Fragmentary Neolithic standing female figurine, 6th–5th millennium B.C., Greek (Neolithic). Terracotta. Getty Museum
Proactive, Holistic, and Sustainable: Preserving Collections in an Uncertain Future
GETTY CENTER
Sunday, July 14, 2024, at 2 pm
The Getty Center and Online
Free | Advance ticket required
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Preventive conservation concepts were used to preserve cultural heritage well before Getty's Neolithic female figure was created 8,000 years ago. These ever-evolving concepts continue to be the most proactive, holistic, and sustainable path to the preservation of a collection that spans from this figurine to John Baldessari and beyond. As museums, individuals, and contemporary society as a whole consider how to care for cultural heritage in a world with an uncertain future, preventive conservation continues to be the best path forward. Explore what this looks like today, tomorrow, and beyond.
SPEAKER
Dr. Joelle Wickens (she/her) is assistant professor of Preventive Conservation, University of Delaware Department of Art Conservation, and interim director of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. Her current work in preventive conservation is dedicated to evolving the practice of the specialty to place social, economic, and environmental sustainability at its core. This work intertwines with her work using the lenses of systems thinking, disability justice, universal design, and systemic racism to work with the field of art conservation to broaden its understanding of what cultural heritage is, diversify who conserves this heritage, and bring multiple and non-dominant ways of knowing and doing to the conservation process.