25th Contemporary Art Conservation Conference

The 25th Contemporary Art Conservation Conference, organised by the Museo Reina Sofía’s Department of Conservation-Restoration, with the sponsorship of the MAPFRE Foundation, is held on 7 and 8 March 2024. This international encounter sets out to share and debate experience and research, open new channels of study and reflect on conservation and the professional practice of restorers.

Two attendance formats are available for the conference:

1. In-person: this attendance format costs 20 euros and includes in-person attendance on both days, coffee during the scheduled breaks, an attendance certificate (subject to attendance on both days) and free access to the Museo Reina Sofía on 7 and 8 March 2024.
2. Online platform: this format is free of charge but does not include either an attendance certificate or free access to the Museo Reina Sofía on 7 and 8 March 2024. Those who have registered will receive a link to the online platform on 6 March 2024 to follow the live broadcast of the conference.

Over the course of the conference, speakers will give twenty-minute presentations, followed by five-minute Q&As. A lo largo de la jornada los ponentes realizan intervenciones de 20 minutos, seguidas de 5 minutos de preguntas.

Programme

Thursday, 7 March 2024

09:45am Opening and Presentation
Manuel Segade (director of the Museo Reina Sofía), Jorge García Gómez-Tejedor (head of the Museo Reina Sofía’s Department of Restoration), Mayte Ortega (coordinator of the 25th Contemporary Art Conservation Conference) and Leyre Bozal (collections conservator from the Culture Department of the MAPFRE Foundation)

10am The Study and Restoration of Pablo Picasso’s Buste de jeune femme (Bust of a Young Woman, 1906)
Paloma Calopa, Ana Iruretagoyena, María Barra and Humberto Durán (Museo Reina Sofía

10:30am The Decision-making Process in Treating a Fungal Attack on a Contemporary Work by the Artist Silvestre Moros
Carmen Estrela Monreal, Mª Pilar Bosch Roig, Laura Silvestre García, Laura Fuster López (Universtat Politècnica de València)

11am The Back of Contemporary Paintings: Analysing the Impact of the Accumulation of Gaseous Pollutants on the Resulting Microclimate
Daniel Morales-Martín (Complutense University of Madrid), Mayte Pastor Valls (Servei de Restauració de la Diputació de Castelló) and Alicia Sánchez Ortiz (Complutense University of Madrid)

11:30am Coffee break

12:15pm The Restoration Process on a Ceramic Mural by Arcadio Blasco from the Artistic Heritage of the Autonomous University of Madrid
Joaquín Barrio Martín, Amaia Aldazabal, Marian Díaz, Susana López Ginestal (the Service of Conservation, Restoration and Scientific Studies of Archaeological Heritage - SECYR, Autonomous University of Madrid)

12:45pm Multispectral 3D Digitisation Robot
Daniel Vazquez-Moliní, Francisco Luna García, Izan Morón Herrero and Antonio Álvarez Fernández-Balbuena (Complutense University of Madrid), Antonio J. Benítez (Carlos III University of Madrid), David Alonso Urbano (University of Design, Innovation and Technology), Jorge García Gómez-Tejedor (head of the Museo Reina Sofía’s Department of Restoration) Humberto Durán Roque (HDURAN.com)

1:15pm Instituto Inhotim de Brasil: The Challenges of Exhibition and Conservation in the Largest Open-air Contemporary Art Museum in Latin America in the Heart of Brazil
Presentation and talk with Bruna Oliveira, Elaine Matos, Carlos Soares, Paulo Rodrigues, Thiago de Pinho Botelho, Álisson Valentim and Alex Maciel (Instituto Inhotim). Moderated by: Arianne Vanrell Vellosillo (Museo Reina Sofía)

2pm Break

4pm Documentation and Appraising the Sugoi Zirkoa Collective. Memory of the Contemporary Circus
Rosalina Nespral, a conservator and restorer of cultural heritage, specialised in contemporary art

4:30pm Consolidation Proposal for Matte Pictorial Surfaces
Iris Hernández Altarejos, Julia Osca Pons, Mª Pilar Soriano Sancho and José Luis Regidor Ros (Universtat Politècnica de València)

5pm Recovering Photographs after the Flood: the Archive of Photographer Bob Wolfenson
Juliana Bittencourt Bovolenta, Leandro Melo, Fernanda Cicero de Sá, Talita Rennó Bruno, independent photograph conservators

5:30pm Juan Manuel Sánchez Ríos and His Ceramic Mural in Plaza de la Remonta in Tetuán (Madrid). Vindicating the Origins of a District and a Conservation and Restoration Proposal
Dulce Galán Herrador, who holds a degree in Cultural Heritage Conservation and Restoration

6pm Conclusion

Friday, 8 March 2024

10am Joan Miró’s Creative Process in his Paintings: Underlying Drawings and Re-used Works
Elisabet Serrat (Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona), Javier Becerra Luna (Pablo de Olavide University, Seville) and Anna Vilà Espuña (“La Caixa” Foundation, Barcelona)

10:30am The Study of and Intervention with Polystyrene Resin on the Contemporary Work La medalla de la madre (Mother’s Necklace, 1978), by José Luis Zumeta
Eva Luna Ezkurra León, Erika Tarilonte, Enara Artetxe Sánchez, José Luis Larrañaga Odriozola, Ilaria Constantini (University of the Basque Country / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea)

11am Evaluation as a Key Tool in Conserving Documentary and Museum Holdings
Pedro García Adán (Museo Reina Sofía)

11:30am Coffee Break

12:15pm Memory and the Work of Time
Gabriella Locci and Dario Piludu (Casa Falconieri, Italy)

12:45pm A 1970 Work by Enric Pladevall-Vila Using Rubber Material
Natalia Portabella Macchi, an artwork conservator and restorer

1:15pm Evaluating Systems to Protect Corten Steel Sculptures: Chromatic Alteration and its Role in the Opinion of the Artist and Conservator-Restorer
Sara de Miguel and Emilio Cano (the National Centre for Metallurgical Research - CENIM), Silvia García Fernández-Villa (Complutense University of Madrid)

1:45pm Final Note and Conclusion

Submitting proposals (closed)