The Foundation for Advancement in Conservation has opened registration for online self-study modules with content from Photomechanical Prints: History, Technology, Aesthetics, and Use (recordings of presentations from the symposium that took place in 2023 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC). Registration is $19 AIC member / $23 non-members.
The program will provide an opportunity for conservators, curators, historians, scientists, collections managers, catalogers, archivists, librarians, educators, printmakers, artists, and collectors to explore all aspects of photomechanical printing. The resulting advancement of our collective understanding of these ubiquitous but under-researched materials will allow for new interpretations and improved approaches to their collection, interpretation, preservation, treatment, and display.
For roughly 150 years, people have been accustomed to seeing photomechanical prints on a daily basis. Prints exist in a variety of milieus with multiple variations over time, use, and geography. Historic and contemporary examples are prevalent in museums, libraries, archives, and personal collections worldwide. Photomechanical prints were developed to fill many needs including practical and economical methods for mass reproduction, techniques to facilitate the simultaneous printing of images and text, increased image permanence, a perception of increased truthfulness and objectivity, and an autonomous means of artistic expression. They exist at the intersections of numerous disciplines: photography and printmaking, functional and artistic practices, the histories of photography and the graphic arts, and the specialties of paper and photograph conservation.
The content will be available through January 1, 2025.
------------------------------
Tiffani Emig
Deputy Director
American Institute for Conservation
Washington DC
------------------------------