For a long time, they remained in the shadow of their male colleagues: female artists, art historians and restorers. Their works, research and findings were overlooked, marginalized or attributed to others. The slogan of the Guerilla Girls – “Do women have to be naked to get into the museum?” – gets to the heart of this imbalance. This issue focuses on women who create, research, preserve and communicate art. The focus is on their biographies, working realities and the influence they have on cultural memory. It is about visibility, structural hurdles – and the question of who shapes the narratives of our cultural history. It offers a variety of perspectives on a topic that shapes the professional world as well as everyday museum and academic life. And invites us to question canons, identify gaps and focus on those who have rarely been the center of attention.
Cover: Photo: Pierre-Louis Pierson - http://vergue.com/post/300/Castiglione-Scherzo-di-Follia, Public domain, via: Wikimedia Commons
Dealing with realities
The history of restoration and art history is also a history of strong women – only it was not told in this way for a long time. Unfortunately, women worked in the shadows for a long time, but today they head entire departments. As a result, women have long been mainstays in monument conservation, restoration and museum practice. In our sixth issue of Restauro, we are devoting ourselves to the topic of “Women in the profession” – not as a PR campaign, but as a serious, long overdue examination of the realities of female careers in our field.
Fragile construct
In this issue, we look at a professional reality that at first glance seems self-evident – but on closer inspection, is full of flaws. Why do so many women work in this profession – and why are so few of them visible in management positions? Why do job advertisements talk about “resilience” and “leadership skills” as if these virtues still have a male connotation?
Slow progress is being made
The restoration and art sciences are considered a highly qualified, academic field – and yet the social reality is often characterized by project contracts, multiple workloads and structural uncertainty. You could say that the brush is fine, but the framework conditions are not always. The question of how structural inequality works in our field is a recurring theme throughout this issue. Be it in access to management positions, in the external image of institutions or in the compatibility of family and career. At the same time, the women portrayed show that progress is being made: Progress is being made – slowly, but effectively.
For justice and visibility
We also take a look at the beginnings: What was it like for female conservators to start their careers in the 1950s to 1970s? And what has changed since then? The answers are encouraging – and make it clear how valuable biographical knowledge is for the collective culture of remembrance. This issue is dedicated to women, but not just for them. It is aimed at everyone who is committed to justice, visibility and quality in restoration and art.
I look forward to your feedback on this and all our issues and hope you enjoy reading them.
Sincerely, Tobias Hager & Team t.hager@georg-media.de
instagram: @restauro_magazine
The magazine is available here in the store.
Our last issue was all about historic gardens. Read more about it here.