NACCA Closing Conference 2019

24–27 March 2019, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht

This symposium aims to strengthen the exchange between theory and practice in the conservation of contemporary art by exploring promising practices (and failures) and by critically questioning its conditions and drawbacks. It is a collaboration between the EU funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art (NACCA), the Maastricht Centre for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH) and the Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht. Next to the presentation of the 15 NACCA PhD projects, it will host several keynote lectures, panels and round tables. 

NACCA Symposium 2018

25–26 June 2018, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Cologne

From different perspectives to common grounds in contemporary art

A two-day conference at the Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences (CICS) in Cologne (Germany) providing a cross-disciplinary forum for conservation professionals, art historians, conservation scientists, and students to address current issues and advances in contemporary art conservation. NACCA PhD students will present their work amongst that of other contemporary art conservation researchers.

NACCA Conference 2017

28–30 June 2017, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

Material Futures: Matter, Memory and Loss in Contemporary Art Production and Preservation

This conference provides a forum for professionals, researchers, and students working across different disciplines to discuss urgent questions regarding artwork identity, permanence and impermanence, reproducibility and replication, and the role of the artist and the institution in constructing and maintaining memory. 

NACCA Poster Session 2016

16 January 2017, Tate, Switch House

NACCA researchers presented their ongoing research during a public poster session hosted by Tate Modern in London.

NACCA Summer School Cologne

25–29 June 2018, Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences

Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences, TH Köln, hosted the third and final NACCA Summer School. In addition to the two-day NACCA Symposium, the programme included peer reviewed feedback sessions and a collaborative session on revising the Decision-Making Model for Contemporary Art Conservation when treating 21st Century artworks, providing an opportunity for discussing key terms used in the conservation of contemporary art.

NACCA Winter School Porto

15–19 January 2018, University of Porto

The Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto hosted the 3rd and last NACCA Winter School. Apart from chapter feedback sessions, this fifth training event focused on gaining career-oriented skills through several workshops and career examples, and included discussions on decision-making in conservation problems in interdisciplinary settings, with artists, curators and conservators.

NACCA Summer School Glasgow

26–30 June 2017, University of Glasgow

The fourth NACCA meeting was organised by Glasgow University and was hosted by the Centre of Contemporary Arts and the Glasgow School of Art. It was the second summer school, and concentrated on the work in progress. During an intense and successful three day programme PhD researchers and supervisors met to evaluate the process and outcomes thus far.

NACCA Winter School London

16–20 January 2017, Tate Modern

The third training event focused on professional skills for museums and the heritage sector. The programme focussed on the complexities of professional communication and collaboration to encourage reflection on perceptions of museum practices. A focal point was the question whether the way in which conservation is perceived and communicated within a contemporary art museum needs to be changed and how this can be accomplished. Sanneke Stigter and Ella Hendriks, from the University of Amsterdam’s Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage programme, led an interactive session where students developed strategies for exhibiting conservation.

NACCA Summer School Amsterdam

11–15 July  2016, University of Amsterdam

The Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam hosted the second training event, NACCA's first Summer School. The training programme included an introduction to Problem Based Learning, artist interviews, research ethics; and documentation methods. The group was able to attend behind-the-scene tours of the conservation studios of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum and the research labs of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.

NACCA Winter School Maastricht

25–29 January 2016, University of Maastricht

Fifteen doctoral students and their supervisors came together at the first Winter School for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network ‘New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art‘ (NACCA). The focus was on  general academic skills, research methodology, ethics and data management, in addition to history, theory and concepts of contemporary art and art conservation.