Values and Heritage Conservation - Getty

1 Values and Heritage ConservationResearch ReportThe Getty Conservation Institute, Los AngelesValues and Heritage ConservationRe s e a rch Re p o rtErica Av rami, Randall Mason, Marta de la To rreThe Getty Conservation Institute, Los AngelesP roject c oord i n a t o rs: M a rta de la To rre and Erica Av ra m iL ogistics coord i n a t o r: Sheri Sap e rs t e i nRep o rt ed itors: Eri ca Av rami and Randall MasonD e s i g n / P roduction coord i n a t o r: Helen Mau ch Copy editor: Sylvia Tidwe l lB i bl i ogr a p hy contributions: Randall Mason, Claud ia Bohn-Spector and Hilar y Dunne Fe rr o n eC o pyri ght 200 0 The J. Paul Getty Tru s tThe Getty Conservation Ins titute1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 700 Los Angel es, CA 9004 9-1684 Telephone .7325 Fax 310. GCIVa l u e s @ g e t t y. e d uh t t p : / / w w w. g e t t y. e d u / g c iThe Getty Conservation Institute wo r ks intern a t i o n a l ly to advance conservati on practice int h evisual art s b r o a d ly interp reted to include objects, collecti ons, arc h i t e c t u re, and sites.

2 Th eInstitute ser ves t he conser vation community t hr ough four areas ofa c t ivi ty: scienti fic re s e a rc hinto the nat ure, decay, and treat ment of materi als; edu cation and training; model f ield pr oj ects;and the dissemination ofi n fo rmation through tr aditional publications and electronic means. Inall its endeavo rs, the g c iis committed to address ing unanswe red q uestions and p romoting thehighest possibl e standards ofc o n s e rva t i o n .The Institut e i s a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, an inter na tional cultura l and phi lanthropicins titution d evoted to the visual ar ts and the humani ties tha t includes an art museum as well asp r og r ams for ed ucation, scholars h i p, and conserva t i o n .Preface1 Report on Research3 The Spheres and Challenges ofC o n s e rva t i o n3C o n s e rvation Pe rs p e c t ives 6Va l u e s, Valorization, and Cultural Signifi c a n c e7 The Need for a Conceptual Fra m ewo r k1 0 Exploratory Essays13 Overview14 Stewarding the Past in a Perplexing Present18 David Lowenthal Economic and Cultural Value 26in the Work ofCreative ArtistsDavid ThrosbyCultural Heritage and Globalization32 Lourdes ArizpeCultural Heritage , Liberal Education,38andHuman FlourishingUffe Juul JensenCultural Fusion44 Erik CohenPreserving the Historic Urban Fabric 51in a Context ofFast-Paced ChangeMona SerageldinThe Making ofCultural Heritage59 Susan M.

3 PearceChallenges for Heritage Conservation65andthe Role ofResearch on ValuesDaniel BluestoneConclusions68 Participants71 Contributor Biographies72 Appendix: Values Bibliography73 Table ofContents1 Values are the subject of much discussion in contem-p o ra ry society. In this postmodern, post-ideolog y,post-nation-state age, the search for Values and mean-ing has become a pressing concern. In the field ofc u l t u ral Heritage Conservation , Values are critical todeciding what to conserve what material goods willre p resent us and our past to fu t u re genera t i o n s a swell as to determining how to conserve. Even briefc o n s i d e ration of a typi cal conser vation d ecisio nreveals many diffe rent, sometimes dive rgent Values atp l ay: think of the artistic and aesthetic Values ofa nold building, as well as the historical Values ofi t sa s s o c i a t i o n s, plus the economic Values tied up in itsuse, and so on.

4 In short, Values are an import a n t ,d e t e rm in ing fa ct or in th e cur rent pr act ices a ndfu t u re prospects of the Conservation fi e l d .This re p o rt presents the results of re s e a rc hon the subject of the Values and benefits ofc u l t u ra lheritag e c on ser vat ion under ta ken by the Ge ttyC o n s e rvation Institute (g c i) through its Agora ini-t i a t ive ,1as a means ofa rticulating and fu rt h e r i n gideas that have emerged from the Conservation fi e l din recent ye a rs. Thi s tra n s d i s c i p l i n a ry re s e a rc h ,along with a parallel project on the economics ofheritage Conservation , re p resents an effo rt oft h eg c ito advance understanding ofc o n s e rva t i o n s cur-rent role in society, to educ ate ours e l ves and thec o n s e rvation community at large about the poten-tial role ofc o n s e rvation in the fu t u re, a nd, ul ti -m a t e ly, to strengthen the capacity of the conserva-tion field to enrich cultural life and the visual arts insocieties wo rl dw i d e.

5 The overall aim ofgciresearch on social andeconomic issues is understanding the processes s p e c i fic and genera l by which material heritagec o n s e rvation f unctions in the context ofm o d e rns o c i e t y, wi th the end ofi m p r oving conser va t i o npractice and policy. By elucidating the ways in whichwe, as societies, profe s s i o n a l s, and citize n s, deter-mine what to conserve and how to conserve it, wehope to foster g reater understanding of the wo r kthat conservators do and ofthe ways in which otherp r o fe s s i o n a l s, academics, and community membersc o l l a b o rate in and info rm this work and how theymight be more effe c t ive ly integ rated in the fu t u re .Such insight can, in tur n, make Conservation pra c-tice more re l evant to the societies of which it is ap a rt, info rm policy and decision makers about thepotential ofc o n s e rvation for fostering civil society,and strengthen the role ofconservation as a part ofcivil late 1 9 9 7, the g c ib egan development of amultiyear inquiry to explore the Values and benefitso fc u l t u ral Heritage Conservation .

6 The re s e a rch wa slaunched with a meeting held in Los Angeles andR ive rside, Califo rnia, Ja nu a ry 14to 1 6, 1 9 9 8. Th emeeting invo l ved a mu l t i d i s c i p l i n a ry and mu l t i n a-tional g roup ofp r o fessionals and academics fromthe Conservation and c ultural Heritage f ields andas s oc ia te d d isc i pl in es ( se e Pa rt ici p an t s se c ti onbelow). Meeting participants were asked to examinethe state ofk n owledge about the multiple defi n i-t i o n s, roles, and meanings ofc u l t u ral Heritage andits Conservation ; to look at the kinds of social andc u l t u ral dynamics mak ing the g reatest impact onc o n s e rva t i o n s role in society, pre s e n t ly and in thefuture; and to consider ideas, concepts, and researchth eme s t ha t wa rra nt fu rt he r st udy. Th rou gh anonline discussion that fo l l owed the Ja nu a ry 1 9 9 8meeting, through correspondence, and through sev-e ral commissioned essay s, these ideas we re honedand debated.

7 The fi rst part of this document, Re p o rt onRe s e a rch, provides a summar y of the ideas a ndove ra rching themes that have emerged during thec o u rse of our re s e a rch and meetings, in our ongo-i ng d i s c u s s i o ns w i t h c o ll e a gu e s a t t he G e t t y,e l s ewh e re in the Conservation f ield, in academia,and in litera t u res from other disciplines that bear onc o n s e rvation. The second par t of the document, E x p l o ra t o ry Essay s, is a compendium ofp ap e rson specific topics written by scholars who have par-ticipated in this re s e a rch. These essays ex p l o re somec o re ideas in greater depth and provide diffe rent dis-c i p l i n a ry pe rs p e c t ive s o n h ow br o a d s o c i a ldynamics influence our understanding ofc u l t u ra lPreface2heritage Conservation . The Conclusions synthe-s i ze some of these ideas and issues and proposetop ics fo r cont inue d ex p l o rat io n.

8 The se t op ics,along with the summary and essay s, are meant top r ovoke fu rt her re s e a rc h an d cre a t ive t hinki n gabout the fu t u re ofc o n s e rvation. The success ofsuch re s e a rch depends, in part, on active dialog u ea m o ng a wi d e ni ng g r o u p o fc o l l a b o ra t o rs . S oplease join us in this conve rsation. We we l c o m eyo u r t h o u g h t s a n d s u g g e s t i o n s ; e m a i l u s a tG C I Va l u e s @ g e t t y. e d u .Notes1. In accordance with the mandate of the J. Paul Getty Tru s tand the mission of the Getty Conservation Institute, theA g o ra was established with a focus on material cultura lheritage that is to say, art, objects, art i fa c t s, bu i l d i n g s,m o nu m e n t s, sites, etc. These limits (however art i ficial theym ay be) we re set because the Institute does not encompassin its Conservation work such manifestations ofc u l t u re asfo l kl o re, litera t u re, mu s i c, and dance.

9 The ex p l o ration ofthe Agora invo l ved the full spectrum ofc u l t u ral heritageand the range oft a n gi ble and intangi ble constructs re l a t e dto the concept of Heritage . Howeve r, in the stra t egic deve l-opment of re s e a rch and other activ i t i e s, material heritageand its associated constructs (tangi ble and intangi ble) havebeen emphasize d .3 The Spheres and Challenges of Conserv a t i o nU n d e rpinning this re s e a rch is an assumption thatheritage Conservation is an integral part ofc ivil soci-e t y. Cultivating this role should, ideally, be one oft h eabiding concerns of our field. In some fo rm, conser-vation of material Heritage is a function observa bl ein eve ry moder n society. Conservation shapes thesociety in which it is situated, and in turn, it is shap e dby the needs and dynamics of that society. Yet how co ns er vat io n is ap pr oac hed andu n d e rta ken va rie s from cul ture to culture.

10 Th et e rm c o n s e rvation i t s e l fhas varied meaning s andc o n n o t a t i o n s. In certain contex t s, conserva t i o n has broad meaning, signifying the entire f ield orrealm ofc u l t u ral Heritage pre s e rvation, from acade-mic inquiry and historical re s e a rch to policy mak-i ng to p la n ni n g t o t e c h ni c al in te r ve nt io n ( t hi smeaning is akin to the American notion of h i s t o r i cp re s e rvation ). At the same time, Conservation isused to indicate physical intervention or tre a t m e n ts p e c i fi c a l ly. This definition ofc o n s e rvation re fe rs tothe mo re t echn ical ly or i en t ed f u nc tio ns o ft h eb roade r f ie ld . But the bro ad er d ef initio n re fe rsm o re widely to Conservation as a complex, dive rs e ,and even dive rgent social practice and it is this def-inition that needs to be fo regr o u n d e d .It would seem that the latter, more narr owd e finition ofc o n s e rva ti on is a n el ement of the fo rm e r, more ex p a n s ive def initi on.