1. MACCH annual conference, 18-19 March 2016
On 18 and 19 March, the Maastricht Centre for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH) welcomed a public of international experts, students, scholars, policy-makers, private enterprises and practitioners to its annual conference, which called attention to the differences in approach towards what is considered to be ‘fair and just’ practice in art and heritage worlds. The conference was organised in partnership with the Bonnefantenmuseum and was preceded by a special film programme organised in collaboration with Lumière Cinema and Studium Generale.
The activities were generously supported by the Limburg University Fund/SWOL.
Film programme
Preceding the conference and convened during The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), a special film programme entitled ‘Fake it or leave it: on fair and just practices in art and heritage worlds’ was organised in collaboration with the Lumière Cinema and Studium Generale. From 15 to 17 March, 160 guests were welcomed to the three documentaries on fair and just practices in the art world shown in the Lumière. The films focussed on ‘unfair’ practices such as fakes, forgeries and looted art. MACCH affiliated researchers introduced each film (from the Faculty of Law: Prof. dr. Hildegard Schneider and Dr. Katja Lubina. From the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg: René Hoppenbrouwers and Kate Seymour).
Annual conference
The diverse and large audience for the film programme was already a clear sign of the broad interest in the topic of fair and just practices, and this also became apparent during the conference. After a warm welcome from Mrs. Mieke Damsma, Alderman for Culture, Education, Youthcare, Health, Student & City | Municipality of Maastricht, two panel discussions focussing on ‘prices and regulations’ and ‘conservation ethics’ formed the prelude to the inaugural lectures of Prof. dr. Pip Laurenson (Head of Collection Research at Tate, London and holder of the Special Chair Art Collection and Care at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University) and Prof. dr. Rachel Pownall (Professor Art and Finance at the School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University) on Friday afternoon.
The next day, Prof. dr. Olav Velthuis (University of Amsterdam) opened with a thought-provoking keynote lecture on whitewashing reputations in the art market. Panel discussions addressed topics varying from ‘museum digitisations’, ‘illicit trades’ to ‘restitution matters’. The conference brought together leading scholars and practitioners, and prompted much-needed discussion on legal, economical and ethical issues related to art and heritage practices. Together with the full house and lively discussions after each panel, the conference proved to be a successful event and productive ground for further research activities. Panel reports were produced by students and will be made available on the MACCH website. In addition, the conference organisers are preparing an edited volume with a selection of papers.
2. Inaugural lecture Pip Laurenson, 18 March 2016
We are delighted to announce that Pip Laurenson, Head of Collection Care Research at Tate (UK), has taken up a part-time appointment as extraordinary professor for MACCH within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS). Prof. dr. Laurenson’s research interests are in the conservation and custodianship of contemporary art and their associated practices, and in the museum as a research institution.
Laurenson’s career has been driven and shaped by changing artistic practice; with its impact on the museum forming the focus of her doctoral thesis. She has published widely on contemporary art conservation, in particular time-based media and performance. At FASoS she will concentrate on research into the networks which underpin the making of artworks, their associated practices and their impact on conservation and the museum.
Laurenson holds a PhD in Conservation from University College London, and currently supervises doctoral students from Leiden University, Kings College London, and Maastricht University.
In addition to her position at FASoS, Laurenson is the Head of Collection Care Research at the Tate (the national collection of British art and modern and contemporary art within the UK). She develops, leads and supports research into the care of the Tate’s collections. She is also the lead researcher for the Tate on Pericles, a Horizon 2020 research project developing new approaches to digital preservation.
This professorship builds on an existing relationship between the Tate and Maastricht University. The Tate is a partner in the Maastricht University-led Marie Curie Doctoral Training Centre, New Approaches to the Conservation of Contemporary Art (NACCA) and, between 2012 and 2014, the Tate and Maastricht University delivered Collecting the Performative, a research network examining emerging practice for collecting and conserving performance-based art.
Laurenson gave her inaugural address on Friday 18 March 2016 during the annual MACCH conference. A video registration of this lecture ‘Practice as Research: Unfolding the Objects of Contemporary Art Conservation’ is available here.
3. The Digital Library of Dutch Literature
The Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren (The Digital Library of Dutch Literature) is a collection of primary and secondary information on Dutch literature. Under the auspices of the chair “Language culture in Limburg”, the Limburg portal was founded on 1 September 2011. The Limburg portal aims at digitizing Limburgian literature in order to make it freely accessible to everyone.
Thanks to the voluntarily members of a flourishing workgroup, works were selected from medieval times until now that are representative of the literary qualities of the (wider) Limburg area and authors who relate to it. A striking characteristic of Limburgian literature is its multilingual nature: Latin, dialect, French and German.
The portal has received grants from the Province of Limburg for a period of four years (the last one in 2015 amounting to 25,000 euro) and from the Winand Roukens Fonds Foundation. By the end of 2015, 282 titles had been digitized (100 of these thanks to the financial support of the Winand Roukens Fonds). In 2016, 106 new titles are in production.
