What counts as damage in cultural heritage and who gets to decide?
AIC's Microfading Tester International Discussion Group and Preventive Care Network will host the webinar "Shifting Perspectives on Damage, Change, and Value" on Thursday, June 11, from 9-1030am (Los Angeles) / 12-130pm (Santiago) / 5-630pm (Cardiff) / 8-930pm (Abu Dhabi) / 2-330am (Melbourne, next day). Attendance is free, but requires registration at the following link: https://getty.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OagXenQqR9OWXQayLuhCnw. For those unable to attend, the webinar will be recorded and posted to the AIC YouTube channel. Thanks also to the Getty for supporting this event.
Extending the discussion from the session of the same name at the 2026 AIC/CAC-ACCR meeting, this webinar explores the boundaries between material change, damage, and value, revealing how museum policies can shift from the reduction of risk for material loss at all costs to the creation of value through increasing object access, visibility, and connection. While scientific tools offer more precise ways to detect material change, recognizing that damage is a value-based judgment, rather than an objective outcome, becomes critical.
Focusing on display and exhibitions, we consider how conservation strategies can be reframed as tools for sustainable and inclusive practice, drawing upon the varied perspectives on access, significance, and value from different communities. By critically examining concepts like acceptable change, noticeable difference, and object lifetime, we aim to broaden the focus from “what we might lose” to include “what we have to gain”, and reimagine conservation as being accountable not only to the mission of the institution, but also the cultural meaning of the object and its connection to communities.
The webinar will include the four presentations listed below and close with a panel discussion and Q&A, moderated by Cecilia Winter (Guggenheim Abu Dhabi) and Vincent Laudato Beltran (Getty Conservation Institute):
- “Shifting our Relationship with Value: Developing Flexibility in Thinking and Engaging”, Robert Waller (Protect Heritage Corp.) and Jane Henderson (Cardiff University)
- “Under the Bell Jar: Display Cases and their Impact on Change and Value”, Marina Pugliese (Museum of Cultures)
- “Reimagining Conservation at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino: Integrating Indigenous Perspectives in Collection Care”, Josefa Orrego (Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino)
- “Evaluating Loss and Reframing Forever at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum”, Holly Salmon (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum)