Expanding the Conservation Canon ASSESSING CROSS-CULTURAL AND INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATIONS IN CONSERVATION

Abstract

This paper explores some of the dilemmas that relate to the existence of collections of cultural material and efforts to preserve them. It examines issues that arise when multiple points of view are focused on the origins, ownership, custodianship and meaning of such material. Such an investigation is impossible without exploring the landscape in which cultural materials conservation has developed. In doing this it is necessary to identify the boundaries of the disciplinary territory that currently frame conservation practice, and to investigate the role of conservation at the edges of this terrain; the boundary knowledge of the discipline where interdisciplinary knowledge is developed and traded. This paper argues that conservation has an important contribution to make along the axis of broader social and humanitarian concerns, and that new disciplinary and cultural intersections are a critical part of contemporary conservation practice. It also discusses some strategies that may usefully strengthen the role of conservation beyond institutions, and support collaborations for cultural replenishment and continuity.