The 10th Book, Paper and Photographic Materials symposium was held on 20-23 November, in Melbourne. It was a wonderful and inspiring event that really demonstrated the depth and breadth of conservation in Australia and beyond.
As the co-convenors for these two SIGs, we wanted to put our closing thanks from the conference in writing:
- Firstly, many thanks to all of you attended! You can’t have a conference if nobody comes…
- Thank you to the authors, presenters and instructors who have contributed to the symposium through their presentations, panel discussions, posters, slideshows, seminars and workshops, and to our keynote speakers Elizabeth Leane, Andrew Hazewinkel, and Libby Robin.
- Thank you to the staff at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Museum (Museums Victoria), the National Gallery of Victoria, and State Library Victoria who have assisted with preparations for this symposium in various ways.
- Mar Cruz and Lisa Mansfield of the Student Conservators at Melbourne (SC@M) group for allowing us to use their excellent design for our conference tote bags.
- Thank you to the artists and conservators who enabled us to offer our special programs —Mandy Martin, Alexander Boynes and Tristen Parr behind the artwork Luminous Relic, which played as people entered; Kloe Rumsey, Jenny Mathiasson and Christina Rozeik of the C Word podcast for recording their special symposium edition; the five conservators who wrote letters to a new conservator, which were sent out before the conference started; and Jennifer Loubser, Eddie Jose, Rachel Spano and Tobie Reeuwijk for enabling the film screening and Q&A session for 1,000 Hands of the Guru.
- We were very fortunate to secure generous sponsorship and in-kind support for this symposium: thanks to Melbourne Museum for the provision of the symposium venue; the Grimwade Centre, Melbourne Museum, National Gallery of Victoria and State Library Victoria for seminar and workshop venues; Major Partner sponsor DatacomIT; session sponsors Fini Frames, Steamatic Australia, and Tru Vue; our morning tea sponsor, Docuvan; afternoon tea sponsor, Micro Image; and our Conservation Student Patrons, Archival Survival and Preservation Australia.
- Lastly, this symposium could not have occurred without the guidance and assistance of the AICCM National Council, our Secretariat Michelle Berry, Website Editor Zora Sanders, Newsletter Editor Rose Maurice and our Bookkeeper Hilary Milsome. Our sincere thanks to one and all!
But the most special of thanks goes to the rest of the symposium organizing committee: Emily Keppel, Ruth Shervington, Belinda Gourley, Suzie Gasper and our committee member at large, Bonnie Hearn. (Bonnie recently moved to New York to take up an internship at the Morgan Library).
What next for the Book, Paper and Photographic Materials symposium? After 10 symposiums, we could perhaps consider something new. There are more and more (and more varied) professional development opportunities every year, and four days is a lot to commit to all at once. Perhaps the new convenors might wish to focus on workshops (always a favourite amongst our cohort), developing resources for the website, or public outreach activities? The AICCM is investigating the viability of AIC-style annual conferences that include SIG sessions, so perhaps the next Book & Paper or Photon SIG events could be part of that program instead. We will be standing down from co-convenor duties now—the next convenors will have all sorts of possibilities to consider!
Alice Cannon and Albertine Hamilton
Noni Zachri and Kelly Leahy