Image from the American Institute for Conservation website
In this, our first post, we’re going to discuss two common questions about our field.
- What’s the difference between Preservation, Conservation, and Restoration when it relates to material culture and heritage?
- Are Conservators and Conservationists the same?
Hopefully, by the end of this post, we’ll have cleared up some of the more confusing language and give you a better understanding of our field.
What’s the difference between Preservation, Conservation, and Restoration?
Preservation is the act of preventing damage to material culture. Often it takes the form of protective measures involving monitoring environments so they remain suitable for display or long-term storage; low-impact storage solutions including cases, frames, boxes, or sleeves made to fit the materials; and occasionally repairing the damaged items themselves. Preservationists have varying degrees of skills and focus, some with specialized degrees including library science, material culture studies, museology, or other trades.
Conservation is also the act of preventing damage to material culture, but often its techniques and applications of prevention are more integral or invasive to the items themselves. It requires skills in chemistry, biology, art applications like painting, sculpture or metalwork, and art history theory to garner all the knowledge to make the best decisions for each object. Conservation techniques can be used to reverse damage or stabilize the item with its current damage in place. Conservators take on hours of specialized training, higher education degrees, and often focus on one particular medium: paintings, books, works on paper, objects, furniture, audio-visual formats, etc.
Restoration* is often the act of restoring material culture to its original appearance, but the techniques involved with these processes don’t rely on using skills or materials original to the creation of the item. Damage to a historical item might be repaired with newer materials and made to look as if the object itself is new or in the best possible condition.
*However restoration is a complicated term as many skilled practitioners without official conservation degrees use this term to denote their skills and trade. The authenticity of their work shouldn’t necessarily be assume as less truthful than conservators, but should be reviewed individually for clarity.
Practitioners of all of these are dedicated to their trades and skills and intimately know the work that they deal with.
Are Conservators and Conservationists the same?
In short, no. It is very easy to conflate and mistake the two because they often have similar vernacular and purpose when talking about their work. Conservators work with material things, and seek to ensure their longevity and stability over time. Stereo-typically, they’re often found in specialized labs, wearing smocks or white coats and can chat your ear off about the newest adapted tool that makes their work easier. Conservationists work with the world ecosystems and environments, and seek to ensure that our world is sustainably managed. Stereo-typically, they’re the David Attenboroughs of the world, researching the repercussion of humanity’s impact on the planet.
Thankfully there is some overlap in these two fields: while we look to progress in our techniques for sustaining our cultural heritage, we can also look towards green-chemicals and sustainable option for the supplies we use. After all, what benefit is it to try and make our material culture sustainable if we can’t make the greater environment sustainable! Groups like Sustainability in Conservation offer resources and ideas for achieving these goals.