We invite you to attend Sustaining Art: People, Practice, Planet in Contemporary Art Conservation, an in-person and streamed international conference taking place 9-11th November 2022 in Dundee, Scotland. During the conference we seek to address sustainability in its widest sense in relation to contemporary art conservation. In partnership with DJCAD University of Dundee, and in affiliation with The Dutch Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (SBMK) and the International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (INCCA), it will be a forum to challenge assumptions, examine practices, and pursue equity and sustainability in conservation networks of care.
The conference will take place over three days. Day 1 will focus on ‘People’, Day 2 on ‘Practice’, which will involve workshops, and Day 3 on ‘Planet’ which will open up wider conversations. A drinks reception and a gallery tour will be held at Dundee Contemporary Arts on the first evening, an optional conference dinner will take place at Hospitalfield House in Arbroath (transport will be provided) on the second evening and the Cooper Gallery at DJCAD (University of Dundee) will host a drinks reception for their Lucy Skaer and Rosalind Nashashibi exhibition on Day 3. On the Saturday, a free tour of the Plastic: Remaking Our World exhibition at V&A Dundee will take place followed by an introduction to the public artworks, specially commissioned for the conference at the Sharing not Hoarding billboards by NEoN Digital Arts.
Conservation is a practice and profession of people and relationships in creation, presentation, and preservation of artistic, curatorial, preservationist, and archival practices directly affecting and reflecting the Planet. This conference asks questions of sustainability in relation to contemporary art and seeks to shift focus onto practices and performative qualities of contemporary networks and infrastructures in art by welcoming open and transdisciplinary conversations. This may involve highlighting issues and concerns, oversights and misunderstandings, as well as achievements and innovative practices, in order to find generative ways forward.
The conference itself seeks to operate as an example of event organisation and delivery prioritising decision making and processes that work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Who should attend?
The conference is for anyone interested and invested in the conservation and preservation of contemporary art. Artists, conservators, technicians, gallery managers, curators, practitioners, academics, art movers and historians are all welcome.
Format: The conference will be delivered in person and simultaneously online. Days 1 & 3 will take the form of a traditional conference with presentations and discussion. Day 2 will be dedicated to workshops both collective and breakout option. Please note that while we will endeavour to make the online experience as integrated as possible, there may be some workshops which may be difficult to translate to an online audience.
For the draft programme and more, please see the website here: https://congresshub.uk/event/dacbres-sustaining-art-2022/
