Kollaborative Restaurierungspraxis

Lecture by Diana Gabler, Linden-Museum Stuttgart

From the preservation of ethnological objects to the practice of care and shared responsibility

Since the 1980s at the latest, museum professionals have been increasingly willing to rethink objectives and guidelines for access to collections and to share decision-making processes with communities of origin that are closely associated with the material culture in museum collections. In the field of conservation and restoration of so-called ethnological objects, a practice of care and shared stewardship has developed internationally in recent decades. Cultural material is no longer merely preserved through preventative measures and active treatments, but the appropriation by museums, cultural meanings and the context of origin are understood and fundamentally included in the strategies for accessing and using collections. Through the increased involvement of communities of origin, conservation and restoration practice in ethnological museums has developed into a multidisciplinary approach. Many international institutions rely on a collaborative decision-making process in which different stakeholders and conservators work together to implement adapted strategies for the culturally sensitive preservation of collections.

This paper discusses ethical questions about the treatment of ethnological objects associated with preservation, conservation and restoration. Furthermore, the importance of interdisciplinary exchange in the conservation practice of the Linden Museum is illustrated by means of case studies.

In cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Erd- und Völkerkunde e. V.