Open Forum

The recent protests of racial injustice in America has led to conversations on how museums and those who work in them historically dictate whose stories are told and what materials are valued through their preservation.  Conservators, as an agent of preservation, are often at the crux of these issues. Traditional models of conservation have taught us to attempt to maintain scientific objectivity at all times. In reality what has historically been called "objectivity" is actually just the continuation of the majority perspective, which was enshrined as 'objective fact' by scientific theories that went hand in hand with colonial subjugation of non-white people. As museums begin to acknowledge their role in upholding colonial perspectives, conservators are also reexamining their role.This session will explore the principle of neutrality in conservation and discuss how bias contributes to inequity in our field.