Conservation Conversations at the Harvard Art Museums

This seminar aims to open a space for dialogue and reflection on the evolution and future of conservation principles in the museum field, with a comparative approach between Europe and the United States. Under the title Conservation Conversations at the Harvard Art Museums: What's next?, the session features Ana Galán-Pérez, Visiting Researcher at the Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard and Cristina Morilla, Special Project Conservator of Paintings at the Harvard Art Museums.

The event is structured in two complementary parts: first, the presentation of the research carried out by Ana Galán-Pérez during her stay at the Museum and institutions related to Conservation of Cultural Heritage in Harvard, which focuses on analyzing the theoretical and methodological foundations of conservation in both geographic contexts. Her work offers a critical reading of current conservation models, taking into account historical, institutional, and ethical factors, as well as the transformations taking place in response to contemporary challenges (having in mind the Digitalization and Risk Preventions in Cultural Heritage)

Secondly, the seminar will include an interview with Cristina Morilla, in which she will discuss her professional experiences, the main challenges she has faced as a conservator in a leading international institution such the Harvard Art Museums, and her perspective on the prinicples in Art Conservation.

This conversation seeks to offer not only an academic perspective but also a practical and experiential insight into the present and future of cultural heritage conservation. It aims to foster interdisciplinary exchange and critical thinking around the cultural and professional implications of a discipline that is constantly evolving.