On November 29, another “Salon of Conservators” will take place in Berlin. The background to the initiative and the salon is the current debate surrounding the return of African artworks and cultural assets to their countries of origin
Although it is not yet possible to speak of a regular event, the will to establish the “Salon der Restaurator*innen” is there. The first salon was held eight years ago. Now there will be a second one on November 29 in Berlin, with the theme “Restitution of art and cultural objects to their countries of origin”. The topic is not only very topical, but is also the subject of controversial debate, says co-initiator Wanja Wedekind. The restorer, who has offices in Göttingen and Berlin, is one of the organizers of the salon and a member of a group of restorers and conservators who founded the “Restoration and Restitution” initiative in March.
The background to the initiative and the salon is the current debate on the return of African works of art and cultural assets to their countries of origin. According to the organizers, restorers and conservators urgently need to be involved and participate in this debate. In the past, restitution was also prevented with the argument that there were “conservation concerns”. This was usually more of a political argument.
Wedekind and his initiative want to call on restorers to speak out on the subject of restitution, to give their assessments and defend them. In their statement, which will be published in full at the Salon in November, they say: “In summary, we hope to contribute to an objectification of the facts concerning our field by sensitizing our colleagues to examine the practical steps of restitution in an unbiased manner. In addition, we want to draw attention to apparently politically formulated defensive claims and act publicly from an expert perspective.”
The 2nd Salon will deal with all of these topics, whereby the lectures will not repeat the familiar, but will shed light on special aspects. For example: “European looted art in the USA” (Sophie Haake), “Archaeological collections from Central Asia” (Birgit Angelika Schmidt) and reflections on the “Parthenon frieze – restitution or digital reconstruction” (Lea Puglisi, Wanja Wedekind).
Even though there will be lectures and a film (“Le Thrône” by Antje Majewski tells the story of the Cameroon Bamoun throne from the Ethnological Museum Berlin) on the evening of November 29, the salon sees itself “in the spirit of traditional salon culture as a forum for controversial discussion and constructive debate”. The initiators therefore attach great importance to the exchange with the participants, also in order to make it clear how crucial restoration expertise is in restitution. But not only there. The initiators have identified a still weak position of their professional group in Germany and want to advocate “for a strengthening of conservation skills as well as for object-oriented specialist planning for new museum buildings, conversions and modernizations”, because in Germany, too, “conservation-specific aspects are often neglected.” The full statement will be published during the Salon.
A third salon is already planned for 2020. It will be held under the motto “Restoration and international cooperation”.
The venue is the Neue Schule für Fotografie in Berlin-Mitte, Brunnenstraße 188-190. The salon starts at 7 p.m., participation costs 18 euros, for students 10 euros.
Short descriptions of the planned lectures will be available soon at www.restauro.de