institute for Conservation. https://www.culturalheritage.org/membership/professional-membership/certification-information. Accessed 10 January 2021.

[7] Australian ICOMOS. 2013. “The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, The Burra Charter.” https://australia.icomos.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Burra-Charter-2013-Adopted-31.10.2013.pdf. Accessed 21 January 2021.

[8] Cutajar, Jan Dariusz, Abigail Duckor, Dean Sully, and L. Harald Fredheim. 2016. “A Significant Statement: New Outlooks on Treatment Documentation.” In Journal of the Institute of Conservation 39 (2): 81-97.

[9] Pearlstein, Ellen. 2017. “Conserving Ourselves: Embedding Significance into Conservation Decision-Making in Graduate Education.” In Studies in Conservation 62 (8): 435-444.

[10] Henderson, Julie. 2020. “Beyond Lifetimes: Who Do We Exclude When We Keep Things For the Future?” In Journal of the Institute of Conservation 43 (3): 195-212.