An international conference on the possibilities and limits of new techniques in restoration is being held at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen (HAWK) by the Faculty of Building and Conservation and the Hornemann Institute
focus for the first time on
For the first time, the conference aims to focus on what new digital possibilities mean for the preservation and communication of historical fragments. Photo: Salome Hunziker
The lecturers
The international conference of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/ Holzminden/Göttingen (HAWK) on “The fragment in the digital age: possibilities and limits of new techniques in restoration” will take place as a hybrid event from May 7 to 8, 2021. Participation on site, in the HAWK auditorium, is currently fully booked due to the corona restrictions, but all interested parties will be able to attend all lectures online free of charge.
Works of art are usually handed down in fragments. Dealing with the fragment is therefore one of the central tasks of monument preservation, museums and libraries and – based on different theoretical principles – is very different: between the two poles of complete restoration and the preservation of the fragmentary state, there are very different possibilities of real or virtual additions.
This conference would now like to focus for the first time on what the new digital possibilities mean for the preservation and mediation of the historical fragment, because there is “a gap between the increasing importance and professionalization of the visual reconstruction of the historical on the one hand and the theoretical foundation of such activities on the other” (Blokker 2017). How can digital technology be used to increase the acceptance of the fragmentary original? Are there limits to be observed?
Experts from eight countries from various disciplines, such as conservation/restoration, art history, architecture, archaeology, computer science and the psychology of perception, provide answers to these questions. The case studies outline almost 2000 years of cultural history and come from very different contexts and art genres. They include fragments of architecture, large sculptures, paintings, wall paintings, plaster reliefs, marble sculptures and ceramics.
Aim of the conference
The aim of the critical discussions is to produce a practical policy paper on dealing with fragments: the established ethical and theoretical principles of restoration, for example the charters of London and Seville, are to be supplemented by the new digital possibilities. Scientific standards must also apply to the digital world, for example, the speculative part of virtual reconstructions must be clearly identifiable for viewers and the psychological effects on perception must be taken into account.
Conference languages
The conference languages are German and English. Simultaneous translation is not possible.
Conference documentation
The conference documentation will be published as a pre-print for the conference under the following title: The Fragment in the Digital Age. Possibilities and limits of new techniques in restoration. Proceedings of the interdisciplinary conference of the HAWK Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst Hildesheim/Holzminden/ Göttingen in cooperation with the ICOMOS AG Konservierung- Restaurierung and the Verband der Restauratoren e. V., May 7-8, 2021 in Hildesheim, ed. by Ursula Schädler-Saub and Angela Weyer, Hildesheim 2021 (= Schriften des Hornemann Instituts, vol. 21).