Center for Critical Conservation

RESOURCES

Genealogies, Theories, and Epistemic Revisions (of/for Critical Conservation) 

  • Ashley-Smith, Jonathan. “The Basis of Conservation Ethics.” In Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and Uncomfortable Truths, edited by Alison Lee Bracker and Alison Richmond. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009. 
  • Brandi, Cesare. Theory of Restoration. Translated by Cynthia Rockwell. Florence: Nardini Editore, 2005. 
  • Glanville, Helen. Introduction to The History of the Restoration and Conservation of Works of Art, by Alessandro Conti, vii–xxv. London: Elsevier, 2007. 
  • Harrison, Rodney et al. Heritage Futures: Comparative Approaches to Natural and Cultural Heritage Practices. London: UCL Press, 2020. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B. “The Technique of Conservation: On Realms of Theory and Cultures of Practice.” Journal of the Institute of Conservation 40, no. 2 (2017): 87–96. 
  • Inboden, Gudrun. “Zur Konservierung ästhetischer Bedeutung.” In Die Kunst und Ihre Erhaltung. Worms: Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1990. 
  • Jedrzejewska, Hanna. Ethics in Conservation. Stockholm: Kungl. Konsthögskolan, 1976. 
  • Latour, Bruno. “Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern.” Critical Inquiry 30 (2004): 225–248. 
  • Lowenthal, David. The Past Is a Foreign Country. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. 
  • Lowenthal, David. “Conservation Past and Present.” Sylvester Baxter Lecture, April 1, 2027. 
  • Mairesse, François, Renata F. Peters, ICOM International Committee for Museology, and ICOM International Council of Museums—Committee for Conservation, eds. What Is the Essence of Conservation? Materials for a Discussion: Papers from the ICOM-CC and ICOFOM Session at the 25th General Conference Held in Kyoto, 4 September 2019. Paris: Icofom, 2019. 
  • Muñoz-Viñas, Salvador. Contemporary Theory of Conservation. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2005. 
  • Muñoz-Viñas, Salvador. The End of Conservation. Instituto de Restauración del Patrimonio, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, Author’s version, 2024. 
  • Philippot, Paul. “Restoration from the Perspective of the Humanities.” In Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, edited by Nicholas Stanley Price, Mansfield Kirby Talley Jr., and Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, 216–229. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Trust, 1996. 
  • Pugliese, Marina, Barbara Ferriani, and Antonio Rava. “Time, Originality, and Materiality in Contemporary Conservation: The Theory of Restoration by Cesare Brandi; Between Tradition and Innovation.” In ICOM-CC 15th Triennial Conference New Delhi, Preprints, vol. 1, edited by J. Bridgland, 484–488. New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 2008. 
  • Schädler-Saub, Ursula. “Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art: What Remains of Cesare Brandi’s Teoria del restauro?” In Theory and Practice in the Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art: Reflections on the Roots and the Perspectives, Proceedings of the International Symposium, 13–14 January 2009, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hildesheim. London: Archetype Publications Ltd, 2010. 

Ontologies and Active Worlds (as Critical Conservation) 

  • Barad, Karen. “Diffracting Diffraction: Cutting Together-Apart.” Parallax 20, no. 3 (2014): 168–187. DOI: 10.1080/13534645.2014.927623. 
  • Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007. 
  • Casadio, Francesca. “Moving Beyond the Binaries: Exploring the Active Matter of Metal Soaps in Paints.” In Conserving Active Matter, edited by Peter Miller and Soon Kai Poh, 320–344. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 
  • Glass, Aaron. “For the Lives of Things—Indigenous Ontologies of Active Matter.” In Conserving Active Matter, edited by Peter Miller and Soon Kai Poh, 221–233. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 
  • Haakanson, Sven. “Living Knowledge in Cultural Collections.” In Conserving Active Matter, edited by Peter Miller and Soon Kai Poh, 234–245. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 
  • Jacobs, Jamie. “The Orator’s Dilemma: Wampum as Material, Media, Medicine, and Memory.” In Conserving Active Matter, edited by Peter Miller and Soon Kai Poh, 246–263. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 
  • Marçal, Hélia. “Towards a Relational Ontology of Conservation.” In ICOM-CC 19th Triennial Conference Beijing Preprints, edited by J. Bridgland. Paris: ICOM, 2021. 
  • Miller, Peter, and Soon Kai Poh, eds. Conserving Active Matter. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 
  • Puig de la Bellacasa, Maria. Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2017. 
  • Stiegler, Bernard. “What Is Called Caring: Beyond the Anthropocene.” Translated by Daniel Ross. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 21, no. 2–3 (2017): 386–404. 
  • van Dooren, Thom. “Authentic Crows. Identity, Captivity and Emergent Forms of Life.” Theory, Culture and Society 33, no. 2 (2025): 29–52. 
  • Weinryb, Itai. “Conserving Active Matter and the Art Historian’s Craft.” In Conserving Active Matter, edited by Peter Miller and Soon Kai Poh, 133–142. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 

Decolonial, Indigenous, and Pluriversal Reorientations (for Critical Conservation) 

  • Alexopoulos, Georgios. 2013b. “Management of Living Religious Heritage: Who Sets the Agenda? The Case of the Monastic Community of Mount Athos.” Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 15 (1): 59–75. https://doi.org/10.1179/1350503313Z.00000000047.  
  • Azoulay, Ariella Aïsha. Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism. London: Verso, 2019. 
  • Chitty, Gill, ed. 2017. Heritage, Conservation and Communities: Engagement, Participation and Capacity Building. New York: Routledge.  
  • Clavir, Miriam. Preserving What Is Valued: Museums, Conservation, and First Nations. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2002. 
  • Clavir, Miriam. “Reflections on Changes in Museums and the Conservation of Collections from Indigenous Peoples.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 35, no. 2 (1996): 99–107. 
  • Deacon, Harriet, and Rieks Smeets. 2013. “Authenticity, Value and Community Involvement in Heritage Management under the World Heritage and Intangible Heritage Conventions.” Heritage and Society 6 (2): 1–15.  
  • Getty Conservation Institute. 2000. Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage: Research Report. Los Angeles.  
  • Jordán, Manuel. “Revisiting Pwo.” African Arts 33, no. 4 (2000): 16–25, 92–93. 
  • Kaminitz, Marian A., Robert Kentta, and David Bridges. 2005. “First Person Voice: Native Communities and Conservation Consultations at the National Museum of the American Indian.” In ICOM-CC 14th Triennial Meeting, The Hague, 96–102.  
  • Lignongo, Jean. “Kota Spirituality: A Cosmogony Linked to the Forest.” Mémoires Genève dans le monde colonial, 3 May 2024 – 5 January 2025. 
  • McHugh, Kelly. “Always Becoming Better Stewards: Caring for Collections at the National Museum of the American Indian.” In Conserving Active Matter, edited by Peter Miller and Soon Kai Poh, 264–282. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 
  • Peters, Renata. “Who Is Afraid of Listening to the Tupinambá.” In From Conservation to Conversation, 53–64. Hamburg: MARKK Museum. 
  • Poulios, Ioannis. 2011. “Is Every Heritage Site a ‘Living’ One? Linking Conservation to Communities’ Association with Sites.” The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice 2 (2): 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1179/175675011×13122044136550. 
  • Rivera Cusicanqui, Silvia. “Ch’ixinakax utxiwa. Una reflexión sobre prácticas y discursos descolonizadores.” In Ch’ixinakax utxiwa, 53–73. Buenos Aires: Tinta Limón, 2010. 
  • Sully, Dean, ed. Decolonising Conservation: Caring for Maori Meeting Houses Outside New Zealand. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press, 2007. 
  • Sharma, Tara. 2019. “The Paradox of Valuing the Invaluable: Managing Cultural Values in Heritage Places.” In Values in Heritage Management, edited by Erica Avrami, Susan Macdonald, Randall Mason, and David Myers, 186–198. 1st ed. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute and Getty Publications. 
  • Wharton, Glenn. “Indigenous Claims and Heritage Conservation: An Opportunity for Critical Dialog.” Journal of Public Archaeology 4 (2005): 199–204. 
  • Wharton, Glenn. The Painted King: Art, Activism, and Authenticity in Hawai’i. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2012. 
  • Wijesuriya, Gamini, Jane Thompson, and Sarah Court. 2017. “People-Centred Approaches: Engaging Communities and Developing Capacities for Managing Heritage.” In Heritage, Conservation and Communities: Engagement, Participation and Capacity Building, edited by Gill Chitty, 34–50. London: Routledge. 

Time, Decay, and Post-Preservation Futures (in conservation) 

  • DeSilvey, Caitlin. Curated Decay: Heritage beyond Saving. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2017. 
  • Henderson, Jane. “Beyond Lifetimes: Who Do We Exclude When We Keep Things for the Future?”Journal of the Institute of Conservation 43, no. 3 (2020): 195–212. 
  • Holtorf, Cornelius. “Averting Loss Aversion in Cultural Heritage.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 21, no. 4 (2015): 405–421. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B. “Time and Conservation.” In Proceedings of the 18th Triennial Conference of the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC). Copenhagen, 2017. 
  • Lambrechts, Lizabé, et al. “Decay without Mourning: Future-Thinking Heritage Practices.”International Journal of Heritage Studies 3, no. 3 (2025): 340–357. 
  • Otero-Pailos, Jorge, Erik Langdalen, and Thordis Arrhenius, eds. Experimental Preservation. Zürich: Lars Müller, 2016. 

Processual, Performative, and Technologically Mediated Conservation 

  • Chirikure, Shadreck, and Hanna B. Hölling. “Innovation and Preservation: Shadreck Chirikure on the Performance of Heritage.” In Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care, Vol. 1, edited by Hanna B. Hölling, Jules Pelta Feldman, and Emilie Magnin, 113–120. London: Routledge, 2023. 
  • Falcão, Patrícia, and Tom Ensom. “Conserving Digital Art.” In Museums and Digital Culture, Springer Series on Cultural Computing, edited by T. Giannini and J.P. Bowen. Berlin: Springer, 2019. 
  • Hellio, Eléonore, Michel Ekeba, Hanna B. Hölling, Jacob Badcock, Emilie Magnin, and Valerian Maly. “Performing the ‘Mask’: Kongo Astronauts (Eléonore Hellio and Michel Ekeba) on Postcolonial Entanglements.” In Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care, Vol. 1, edited by Hanna B. Hölling, Jules Pelta Feldman, and Emilie Magnin, 200–216. London: Routledge, 2023. 
  • Hermens, Erma. “Technical Art History: The Synergy of Art, Conservation and Science.” In Art History and Visual Studies in Europe: Transnational Discourses and National Frameworks, edited by Matthew Rampley et al., 151–166. Leiden/Boston: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2012. 
  • Hermens, Erma. Technical Art History: An Interdisciplinary Journey into the Making of Art. Research report. Samuel H. Kress Foundation and Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2024. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., “Can We Talk Post-Preservation? A Letter to Paik Nam June.” In My Paik Nam June: Memories, Conservation, and the Spread of Discourse, edited by Han Jungin, 83–96. Seoul: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, 2023. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., “Conserving Active Matter—Activating Conservation?” Review of Conserving Active Matter, edited by Peter N. Miller and Soon Kai Poh. Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 86, no. 3 (October 2023). 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., “Exhausting Conservation: Object, Event, Performance in Franz Erhard Walther’s Werkstücke.” In Object—Event—Performance: Art, Materiality, and Continuity Since the 1960s, edited by Hanna B. Hölling, 62–84. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2022. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., Paik’s Virtual Archive: Time, Change, and Materiality in Media Art. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., “Yet to Come: Experiments in Reverse-Engineering and Conserving Performance – An Exhibition.” Unpublished exhibition manuscript, 2024. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., and Josephine Ellis. On MOdes of Activity and Activation: An Introduction. In Activating Fluxus, Expanding Conservation, edited by Hanna B. Hölling, Aga Wielocha and Josephine Ellis. London and New York: Routledge, 2026. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., Joanna Leśnierowska, and Andrej Mirčev. “Conserving Performance, Performing Conservation: Research Festival and Exhibition.” Tanzhaus Zurich, Aargauer Kunsthaus, ADC Geneva, Cantonal Museum Lausanne, Dampfzentrale Bern, Bern Academy of the Arts, September 14–29, 2024. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., Jules Pelta Feldman, and Emilie Magnin. “Introduction: Caring for Performance.” In Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care, Vol. 1, 1–20. London: Routledge, 2023. 
  • Hölling, Hanna B., “Performance Conservation: A Condition Report, or a Para-Ethnography in Three Acts.” In Revolving Documents—Narrations of the Beginnings, edited by Sabine Gebhardt Fink, Tacredi Gusman, and Andrej Mirčev. Zurich: Diaphanes, 2024. 
  • Magnin, Emilie. “Caring for the Living: The Conservation of Performance Art.” Museums & Social Issues (2024): 1–14. 
  • Mason, Randall. 2002. “Assessing Values in Conservation Planning: Methodological Issues and Choices.” In Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage: Research Report, edited by Marta de la Torre, 5–30. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute. 
  • Schneider, Rebecca, and Hanna B. Hölling. “Not, Yet: When Our Art Is in Our Hands—Rebecca Schneider, with Antiphonal Interludes by Hanna B. Hölling.” In Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care, Vol. 1, 50–69. London: Routledge, 2023. 
  • Scholte, Tatja, and Glenn Wharton, eds. Inside Installations: Theory and Practice in the Care of Complex Artworks. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press, 2011. 
  • Szmelter, Iwona, and Joanna Jedrzejewska, eds. Innovative Approaches to the Complex Care of Contemporary Art. London: Archetype Books, 2012. 
  • van de Vall, Renée, Hanna Hölling, Tatja Scholte, and Sanneke Stigter. “Reflections on a Biographical Approach to Contemporary Art Conservation.” In ICOM-CC 16th Triennial Conference Preprints, Lisbon, 19–23 September 2011, edited by Janet Bridgland. Paris: International Council of Museums, 2011. 

Institutional Histories, Historiography, and Discursive Formations (within Critical Conservation) 

  • Berkes, Fikret. “Rethinking Community-Based Conservation.” Conservation Biology 18, no. 3 (2004): 621–630. 
  • Biuletyn Informacyjny. Krajowa Agencja Informacyjna, 1981. 
  • Brewer, Francesca. A Laboratory for Art: Harvard’s Fogg Museum and the Emergence of Conservation in America, 1900–1950. Cambridge: Harvard Art Museums, 2010. 
  • Dominguez Rubio, Fernando. Still Life: Ecologies of the Modern Imagination at the Art Museum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020. 
  • Dupré, Sven, and Jenny Boulboulle, eds. Histories of Conservation and Art History in Modern Europe. London: Routledge, 2024. 
  • Eggert, Paul. Securing the Past: Conservation in Art, Architecture, and Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 
  • Étienne, Noémie. “Global Conservation.” European Research Council project proposal (unpublished), 2023. 
  • Étienne, Noémie, Fall Niang, Fatima Mendy, Cécile, and Abdoul Sow. Les conservations situées. Dakar, Sénégal: Les éditions Artige de Chidid, 2026. 
  • Hummelen, Ijsbrand, Vivian van Saaze, and Matthijs Versteegh. “Towards a Symmetrical Approach in Conservation?” In ICOM-CC 15th Triennial Conference Preprints, 2: 1041–1047. New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 2008. 
  • Peters, Renata. “Conservation and Engagement: Transforming and Being Transformed.” In Heritage, Conservation, and Social Engagement, edited by Renata Peters et al., 6–29. London: UCL Press, 2020. 
  • Rocznik Literacki. Warsaw: Instytut Literacki and Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1984. 
  • Twórczość Ludowa. Stowarzyszenie Twórców Ludowych, 2005. 
  • Lowenthal, David . 2000. “Stewarding the past in a Perplexing Present.” In Values and Heritage Conservation: Research Report , edited by Erica Avrami , Randall Mason , and Marta de la Torre , 18–25. Los Angeles, CA : The Getty Conservation Institute. 

Ethics of Care and Political Responsibility 

  • Alexopoulos, Giorgos. 2013a. “Living Religious Heritage and Challenges to Museum Ethics: Reflections from the Monastic Community of Mount Athos.” Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies 11 (1): 4. https://doi.org/10.5334/jcms.1021208.  
  • Ashman, John. 1993. “Ethics in Conservation.” Journal of the Society of Archivists 14 (1): 15–24. doi:10.1080/00379819309511689. 
  • Clavir, Miriam. 1994. “Preserving Conceptual Integrity: Ethics and Theory in Preventive Conservation.” Studies in Conservation 39 (sup2): 53–57. doi:10.1179/sic.1994.39.Supplement-2.53.  
  • Sevenhuijsen, Selma. Citizenship and the Ethics of Care: Feminist Considerations on Justice, Morality, and Politics. Translated by Liz Savage. London: Routledge, 1998. 
  • Tronto, Joan C. Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care. New York: Routledge, 1993. 
  • Winnicott, Donald. “Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena” (1951). In Collected Papers: Through Paediatrics to Psycho-Analysis. London and New York: Basic Books, 1958. 

Research Projects

  • Käte Hamburger Kolleg (Centre for Advanced Study) inherit. heritage in transformation, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: https://inherit.hu-berlin.de
  • Global Indigenous Arts Network (GIAN), Part of the research group VIGEO Visuality and Geoesthetics in the Age of Ecosocial Crisis with support from Universitat de Barcelona and the Art, Globalization, Interculturality research group: https://www.globalindigenousarts.net/
  • Amazonart, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship of the European Union’s Horizon (Department of Sociology at the University of Essex) and received Newcastle University-Centre for Latin America and Caribbean Studies: https://amazonart-project.com/