Email digest for the Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList) egroup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Institute of Conservator-Restorers Ireland - Conference Call for Papers 2. Caring for Naturecultures – The Cryosphere 3. Pre-Conference Meet Up with Icon Emerging Professionals Group 4. Questionnaire - Exhibition Practices of Colour Slides in Institutional Contexts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.From: Bethany Skuce Posted: Friday June 5, 2026 6:10 AM Subject: Institute of Conservator-Restorers Ireland - Conference Call for Papers Message: ICRI is delighted to announce our biennial conference theme of Being Moved: Conservation in conditions of change and that our call for abstracts is now open! This conference aims to explore conservation practice in changing conditions, bringing together practice-based and research-led contributions that address storage, environmental uncertainty, and evolving ethical frameworks. It seeks to advance both technical understanding and critical reflection on how conservation decisions are made, communicated, and enacted in contemporary contexts. Theme 1: Storage in motion Moving collections, shifting priorities, working with limits This theme explores storage as a transitional, temporary condition, shaped by movement, constraint and change. It focuses on how conservators respond to collections that are in flux rather than in stable, ideal environments. Topics include: low-cost and small-scale storage solutions temporary storage during moves, decants and renovations Storage as a changing, rather than fixed, condition Managing collections in transition or uncertainty Theme 2: Changing climates Data, risks, and rethinking what 'safe' conditions mean This theme addresses how environmental change is reshaping conservation practice, with an emphasis on interpreting data, redefining standards, and responding to evolving risks. Topics include: Environmental data analysis: how to interpret, communicate and act on monitoring data making environmental data meaningful and usable in decision-making Passive environmental strategies and low-intervention approaches emerging threats, mould fungi and what these reveal about changing ideas of 'safe' conditions Changing pest management in response to climate change Theme 3: Political climate Conservation as a value-driven and political act repatriation, restitution and contested ownership conserving objects with conflicted or difficult histories conflict, loss and the limits of conservation intervention the role of conservators in taking an ethical or political position including professional responsibility conservation in contexts of crisis, instability, or displacement The closing date for submissions is the 26th June and abstracts can be submitted here: Call for abstracts: 2026 ICRI Biennial Conference <https://form.jotform.com/240404962390050?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAb21jcASNKnBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81NjcwNjczNDMzNTI0MjcAAacAAnoqiXtBLS1WQ3lQBaSpby7XN6F_XdVQrqWO38cc_9pTM_ZV1sIXezCb5g_aem_OsjW4vnFwSGhc5SkGZQ_9A&utm_id=97760_v0_s00_e0_tv3> The conference will take place in Connaught Hotel in Galway City, Ireland. Speakers will need to present in person but the conference will be available to attend in person and online on the 23rd October 2026. We look forward to your submissions! ------------------------------ Bethany Skuce Institute of Conservator-Restorers Ireland ------------------------------ 2.From: Hanna Holling Posted: Friday June 5, 2026 4:37 PM Subject: Caring for Naturecultures – The Cryosphere Message: Join us for the symposium Caring for Naturecultures – The Cryosphere and the opening of the accompanying exhibition at the Collegium Helveticum in Zurich. As glaciers retreat under rapidly warming climatic conditions, they emerge not only as indicators of environmental transformation, but as complex conservation objects navigating natural and cultural worlds. Melting ice releases archaeological artefacts preserved through freezing rather than intentional conservation; geotextile coverings transform Alpine landscapes into sites of technological intervention and ecological grief; Antarctic heritage sites expose the entanglements of preservation, geopolitics, and climate instability; and artistic practices confront the emotional, ethical, and material contradictions of caring for environments undergoing irreversible change. Responding to these transformations, Caring for Naturecultures – The Cryosphere reconceives conservation as a cross-domain practice of care that exceeds conventional distinctions between natural and cultural heritage. Bringing together perspectives from art history, anthropology, archaeology, conservation, environmental humanities, glaciology, natural sciences, and artistic practice, the symposium approaches glaciers as natureculture hybrids: living archives shaped by climate, memory, extraction, scientific knowledge, and political imagination. Structured around themes of glacial loss, emotional and spiritual responses to disappearing ice, glacial archaeology, environmental politics, Antarctic heritage, and artistic engagements with the cryosphere, the program explores how melting ice destabilizes inherited notions of permanence, stewardship, and preservation. Across discussions of mourning, geoengineering, migration, emerging archaeological objects, and complex ecologies, glaciers appear not as passive landscapes, but as active agents within Earth histories and as sites of planetary responsibility. With: Philip Ursprung; Jean Chamel; Nathalie Dietschy; Giovanna di Pietro; Dennis Hansen; Hanna Hölling; Kati Lindström; Thomas Reitmaier; Adam Sébire; Ester Vonplon Please note that this is an in-person event only. The full program of the symposium is available here: https://collegium.ethz.ch/events/fellow-year-2025-2026/caring-for-naturecultures-symposium <https://collegium.ethz.ch/events/fellow-year-2025-2026/caring-for-naturecultures-symposium> For the information about the exhibition, and special guided tours during Zurich Art Weekend, follow this link: https://collegium.ethz.ch/events/fellow-year-2025-2026/caring-for-naturecultures-glaciers <https://collegium.ethz.ch/events/fellow-year-2025-2026/caring-for-naturecultures-glaciers> Realized with the support of the fellowship of the Collegium Helveticum Advanced Studies Institute Zurich and ETH Zurich. Further supported by HKB Bern and the framework of the Natureculture Lab. ------------------------------ Dr. Hanna B. Hölling, Research Professor, HKB Bern Senior Fellow, Collegium Helveticum, ETH Zurich Natureculture Lab | Center for Critical Conservation ------------------------------ 3.From: Jamie Chmara Posted: Friday June 5, 2026 4:37 PM Subject: Pre-Conference Meet Up with Icon Emerging Professionals Group Message: Are you going to Icon26 in Edinburgh? Are you an emerging professional and early career conservator? Join us for pre-conference drinks at The Hanging Bat on the 23rd of June from 6:30pm onwards! RSVP by 12th June: Heritage Hangout ✨ IRL: Icon26 Emerging Professionals - Google Forms <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1t-aw6xgSzpo3eV96PRR_C-NdFdonfU55xb81qAs5_cQ/edit?pli=1> Hosted by Icon's Emerging Professionals Group. Meet like-minded conservators over a drink of your choice in a cool bar in Edinburgh, with a walk through the castle gardens afterwards! ------------------------------ Jamie Chmara Secretary Emerging Professionals Group Institute of Conservation ------------------------------ 4.From: Joana Silva Posted: Friday June 5, 2026 4:38 PM Subject: Questionnaire - Exhibition Practices of Colour Slides in Institutional Contexts Message: Dear all, I am currently working on a research project examining how colour slides (chromogenic reversal films) are exhibited in institutional contexts, with the goal of improving their preservation and display. To support this, I have prepared a questionnaire for colleagues who work directly with photographic collections: curators, conservators, registrars, collection managers, and others. It focuses on current exhibition practices and how institutions navigate the balance between access and preservation. The survey takes about 15–20 minutes to complete, and all responses will be used for research purposes only. If this relates to your work, I would greatly appreciate your input. I would also be grateful if you could share the questionnaire with colleagues who may have relevant expertise. You can access it here: https://www.survey-xact.dk/LinkCollector?key=VDN2YESVSP9P <https://www.survey-xact.dk/LinkCollector?key=VDN2YESVSP9P> Many thanks in advance for your help 🙂 Best regards, Joana Silva ------------------------------ Joana Silva Assistant Professor (Photographic Materials Conservation) Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademis Skoler for Arkitektur, Design og Konservering Copenhagen Denmark ------------------------------ You are subscribed to "Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList)" as [email protected]. To change your subscriptions, go to http://community.culturalheritage.org/preferences?section=Subscriptions. 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