Looking for some ‘bitesized’ learning on your lunchbreak? Passionate about sustainable heritage? Come and join us for Collection Care’s ‘In Focus: Liverpool Conservation Talks, conservation themed 30-minute lunchtime talks held every second Wednesday of the month.
There is often an expectation of museums to care for collections “in perpetuity” — but is that really possible?
This talk by Dr George Alexopoulos (Senior Research Fellow at University College London) shares insights from the ITHACA project (Integrating Lifetimes in Heritage Capital), which explores how we think about the lifespan of heritage objects and what it means to care for them over time. Drawing on conversations with a wide range of professionals and stakeholders, it looks at how different people define “damage”. It also looks at how we articulate the economic value of caring for heritage.
By focusing on the full lifetime of heritage assets, the project reveals an interesting question: how do we value care, especially when decisions made today could shape what survives for the future?
This talk will reflect on the challenges of predicting how long objects can or should last, and how these ideas influence everyday decisions in museums — from display and use to long-term preservation.
