The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) has adopted 10 Agents of Deterioration which are widely adopted by collections specialists and conservators across the world. An international and intercultural team is proposing an 11th Agent: Incorrect Cultural Care. In this presentation, Melanie, Martin, and Amanda will go over the project and concept behind this 11th Agent and how it fits with the others. There will then be time for an interactive discussion.
Join us on Monday July 13 for a Museum Study webinar, 11th Agent of Deterioration: Incorrect Cultural Care, presented by Melanie Deer with team members Martin Schultz and Amanda Lancaster
Webinar time: 9 pm European, 8 pm UK, 4 pm Atlantic, 3 pm Eastern, 2 pm Central, 1 pm Mountain, Noon Pacific, 11 am Alaska, 9 am Hawaii
Over recent years there has been an emphasis on incorporating cultural viewpoints in interpretation of collections within a museum setting. Along with this, there has been a greater discussion about the actual care of the collections and a strong push for repatriation of items important to origin cultures. An international and intercultural team has identified a weakness in exiting museum teaching and practices regarding this. Many times, the idea of caring for items and individuals in a culturally appropriate way is viewed as "going above and beyond" and not core to what we do as museum practitioners. The team is proposing an 11th Agent of Deterioration that will officially acknowledge that caring for an item or individual in a way that does not align with the origin culture's traditional care practices causes irreversible damage and is a high risk to a collection that needs to be addressed.
Melanie Deer is the Collections Manager and Assistant NAGPRA Coordinator at the Center for Archaeology and Society Repository at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. She received her BA in Anthropology and Creative Writing from the University of Arizona and her MA in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins. She has over 10 years of experience in collections and is also the Chair of the Registrars Committee - Western Region.
Martin Schultz is an independent museum curator who has been working in museums in Europe and the US in various capacities since 2012 and began working with international repatriation related matters in 2015. Martin holds a Master's Degree in Ethnology from the University of Frankfurt, Germany.Â
Amanda Lancaster is a museum professional with 10 years of experience managing museum collections. She holds a masters’ degree in history from Texas Tech University, with a graduate certificate in Museum Studies. In 2017, she joined the staff at the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, AK, where she currently serves as the Curator of Collections and librarian for the Koniag Cultural Library. As a museum professional, her expertise is in collections management, NAGPRA/repatriation, museum policies, copyright & intellectual property, and facility management.
To register for the webinar email webinar@MuseumStudy.com with the subject: 11th Agent of Deterioration: Incorrect Cultural Care. Please include your name, institution, and title.