Secrets of the Conservation and Restoration of Contemporary Art Experience MACBA

The Experience MACBA programme presents an activity that offers an insight into one of the most fascinating and little-known activities carried out at the museum.

What do conservators-restorers do? What is preventative conservation and what does it entail? What conservation and restoration criteria are used when dealing with contemporary art? This tour guided by an educator and a conservator-restorer offers a space in which to discover and discuss some of the lesser-known aspects of the MACBA Collection.

Rather than trying to exhaustively explain all the works on display, the tour will focus on a selection of pieces that illustrate some of the particularities and problems that the conservation and restoration team face. As we will see, there are experts who specialise in works on paper, works on canvas, objects, media art, and installations, and who work to prevent the deterioration of works with the help of new electronic and digital technologies.

How do you conserve ephemeral art? How can the process of deterioration be slowed down if an artist does not want any actions taken to conserve the work? What is a mail? What happens behind the scenes of the installation of a work so that visitors can see it just as it is? Exposing the connection between the artwork, artist and museum is a way of encouraging open, participatory debate from an innovative perspective.