AIC's 47th Annual Meeting

Cultural heritage institutions are increasingly sites of conflict as previously accepted or imposed societal norms are questioned and replaced with more inclusive values and practices that reflect changing social demographics and ethics. Phrases like “Museums are not neutral” and “Archives are not neutral” are rallying cries for a new generation of practitioners who seek to confront structural racism and sexism in their collections and places of work. Despite the best of intentions and a strong ethic of care, conservators and the field of conservation as a whole is no more free from the socio-economic constraints the guide the acquisition and exhibition of collections work than our curatorial peers. In her 2016 talk “Race, Diversity and Politics in 21st Century Conservation,” Sanchita Balachandran challenged conservators to consider how the core function of our work is to preserve the intangible heritage of material objects to support diverse communities of practice. This talk reflects upon the role of conservators within American heritage institutions and how our service-based profession ends up upholding the traditional racial and gender hierarchies of American society, whether through treatment priorities, conservation methodologies, or value-based assumptions. This talk will also explore the unique role that conservators and preservation staff hold in heritage institutions with broad responsibilities for the preventive care and maintenance of collections and how the authority derived from these responsibilities can be leveraged to better address the care and promotion of more diverse collections that better reflect American society and ideals.