Sixty custodians of the world’s cultural heritage unanimously passed the Salzburg Declaration on the Conservation and Preservation of Cultural Heritage on October 31, 2009

The declaration underscores the vital need to protect the world’s cultural heritage and will be distributed widely to cultural ministries and other key policymaking entities around the globe. Accompanying the declaration are a set of recommendations developed by the cultural heritage leaders from thirty-two countries gathered in Salzburg under the auspices of the U.S. federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS).

The declaration and the recommendations are the culmination of “Connecting to the World’s Collections: Making the Case for Conservation and Preservation of our Cultural Heritage,” which was convened from October 28 – November 1, 2009 in Salzburg as part of the IMLS’s multi-year initiative on collections care. The session combined presentations by leading experts in conservation and preservation throughout the world with small working groups tasked to make recommendations for future action in key areas, including emergency preparedness, education and training, public awareness, new preservation approaches, and assessment and planning. Summary For the Summary of the Session click here Session Report To view a web version of the Session Report click here. To view a version of the Session Report formatted for printing click here. Salzburg Declaration For the full text of the declaration click here. List of Participants and Participation Map For the participants list click here. For the participation map click here. Bibliography For the session bibliography click here.

Keynote Presentation: Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, speaks on the critical role that objects play in society’s memory.

Interview: Anne Radice, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, speaks about the collection care initiative.

Reflections:
Participants speak about the importance of the conservation of cultural heritage in their respective contexts'.

Catherine Antomarchi, Unit Director, ICCROM, Rome, Italy. Simon Cane, Head of Operations, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, United Kingdom. Carolina Castellanos Cultural Heritage Consultant, Mexico. Vinod Daniel (Co-chair), Head, Australian Museum, Cultural Heritage and Science Initiative, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Chairman, AusHeritage; and Vice Chairman, ICOM-Committee for Conservation.

Asma Ibrahim, Director, Museum and Art Gallery Department, State Bank of Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan. Jerry Podany, Senior Conservator, Antiquities, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California, United States; President, International Institute for Conservation. Kay Raseroka, Director of Library Services, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.

Additional Resources:

Blog:
A weblog by Richard McCoy, Associate Consevator of Objects at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, is available at www.iiconservation.org/wpress. To read his posts:

10/31: Preliminary Results and the Salzburg Declaration on the Conservation and Preservation of Cultural Heritage

10/30: On Looking for New Models

10/29: Days Like These Don’t Come Along Very Often

10/26: Guten Morgen, You’ve Got Homework

10/23: An Open Invitation to Connect with me in Salzburg

IMLS Connecting to Collections Website:
For more information on the IMLS Connecting to Collections initiative, click here:

 Aknowledgements:
The Salzburg Global Seminar’s deep appreciation is owed to Institute of Museum and Library Services for making Session 466: Connecting to the World’s Collections: Making the Case for Conservation and Preservation of our Cultural Heritage possible. Additional support was provided by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, The Freeman Foundation, The Nippon Foundation, and the Capital Group Companies.

 The Salzburg Global Seminar and IMLS would also like to thank the session co-chairs, panelists, facilitators, and participants for donating their time and expertise.

 

Connecting to the World's Collections: Making the Case for the Conservation and Preservation of our Cultural Heritage - October 2009

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