3 July 2024 - Day 2

How can conservation help local communities, and how can the local community enable conservation? As a conservation practice, Insall worked on a number of projects where the local community played a key role in saving, or evolving, a much-loved community asset.

The talk will centre on heritage from the ground up: a story of community-powered conservation and learning through three buildings, two of which found themselves on the Heritage at Risk register. With support from the National Heritage Lottery Fund they have all since re-opened as a local asset, with one currently on site. All of these projects only happened due to the tireless campaigning and the local community. Two of them have opened up training opportunities for local people.

Since 2009 there has been a conservation laboratory in a shopping mall in southeast England.  It was founded as a community project, for volunteers to assist in the investigative conservation of finds from a local archaeological excavation.  Various conservation projects have continued in the space and at other pop-ups and roadshows in different towns and shopping precincts to the present.

This paper presents a review of these Conservation-on-the-High-Street pop-ups and some of the people who have been involved, and/or interacted with them, and how such ‘grass roots’ projects are great for making conservation accessible to new audiences and community involvement.

To reflect diaspora voices in the care of the National Trust's collections we asked: what are the barriers for external partners? How can conservators remove barriers? Can collections be integral to a person-centred approach?

'My Adornment is My Power', curated by Anisha Parmar, a jewellery designer of South Asian Diaspora heritage, explored this. Anisha selected jewellery from the collection of George Curzon, Kedleston Hall, to be re-examined and worn to 'energetically release' it from colonial ties.

Who are collections for? How can they be cared for in collaboration with diaspora communities? Can we celebrate 'objects' and treat people with respect and understanding?

The CCT sees their estate not just as historic buildings to be sensitively conserved, but also as community assets. Through engagement with over 2,000 volunteers, CCT’s strategy is to re-establish each community’s bond with their historic church. This is achieved by encouraging communities to use their buildings and supporting them through skills sharing. The spaces are used for learning, inspiration and quiet reflection, venues for workshops and arts events, as well as meeting places and even holiday accommodation. Community use also contributes to the charity’s financial resilience since events can be a source of revenue by encouraging membership and donations.

To remain relevant to society, the conservation profession needs to be representative and reflective of the wider population, however, we know that the sector is far from reaching that ambition. We know that cost of training is one of the most significant barriers to entry for all groups.

Apprenticeships in the conservation profession offer an opportunity to address this important issue, whilst also allowing individuals to develop their practical skills and underpinning knowledge of conservation practice and theory in a work environment.

Delivering change in the sector is not something that can be achieved instantly, it will take time and requires buy in from professional conservator-restorers, employers, commissioners and sector stakeholders.

This presentation will deliver a call to action for the conservation profession to support the continued development of a resilience and dynamic conservation profession where all can develop enriching and rewarding careers.

This contribution proposes an unconventional focus away from the object to the agent of care, the conservator. As a human, caring for humanity’s legacy, which itself was made by humans for humans, the conservator in their unique position as subject and agent for the object can facilitate negotiations towards communal and engaged decision making processes. This contribution will share examples of how facilitation skills training activates the conservator’s advocacy into a tangible practice of care and support, to empower the profession to communicate and influence practices of prevention, preservation and conservation across society.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum presents the catastrophic events of the day, recovery and response efforts, and the lives of the 2983 victims. Visiting can be a difficult experience with survivors and New Yorkers expressing hesitancy.  However, conspiracy theories, and an ever-changing world result in emotional distancing between those with lived experience of 9/11 and those without. 

This presentation explores preservation practice as a method of community engagement with traumatic history. For those hesitant to relive the events of the day, conservation outreach focuses on the complexities of collection care rather than the 9/11 storytelling. Additionally, conservation-themed social media posts make these activities more accessible.

Housing a theatre, art gallery, technical school and society rooms, Stanley Halls was built between 1903 - 1909 as a utopian civic project by inventor and philanthropist William F. Stanley. Since 2015 the site has been managed by the community charity Stanley Arts. In 2020 Connolly Wellingham Architects were appointed to report on the condition of fabric and prepare a Feasibility Study for the long-term future of the site. This was used to secure funding for an initial phase of urgent repair works and strategic improvements. The successful delivery has built momentum and enthusiasm around the team’s longer-term ambitions and will be a springboard for further phases of work across the site.