A significant statement: new outlooks on treatment documentation

Abstract

Values-based conservation is an increasingly dominant theme in heritage conservation theory. It is less routine in the application of object conservation practice, where emphasis on the physical fabric of heritage prevails. Materials-based approaches pivot conservation decisions on assessments of object condition. Values-based approaches posit that conservation should seek to sustain and enhance heritage significance rather than arrest physical change. A values-based approach is also one where the value-judgements underlying conservation decisions are made explicit. To reflect this, a new treatment documentation format has been developed at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. The documentation procedure shifts the focal point from condition assessments to statements of significance. Within the professional setting, similar new documentation is being developed for lightbased artworks at Glasgow Museums. Ultimately, using a value-based treatment report, the conservator can be aware of the reasoning behind treatment choices and be better equipped to make decisions that reflect an object's values.

Endangerment-driven heritage volunteering: democratisation or ‘Changeless Change’

“…Instead, it invites a holistic consideration of how we 'manage change' in the present and the futures these practices create (Harrison et al 2016). While 'loss aversion' may be inevitable (Holtorf 2015), the recognition that interventions can be generative should provide room for more flexible approaches (Sully and Cardoso 2014;Cutajar et al 2016). However, moving beyond endangerment narratives for heritage must prompt interventions to go beyond merely treating authorised heritage in slightly different ways, to encompass a range of creative practices including ways of recognising and addressing the dangerous heritages that endangerment has downplayed by insisting that 'heritage makes you happy' (cf.…”