The Role of the Conservator and Resilience Symposium 15-16 april 2026
"Vart är vi på väg?"
NKF-S/IIC Nordic Group Sweden have invited Professor Jane Hendersson and Professor Salvador Muñoz-Viñas for a symposium and conversation on the future role of the conservator and the conservation profession. The symposium aims to continue the conversation based on the publication The End of Conservation (Muñoz Viñas 2024), Jane Hendersons #WhyDoIDoConservation, the conversation on What is it that we conserve (2025), the interview between Professor Salvador Muñoz-Viñas and Nina Olivier in Konserveringspodden, and the E.C.C.O. and ENCoRE Symposium in Prague 2025 on Trends and Challenges in Conservation-Restoration Education.
Date: 15-16 April! 2026
Time: 12.00 -13.00 (lunch) 13.00 - 17.15 (social dinner 19.00) 15 April (CET)
09.00 - 17.00 16 April (CET)
Location: Online/ On-site in Vasaparken, Torgny Segerstedstsalen at University of Gothenburg, Universitetsplatsen 1, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Language: English. Those who need a Certificate of Attendance can choose this option when purchasing a ticket, a certificate will then be sent by email after the event.
Registration is open! NKF, IIC members, and those interested are invited.
Deadline for registration for on-site participation is was 31/3 but there is still a few seats availible!
Registration for online participation is open until the end of the symposium. Online passes will have access to a recording for a limited period of time afterwards.
Time: 12.00 -13.00 (lunch) 13.00 - 17.15 (social dinner 19.00) 15 April (CET)
09.00 - 17.00 16 April (CET)
Location: Online/ On-site in Vasaparken, Torgny Segerstedstsalen at University of Gothenburg, Universitetsplatsen 1, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Language: English. Those who need a Certificate of Attendance can choose this option when purchasing a ticket, a certificate will then be sent by email after the event.
Registration is open! NKF, IIC members, and those interested are invited.
Deadline for registration for on-site participation is was 31/3 but there is still a few seats availible!
Registration for online participation is open until the end of the symposium. Online passes will have access to a recording for a limited period of time afterwards.
Programme and Themes
Wednesday 15 April
12.00-13.00 Lunch (included in ticket) CET
13.00-17.15 CET
Why do we do conservation? From the outside, through the core, to the essence of conservation. Who is a conservator and what is their competence?
Speakers: Professor Jane Henderson, Dr. Natalija Ćosić, Dr. Karin Hermerén, Anna Lagerqvist Alidoost, Professor Salvador Muñoz-Viñas
Panel discussion.
19.00 pm Social Dinner (separate ticket) Social dinner (separate ticket) Hotell Eggers Drottningtorget 2-4, 411 03 Göteborg
Thursday 16 April
09.00 am-17.00 CET
Conservation, education and research
Speakers: Professor Robyn Slogget, Dr. Omid Oudbashi
Lunch (included in ticket)
The responsibility for conservation - The need of a Governing body?
Speakers: Sara Roberts, Dr. Marei Hacke, Eero Ehanti, Lisa Swedberg
Panel Discussion and Closing Remarks
For any questions feel free to contact [email protected]
12.00-13.00 Lunch (included in ticket) CET
13.00-17.15 CET
Why do we do conservation? From the outside, through the core, to the essence of conservation. Who is a conservator and what is their competence?
Speakers: Professor Jane Henderson, Dr. Natalija Ćosić, Dr. Karin Hermerén, Anna Lagerqvist Alidoost, Professor Salvador Muñoz-Viñas
Panel discussion.
19.00 pm Social Dinner (separate ticket) Social dinner (separate ticket) Hotell Eggers Drottningtorget 2-4, 411 03 Göteborg
Thursday 16 April
09.00 am-17.00 CET
Conservation, education and research
Speakers: Professor Robyn Slogget, Dr. Omid Oudbashi
Lunch (included in ticket)
The responsibility for conservation - The need of a Governing body?
Speakers: Sara Roberts, Dr. Marei Hacke, Eero Ehanti, Lisa Swedberg
Panel Discussion and Closing Remarks
For any questions feel free to contact [email protected]
Speakers, Bio and Abstracts
|
Jane Henderson, BSc, MSc, PACR, FIIC, FRHisS,
Professor of Conservation, Jane is currently employed at Cardiff University where she sits on the University promotion panel and equal pay audit group. Jane is a member of Council for the UK National Trust and a member of its collections and access advisory panel. Jane Henderson is chair of the BSI standard group B/560 concerned with the conservation of Tangible Cultural heritage and a European expert for European standards body CEN TC 346. Jane serves on the editorial panel of the Journal of the Institute for Conservation, the Science Museum Journal and on the board of the Welsh Federation of Museum and Art Galleries. Jane was Secretary General of IIC from 2019- 2026. Jane was delighted and honoured to win the Plowden medal in 2021. Why do we do conservation? From the outside, through the core, to the essence of conservation. |
|
Salvador Muñoz-Viñas is a Professor at the Department of Conservation Studies of the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, where he teaches paper conservation and conservation theory. He is also responsible of the Paper Conservation Workshop or the university’s Instituto de Restauración del Patrimonio. He holds university degrees in Art History, Fine Arts and Paper Engineering. He has lectured in different centers and universities such as ICCROM, the Sorbonne, the British Museum, the Harvard or the NYU. His works on cultural heritage theory and conservation ethics have been published in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Korean and other major Western and non-Western languages.
The Future of Conservation |
|
Eero Ehanti is a conservator and art historian, who works as the head of conservation at the National Museum of Finland. His museum identity is very much built on international connections, especially in ICOM’s network, where he has been for almost a decade in various board positions. He has worked in the museum field also in the Middle East and Africa, most notably in Egypt, Syria and Benin. He has extensive experience in international repatriations and these have expanded his thinking beyond Western museology. Currently he is the chair of ICOM Nord regional alliance. He is also the co-founder of the museum consulting company For Generations, based in Tallinn, Estonia, where he currently works on conservation of the wreck of a 14th century Hanseatic ship.
From Stabilization to Activation The conservator's mission of caring for collections never goes away. But it adapts new forms to better meet the environment of a decolonizing world. Museum items must live. They do, no matter what we do, because of aging reactions and because we use them. In shows, loans, events, research and just for joy. They change and that's a good thing, not something to fear. We conservators are facilitators of change, activating museum items rather than merely stabilizing them. All items cannot be dealt with exactly the same way. As a conservator I know how to preserve materials and as an art historian I have learned how to look at items, but after decades in international networks and encounters with artists and indigenous people, I know that these are merely points of view or aspects of the kaleidoscopic reality of cultural heritage. I will base my talk on my role as the head of conservation at the National Museum of Finland, which is one of the key conservation positions in the Finnish museum system, and some 15 years of international work, including very significant repatriation cases. I will use these standing points to discuss the vistas ahead for us conservators. |
|
Omid Oudbashi, BSc, MA, PhD, FIIC, is a Senior Lecturer in Conservation and a conservation scientist in the Department of Conservation at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He previously served as an Associate Professor at the Art University of Isfahan, Iran (2013–2023), and as a Senior Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA (2022–2023). He holds a BSc in Conservation of Historic Objects (University of Art, Iran, 2002), an MA (2006), and a PhD (2013) in Conservation of Cultural and Historical Properties from the Art University of Isfahan.
He has extensive field experience, including work at the World Heritage Sites of Chogha Zanbil and Persepolis, both in Iran. He has also contributed to numerous conservation and research projects in museums, architectural decorations, and archaeological sites in Iran. His research and teaching focus on archaeological conservation and archaeological science, heritage science, conservation of ancient and historic metals, corrosion of archaeological metals and glasses, archaeometallurgy, ancient mining, and preventive conservation. Cultural Heritage Conservation Research: Present Knowledge, Key Challenges, and Future Perspectives Cultural heritage conservation has developed into a multidisciplinary field that integrates approaches from the art and humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and digital technologies. In recent decades, research in this field has expanded significantly in response to growing threats to cultural heritage, including environmental degradation, climate change, urbanization, and limited conservation resources. These transformations increasingly require resilient and adaptive preservation strategies. This presentation examines the current state of knowledge in cultural heritage conservation research, highlighting key methodological developments, types of publications and outputs, development of scientific approaches, and emerging interdisciplinary approaches. Particular attention is given to advances in conservation science, non-invasive diagnostic techniques, digital documentation, and risk assessment methods that support more informed conservation practices. At the same time, persistent challenges are addressed, including sustainability in conservation interventions and materials, and the need for stronger collaboration among researchers, conservators, and scientists. By reviewing current research trends and professional practices, the presentation outlines future perspectives for the field and emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary research, technological development and innovation, and integrated management strategies to strengthen resilience and ensure the long-term protection of cultural heritage. |
|
Robyn Sloggett is Director of the Cripps Institute for Cultural Conservation and holds the Cripps Foundations Chair of Cultural Materials Conservation. Her most recent research advances the framework for a national conservation program for both equity and graduate employment, examine climate change on the preservation of cultural material in communities across Australia and the Asia-Pacific, and in partnership with Indigenous researchers and communities builds conservation capacity for Indigenous community-held cultural heritage through qualifications and aligned employment opportunities. She has supervised over 40 doctoral candidates. Her work has been recognised by national awards including Member of the Order of Australia and the AICCM Medal. In 2021 she was awarded the Marles Medal from the University of Melbourne, which recognises excellence in research impact and was awarded for 'interdisciplinary, cross-cultural research in arts conservation and the significant impact it has had on the communities with who she has collaborated.
Necessary for now, essential for the future: the critical value of conservators in evolving social futures
For economic, geo-political and historical reasons, conservation sits within very particular social structures and to some extent its sustainability has been directed and determined by these. At its most basic, however, conservation is a social enterprise in which almost all humans engage. The social contract for conservation is therefore much broader and deeper than is currently enabled by current professional parameters. It is this intersection of interests that provides the clearest way to understand, first the critical value of conservators into the future and second the most effective ways in which the profession can develop. As humanity grapples with significant global challenges that are existential as well as practical, conservation has the potential to be one of the more radical, constructive and effective disciplines by which to anchor the future of humanity. |
|
Natalija Ćosić, PhD, Lead Specialist for Conservation and Development/Fagansvarlig for konservering and utvikling ved Bevaringstenesteneuppeleder, MUHO, Norway. Natalija Ćosić is a senior preventive conservator working as a Lead Specialist for Conservation and Development in the Shared Conservation Department at MuHo, Bergen, Norway. With 15 years of experience as a preventive conservation advisor, Natalija has provided consultancy on heritage management across a range of heritage settings and organisational contexts. Her research focuses on value-based processes in collection management and on the role of conservation in heritage-making, particularly its relationships with other disciplines and fields. Natalija also serves as Assistant Coordinator of the Preventive Conservation Working Group within ICOM Conservation.
Preventive Conservation: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives Across disciplines, resilience is often understood as the capacity to adapt, recover, nd transform in response to risks or disruptive conditions while maintaining meaningful and balanced functioning. Starting from the symposium’s overarching theme of resilience, this presentation asks what kinds of knowledge and skills are necessary for preventive conservation to be(come) resilient as a field while also supporting the resilience of heritage, people, and communities. Preventive conservation originally emerged from the need to reduce or eliminate risks by identifying and managing the factors of deterioration that shape museum environments and influence the long-term preservation of collections. Yet over the past decades, conservation has undergone significant transformations, raising broader questions about how and why we practice conservation today. This presentation redirects these questions specifically toward preventive conservation and explores how conceptual frameworks such as the ethics of care, together with perspectives from the philosophy and history of science, can help illuminate the evolving relationships between people, objects, and institutions that shape the field; and what these relationships might suggest about its future directions. |
|
Karin Hermerén (BA, BSc, PhLic, PhD, FIIC) works as Head of Department for Collections at Kulturen i Lund, an association owned museum in Sweden. Over the years, Hermerén has worked with different aspects of preventive and active conservation within the public and private sector. From Kiruna’s urban transformation and the management of larger art collections to chapters in academic publications and articles. She is also an occasional lecturer at several universities, especially at the Universities of Lund and the University of Gothenburg where her main subject for teaching includes conservation, ethics in conservation, management of collections, cultural heritage, and public art. Her research focuses on management of public art, where questions of value and valuation, management and decision-making are in focus. Before Kulturen i Lund, Hermerén worked as the Head of Conservation at Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and Head of Unit at the Swedish National heritage board. In addition, she worked as an expert advisor at the Swedish Public Art Agency where she conducted a research-project (2011–2013) on building-related public art as cultural heritage, as well as an expert advisor for the Swedish National Heritage Board, the Maritime Museum and the Vasa Museum with questions concerning ecclesiastical heritage, cultural heritage, organizational development, deaccession of museum objects and conservation needs. Hermerén started her career as a conservator-restorer at the Museum of Helsingborg, where she stayed for nearly two decades, as, among other things, responsible for a provincial network focusing on conservation issues. Since 1991 she also runs a studio for painting conservation, Konserveringsateljé syd AB.
Title of Talk: Active Conservation: Past, Present and Future Perspectives |
|
Anna Lagerqvist Alidoost, Head of Collection Care and Conservation, Swedish National Archives, Sweden. Anna Lagerqvist Alidoost graduated as a paper conservator from the University of Gothenburg in 2011 and worked initially in private practice, followed by 4 and a half years at the Kiruna Centre for Conservation of Cultural Property, two of which as head of the paper conservation department. In 2016, she joined the paper conservation team at the Swedish National Archives in Stockholm, where she is now head of the Unit for Collection Care and Conservation, as of April last year. She holds an MA in Art History from Uppsala University and a M.Sc. in Conservation from University of Gothenburg and has during the past years worked with different aspects of iron gall ink corrosion, primarily elemental characterisation of 17th century inks and evaluation of possible stabilisation treatments.
The material turn: 2.0 Within the archival field, digitisation processes have over the past decades enabled a large amount of archival information to become available to the public, in efforts that can be characterised as democratically important to ensure access to information. But in a time when technological development moves at an unprecedented speed, and the quantifiable effects in accessibility of information are compared between digitisation actions and conservation-restoration work, the question inevitably arises: why should we conserve? Or rather, why should we direct resources towards the conservation-restoration and accessibility of physical documents or objects, when digital copies could relatively easily be produced instead? This line of pragmatic reasoning should force our professional field of conservation-restoration to both introspectively reflect on, and expressively motivate, why we do what we do. In my talk, I will examine possible answers to this question, in relation to contemporary uses of heritage in the face of modernity. |
|
Marei Hacke, PhD, is a heritage scientist at the Swedish National Heritage Board (since 2015, study leave 2023-2025), previously at the British Museum (2007-2015) and the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute (fellowship 2006-2007). Her areas of expertise include scientific investigations of cultural heritage and conservation methods with a focus on organic materials. In 2025, Marei obtained a MSc in Environmental Science from Wageningen University in the Soil Biology group. She received her PhD in 2006 from Manchester University for research conducted within a European research project on the monitoring of damage in historic tapestries.
Title of talk: Sustainable Heritage: need for new knowledge in cultural heritage research |
|
Lisa Swedberg (MSc, BSc, FIIC, NKF-S) is a Conservator at Örebro County Museum, Chair of NKF-S/IIC Nordic Group Sweden, Secretary of Blue Shield Sweden. Lisa has a BSc in Paintings Conservation (2010) and a MSc in Conservation of Cultural Heritage Objects (2015) from the Department of Conservation at the university of Gothenburg, Sweden. She is a Fellow IIC and have fifteen years of work experience in active and preventive conservation of different materials from both the private and public sector. Her interest includes emergency preparedness for cultural heritage and inclusiveness in conservation and accessibility och heritage objects, leading her to initiate IIC Nordic Group Sweden’s Working Group on Transport 2021 and the IIC Nordic Group Sweden´s Working Group on Emergency Preparedness and Response . She is also an organizer of Art in Transit 2.0 in Oslo 2026.
The Conservation profession in Sweden and the role IIC Nordic Group Sweden/NKF-S In the need for a governing body for conservation (conservation-restoration) in Sweden, what role can the IIC Nordic Group Sweden/NKF-S play? What possibilities and tools do we have, and how do we maintain them? What obstacles could be identified, and what tools are missing and could be added? These questions will be explored from the view of the Chair of IIC Nordic Group Sweden/NKF-S. Although these questions are addressed from a Swedish context, and the role of an NGO in Sweden, the aim is to get input from an international audience, and hopefully also shed a light that could strengthen other NGOs for Conservators (Conservator-Restorers) abroad. |
|
Nina Olivier is a paintings conservator (BSc, MSc) working at Stiftelsen Nordiska Museet where she has been since September 2024. Before coming to Nordiska Museet, she had a private practice for eight years in paintings conservation focusing on easel paintings, polychrome wood and architecturally bound paintings. In this role she worked towards museums, churches, palaces, businesses, institutions, authorities and private homes. She worked both on a larger scale with managing big conservation projects and on a smaller scale with single objects. Olivier got her degree from the Gothenburg University and has been in the field for sixteen years. In her spare time she produces Konserveringspodden, a conservation podcast, together with two other conservators and a journalist and documents the contemporary issues within the professional field of conservation-restoration. She is also the chair of Ikonsällskapet (the Swedish Icon Society) and a board member of NKF-S. She is very interested in the field of Heritage Science and doing research from a material-technical point of view. Her Master thesis treated analyzing samples from four icons from the Nationalmuseum collection using Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry.
|
|
Sara Roberts, Head of Conservation, Studio Västsvensk konservering, Sweden
Title of Talk: TBA |
|
Kristina Mjörnell is an accomplished researcher who has been awarded a substantial
number of research projects funded by major agencies. Between 2013 and 2019, she served as project leader for SIRen – Sustainable Integrated Renovation, a research environment funded by Formas. SIRen brought together ten academic institutions and research institutes in collaboration with twentythree partners from the public sector and industry. She is currently the project leader for the Formasfunded doctoral school ASSURE, a practiceoriented research school focusing on the renovation and conversion of existing buildings, based at Lund University. She is employed 20% at Uppasla University, Campus Gotland researching cultural heritage in second homes. Adaptive reuse of existing buildings for new functions This study examines the role of building conversion as a strategy for reducing the climate impact of the built environment, a topic that has gained prominence alongside increasingly stringent regulatory frameworks. With 85% of the EU’s building stock constructed before 2000 and responsible for a substantial share of energyrelated greenhouse gas emissions, improving the performance of existing buildings has become essential. Adaptive reuse, particularly the conversion of underutilised buildings, offers a sustainable alternative to demolition and new construction, a trend accelerated by the pandemic-driven decline in office space demand. The study presents an inventory of conversion projects in Sweden, drawing on practitioner insights and publicly available information to identify prevailing patterns. The most common changes of use occur from industrial to office functions and from office to residential. Stakeholder assessments highlight the importance of regulatory compliance, the challenges posed by contemporary technical standards, and the critical role of preserving both tangible and intangible cultural values. While conversion is widely recognised as extending building lifespans and enhancing local quality of life, views on its economic benefits vary. The study concludes that successful adaptive reuse requires a holistic, multidisciplinary approach integrating technical, economic, and sociocultural considerations. |
WELCOME!
On behalf of the NKF-S Board: Lisa Swedberg, Chair, Conservator (MSc, BSc, FIIC, NKF-S), [email protected].
Sara Roberts, Head of Conservation, Studio Västsvensk konservering.
Nina Olivier, Paintings Conservator at Nordiska museet.
Johanna Nilsson, Assistant Head of Department and Senior Lecturer, Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg
On behalf of the NKF-S Board: Lisa Swedberg, Chair, Conservator (MSc, BSc, FIIC, NKF-S), [email protected].
Sara Roberts, Head of Conservation, Studio Västsvensk konservering.
Nina Olivier, Paintings Conservator at Nordiska museet.
Johanna Nilsson, Assistant Head of Department and Senior Lecturer, Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg
Last update 2026-03-07 by Lisa Swedberg
