Reshaping the Collectible: Learning through Change

Wednesday 14 September, 12.00–19.00

Welcome, 12.00–12.10

Welcome to the conference:
Maria Balshaw, Director, Tate
Deborah Potter, Director of Collection Care, Tate

Welcome to the conference and introduction to the first day’s sessions:
Pip Laurenson, Professor of Conservation, Director MSc Conservation of Contemporary Art and Media, UCL and Project Lead Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum

Session 1, 12.10–15.10
Unsettling Inherited Practices

Convened by Libby Ireland and Jack McConchie

Building on learning undertaken within the conservation team through working with artists Ima-Abasi Okon and Richard Bell, this session will investigate inherited practices in museums. By identifying the museum as a colonial institution and acknowledging collection care’s complicity in the traditional museum drive to own, fix and hold the knowledge around artworks, the session will look at how our inherited procedures and approaches may be limiting the ability of artworks to live in the museum.

The discussion will focus on the changing practice of staff in the Collection Care Division prompted by their interaction with artists and artworks, and will explore the possibilities for change – both on an individual and institutional level. Ideas that will be explored include slowness, care, slippage and loss, degrowth and the changing relationship between the museum, artist and artwork through theories of radical hospitality.

Speakers:

• Libby Ireland, Sculpture and Installations Conservator, Tate
• Richard Kearney, Charles Seelig Chair of Philosophy at Boston College, International Director of the Guestbook Project
• Taylor Le Melle, writer, curator
• Jack McConchie, Time-based Media Conservator, Tate
• Ima-Abasi Okon, artist
• Gala Porras-Kim, artist
• Valentina Ravaglia, Curator, Displays and International Art, Tate

Music by Feat. Ya Girl

Session 2, 15.25–17.00
Beyond an Archival Impulse

Convened by Sarah Haylett

This session will present the research undertaken around the boundaries between artworks, records and archives from the perspectives of the key stakeholders: artists, archivists and the museum.

It will balance how and why artists look to ‘the archive’ as a medium or leitmotif in their practice, with shifts in the archival sector, looking at ideas of neutrality and the archive as a system of power and exclusion. It will draw on how these two ideas overlap, exploring the practices of artists who have moved beyond archival imagery into actively creating archives within their artworks. Finally, it will introduce the participatory and collaborative record-creator centred archival methodologies that will allow these archives to exist, expand and make space for new voices in the art museum.

Speakers:

• Richard Bell, artist
• Sarah Cook, curator, writer and Professor of Museum Studies in Information Studies, University of Glasgow
• Kathy Carbone, Lecturer, Department of Information Studies, University of California Los Angeles
• Sarah Haylett, PhD researcher, UCL and Tate
• Tamsin Hong, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate
• Moi Tran, artist

Session 3, 17.15–19.00
Starting a Slow Conversation

Moderated by:
Libby Ireland, Sculpture and Installations Conservator, Tate

This discussion will draw on ideas discussed in the conference session Unsettling Inherited Practices, which will outline ‘inherited practices’ as processes, mindsets and tools which have been developed within museums to aid the colonial practice of collecting. These are used to bolster principles of ownership, knowledge-holding and fixity which are intrinsic to traditional museum collecting, whilst shifting power away from the artist and artwork, stifling evolution, emotion and multiplicity.

Examples of inherited practices could include the concept of the neutral voice, the preference for speed and efficiency, and the emphasis on artist interviews as a tool for fixing the artwork and separating the work from the artist, whilst decentring more informal and non-linguistic modes of understanding.

This additional time will give an opportunity for attendees to work together to discuss the idea of inherited practices in more depth, drawing on their own experiences to understand where inherited practices may be limiting their ability to respond to artworks. This will also create space for attendees to think about how they can change their practices, and seek change within their workplaces, to better host artworks, artists and objects.

By giving space for undirected, small group discussions, we hope this time can be the beginning of slow conversations which can draw out over time. These complex conversations take time to allow for thought, change and discussion, and we hope that this can be the start of an unfolding dialogue.

Thursday 15 September, 10.15–18.15

10.15–11.15
INCCA Café: Remaking, Remastering, Reproducing

Moderated by:
Alexandra Nichols, Conservator, Time-based Media (Exhibitions and Displays), Tate
Josephine Bobeck, Conservator of Contemporary Art & Sculpture, Moderna Museet
Zeeyoung Chin, Conservator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Korea

This INCCA Café is now fully booked.

Tate, in collaboration with the International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (INCCA), is hosting an INCCA Café to discuss the challenges and considerations surrounding remaking, remastering and reproducing contemporary artworks in museum collections.

This Café is intended to be an informal session where attendees can discuss the practical and ethical considerations surrounding artworks in their institution’s collection which in the past – or in the future – will require some form of replication by the institution or examples of replication that they have been involved in within private practice. The goal of the Café is to act as a practice sharing session. In order to foster a space where it is possible to openly discuss current practice, challenges and dilemmas, this peer forum will not be recorded.

Two Cafés will run on 15 September, both in the same format but scheduled at different times of day to provide opportunities for those from different timezones to participate. The first will be held at 10.15 BST and the second at 17.15 BST.

Topics of discussion raised in the Café may include:

• When is replication appropriate as a conservation strategy?
• What challenges have or do you expect to come across?
• Is there a formalised process across institutions for implementing the replication of artworks?
• What are the ethical considerations one should consider when undertaking this responsibility?
• What do those involved in remaking, remastering and reproducing find challenging? What is driving any feelings of unease?
• Is the artist’s involvement always necessary for quality control?

The INCCA Café is now fully booked.

Welcome, 12.00–12.05

Reshaping the Collectible Project Lead Pip Laurenson introduces the second day’s sessions

Session 1, 12.05–13.55
Rethinking Memory Towards Radical Museum Futures

Convened by Hélia Marçal

How does our idea of the future affect how we think about the transmission of contemporary art and culture at large? And how do memory ecologies contribute to those possible futures?

This session invites us to look at the ways our ideas about the future are underpinned by certain assumptions, for example that the future is more stable, that value will be greater in the future than it is now, or even that we are living within a linear timeframe, where past is defined and future remains forever undefined.

At the same time, it explores how memories are entangled with the making of futures and the very possibility of future: how we remember will define – ontologically, methodologically and ethically – what we transmit and for whom.

Speakers:

• Andrew Hoskins, Interdisciplinary Research Professor in College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow
• Kiluanji Kia Henda, artist
• Hélia Marçal, Lecturer in History of Art, Materials and Technology, University College London
• Alison Ribeiro de Menezes, Professor of Hispanic Studies, University of Warwick

Session 2, 14.05–15.15
Remaking, Remastering, Reproducing

Convened by Alexandra Nichols

Increasingly, contemporary artworks require some form of replication (including reprinting, remastering, replacing of components, etc.) as part of the conceptual identity of the artwork or to maintain its ability to be exhibited over time.

This first half of this session will share how, as part of the Reshaping the Collectible project, Tate staff examined artworks in the collection that require replication to determine how the museum could better adapt to the evolving lives of these artworks once they enter the collection. It will discuss how after consultation with both internal staff and external experts, the working group proposed the formation of a Replication Advisory Group to serve as an inclusive forum where replication activities could be discussed and debated. Looking back on the past year of its implementation, this session will share its progress so far and lessons that have been learned during its implementation, using examples of artworks that have gone through the process.

The second half of this session will consist of a panel discussion between various collection care specialists as they discuss the process of implementing new policies and procedures at their museum or organization. Panellists will share their experiences and reflect on successes and challenges faced as they advocated for adoption and acceptance of new ways of practice to better fit the needs of contemporary art.

Speakers:

• Kirsten Dunne, Senior Projects Conservator, National Galleries of Scotland
• Flaminia Fortunato, Coordinating Conservator Time based Media Art, Stedelijk Museum
• Stephen Huyton, Collection Registrar, Tate
• Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Photograph Conservation Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Alexandra Nichols, Conservator, Time-based Media (Exhibitions and Displays), Tate
• Vivian van Saaze, Associate Professor for Museum Studies and Conservation Theory, Maastricht University

Session 3, 15.25–17.00
What Is at Stake in Making Invisible Practices Visible?

Convened by Zoë Miller and Ellen Pavey

This session focuses on the invisibility of collection care practices in the museum, considering how the apparently hidden nature of this work might impact understandings of labour and value, and epistemic hierarchies within the museum.

Through presentations and a panel discussion, we explore the different ways in which the invisible has been rendered (more) visible (open storage, public conservation projects, conservation focused exhibitions etc), and reflect on and evaluate these initiatives within the wider context of initiating and sustaining change in the museum.

While the focus of this session is on how collection care practices are valued and communicated in the museum context, it also speaks to institutional transparency more generally, considering how making invisible practices visible could contribute to a more open and honest account of the work of the art museum.

Speakers:

• Fernando Domínguez Rubio, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, UC San Diego
• Hannah Geddes, Curator, Interpretation, Tate
• Haidy Geismar, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the School for the Creative and Cultural Industries, University College London
• Zoë Miller, NACCA PhD student, Maastricht University and Tate
• Ellen Pavey, AHRC CDP PhD student, UCL and Tate

17.15–18.15
INCCA Café: Remaking, Remastering, Reproducing

Moderated by:
Alexandra Nichols, Conservator, Time-based Media (Exhibitions and Displays), Tate
Zeeyoung Chin, Conservator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Korea
Josephine Bobeck, Conservator, Nationalmuseum Sweden

This INCCA Café is now fully booked.

Tate, in collaboration with the International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (INCCA), is hosting an INCCA Café to discuss the challenges and considerations surrounding remaking, remastering and reproducing contemporary artworks in museum collections.

This Café is intended to be an informal session where attendees can discuss the practical and ethical considerations surrounding artworks in their institution’s collection which in the past – or in the future – will require some form of replication by the institution or examples of replication that they have been involved in within private practice. The goal of the Café is to act as a practice sharing session. In order to foster a space where it is possible to openly discuss current practice, challenges and dilemmas, this peer forum will not be recorded.

Two Cafés will run on 15 September, both in the same format but scheduled at different times of day to provide opportunities for those from different timezones to participate. The first will be held at 10.15 BST and the second at 17.15 BST.

Topics of discussion raised in the Café may include:

• When is replication appropriate as a conservation strategy?
• What challenges have or do you expect to come across?
• Is there a formalised process across institutions for implementing the replication of artworks?
• What are the ethical considerations one should consider when undertaking this responsibility?
• What do those involved in remaking, remastering and reproducing find challenging? What is driving any feelings of unease?
• Is the artist’s involvement always necessary for quality control?

This INCCA Café is now fully booked.

Friday 16 September, 09.30–17.00

09.30–11.30
Workshop: Copies for Climate?

As part of the Reshaping the Collectible research project, the project team revisited the question of replication in response to the increasing range of drivers that have emerged in recent years for remaking, remastering or reproducing works of art. As part of this research, it was noted that in discussions about specific cases, considerations of the comparative carbon footprint of various scenarios were increasingly part of the criteria being considered as part of decision making, particularly in relation to the creation of exhibition copies.

To better understand the data around these decisions, we invited Henry McGhie (Curating Tomorrow) and Jacob Chu and his team at Co2Action to work with staff across Tate to examine a range of scenarios.

The first hour of the workshop aims to share this work more widely, and also to introduce a calculator, the Replication Carbon Footprint Tool, created by Gabriela Indriago, Jacob Chu and Camilla Kapustina at Co2Action. This calculator is designed to help understand how replication options affect the carbon footprint of exhibitions and loans.

Participants are welcome to leave after the first hour or stay on for the second hour to join breakout groups and talk about how this applies to their particular situation and to hear about the experiences of others in different parts of the world in more detail.

Two types of breakout groups will run simultaneously:

• Groups of 3 people will join Henry and Jacob for ten minutes to discuss a particular issue that participants have experienced around the environmental impact of replication/exhibition copies or another broader issue related to their work on sustainability.
  If you would like to take part in a small group session with Henry and Jacob, please email jess.sully@tate.org.uk to book a place. While there’s no need to prepare anything formal, please come to the workshop having thought about the issue you want to discuss. Six groups will take place in the hour, and therefore there will a total of 18 slots available on a first come, first served basis.
• Groups of 4 to 5 people to discuss issues with peers, which will last for as much of the hour as participants wish. These groups will be randomly assigned on the day.

There will be no feedback session after the breakout groups, so participants are free to leave if their peer group closes or they wish to leave for any other reason. However, if you have also signed up for a session with Henry and Jacob and are still waiting for your slot, you will be returned to the Zoom Lobby (waiting room) to wait to be called.

Speakers:

• Jacob Chu, VP of Sustainability Solutions, Co2Action LLC
• Pip Laurenson, Professor of Conservation, Director MSc Conservation of Contemporary Art and Media, UCL and Project Lead Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum
• Henry McGhie, Consultant specialising in Museums, Sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals, Curating Tomorrow
• Alyson Rolington, Head of Collection Management, Tate

Welcome, 12.00–12.05

Reshaping the Collectible Project Lead Pip Laurenson introduces the third day’s sessions.

Session 1, 12.05–13.25
Learning an Artwork

Convened by Lucy Rose Bayley

This session asks how Lee Mingwei’s Our Labyrinth (2015 – ongoing) lives in the museum. Acquired by Tate in 2020, the work was performed in the Turbine Hall in May to June this year. Like other examples from the Reshaping the Collectible research project, this performance raises questions about how the museum and those in the museum learn the work from the artist(s), as well as those who work for and perform with the artist(s). How does an artist’s pedagogy meet the practices in the museum?

In our discussion on Our Labyrinth, we explore different experiences of learning the work and its reinterpretations, from the perspectives of performers, a curator and conservator. Leaning into the subjective, we reflect on how the work is personally experienced. What has been learnt from the artist and those involved in the performance and what happens to this knowledge in the museum? We reflect on how we think about, value and sustain the practices and ecologies that surround artists.

Speakers:

• Ben Ajose-Cutting, dancer and choreographer
• Lucy Rose Bayley, writer, contemporary art historian and curator
• Tamsin Hong, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate
• Jean-Gabriel Manolis, dancer-performer
• Ana Ribeiro, Time-based Media Conservator, Tate

Session 2, 13.35–14.35
Thoughts on Discomfort

Convened by Jill Sterrett

To be uncomfortable is to feel physical, rational or emotional unease. In recent years, there have been many occasions for anxiety, worry, embarrassment, pain or malaise. How will we learn to treat discomfort as an indispensable stage of individual reckoning that is required for institutional change and transformation?

Followed by Sanchita Balachandran and Jill Sterrett in conversation, moderated by Pip Laurenson.

Speakers:

• Jill Sterrett, Director of Collections, Wisconsin Historical Society
• Sanchita Balachandran, Associate Director, The Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum, Johns Hopkins University
• Pip Laurenson, Professor of Conservation, Director MSc Conservation of Contemporary Art and Media, UCL and Project Lead Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum

Session 3, 14.50–16.20
Performance by Guillermo Gómez-Peña: An Open Letter to the Museums of the Future
Followed by guided retreat on writing your own letter to the museums of the future

Introduced by:
Michael Wellen, Curator, International Art, Tate

Retreat Facilitator
Emma Tramposch, Managing Director and Curator of the Living Archives, La Pocha Nostra

As an insider/outsider interdisciplinary artist, Guillermo Gómez-Peña rewrites and re-stages so-called ‘Western art history’ while highlighting the colonial legacies of the systematic exclusion, demonisation and fetishisation of women and BIPOC. This performance keynote (and now ongoing project) challenges contemporary art museum practices and calls for an open discussion and response regarding radical restructuring(s) from within.

“I invite you, dear foreigner in my performance country, to dream with me and send me your own letters imagining a better art world or rather a myriad of art worlds, coexisting in synergy with nature, radical imagination and community – your surrounding multiple communities. Do you have ideas to propose for a museum of the future?”

— Guillermo Gómez-Peña

16.20–17.00
Final Plenary: Learning Through Change

Convened by
Pip Laurenson, Professor of Conservation, Director MSc Conservation of Contemporary Art and Media, UCL and Project Lead Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum
Taylor Le Melle, Writer, Curator

At the close of the conference, Pip Laurenson and Taylor Le Melle invite reflections on the last three days.

Speakers:

• sasha arden, Conservation Fellow, Time Based Media, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum
• Sarah Cook, Curator, Writer and Professor of Museum Studies in Information Studies, University of Glasgow
• Louise Lawson, Head of Conservation (Interim), Tate
• Emily Pringle, Head of Research, Tate
• Vivian van Saaze, Associate Professor for Museum Studies and Conservation Theory, Maastricht University

Conference Lead

Professor Pip Laurenson, Professor of Conservation, Director MSc Conservation of Contemporary Art and Media, UCL and Project Lead Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum

Session Convenors

Dr Lucy Rose Bayley, writer, contemporary art historian and curator

Jacob Chu, VP of Sustainability Solutions, Co2Action LLC

Sarah Haylett, PhD researcher, UCL and Tate

Libby Ireland, Sculpture and Installations Conservator, Tate

Taylor Le Melle, writer, curator

Dr Hélia Marçal, Lecturer in History of Art, Materials and Technology, University College London

Jack McConchie, Time-based Media Conservator, Tate

Henry McGhie, Consultant specialising in Museums, Sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals, Curating Tomorrow

Zoë Miller, NACCA PhD student, Maastricht University and Tate

Alexandra Nichols, Conservator, Time-based Media (Exhibitions and Displays), Tate

Ellen Pavey, AHRC CDP PhD student, UCL and Tate

Jill Sterrett, Director of Collections, Wisconsin Historical Society

Emma Tramposch, Managing Director & Curator of the Living Archives, La Pocha Nostra

Dr Michael Wellen, Senior Curator, International Art, Tate

Conference Advisors

Dr Lucy Rose Bayley, writer, contemporary art historian and curator

Jane Bramwell, Head of Library, Archive & Collection Access, Tate

Professor Sarah Cook, curator, writer and Professor of Museum Studies in Information Studies, University of Glasgow

Sarah Haylett, PhD researcher, UCL and Tate

Louise Lawson, Head of Conservation (Interim), Tate

Dr Hélia Marçal, Lecturer in History of Art, Materials and Technology, University College London

Taylor Le Melle, writer, curator

Mandy Merzaban, artist, writer, curator and Brooks International Fellow 2022

Zoë Miller, NACCA PhD student, Maastricht University and Tate

Ellen Pavey, AHRC CDP PhD student, UCL and Tate

Gala Porras-Kim, artist

Deborah Potter, Director of Collection Care, Tate

Dr Emily Pringle, Head of Research, Tate

Alyson Rolington, Head of Collection Management, Tate

Jill Sterrett, Director of Collections, Wisconsin Historical Society

Kit Webb, Senior Collections Services Project Manager, Science Museum Group

Conference Organiser and Graphic Design

Jess Sully, Collection Care Research Manager, Tate

Conference Moderator

Dr Rebecca Sinker, independent curator/researcher, material and digital

Technology and Technical Support

Tate AV team and Jacobs Massey

Communications

Elizabeth Barrett, Freelance PRC Consultant