We are thrilled to announce the fifth annual edition of the Conservation by the Next Generation digital student conference!
With this edition of ConNext, we mark half a decade of sharing knowledge and curiosity in a global and accessible environment for emerging furniture, wood, and object conservators.
Over the past five years, we have seen ConNext grow beyond what we anticipated. What started as a small initiative between Belgian, Dutch, German, and UK-based partners has evolved into a trans-Atlantic partnership across thirteen conservation training institutes.
Ever since the first edition in 2021, we have been consistently impressed by the quality of student presentations. As in this year’s edition, presentations from past ConNext editions have covered a remarkably broad spectrum of topics, ranging from conservation ethics and degradation phenomena to experimental and unconventional approaches to our practice. Indeed, the topics and angles may be diverse, yet the essence of art conservation resonates through, connecting every single presentation.
Yes, being an art conservator puts us in a unique and privileged position. We are usually among the first since the creator(s) to truly have both the opportunity and time to stand eye to eye with an object, collection, or tradition and to study it up close. It is in these moments that something remarkable happens: the multilayered spaces rooted in craftsmanship, traditions, meanings, time, and history gradually unfold by combining the diverse branches of the natural sciences, the humanities, and the arts to create a narrative and preserve our (in)tangible history for future generations.
Curiosity, creativity, the ability to think beyond the conventional, and an openness to explore and experiment with novel technologies and methodologies lie at the heart of conservation practice. These qualities not only provide guidance in our day-to-day decisions, but more importantly, they shape the progress and future of our field.
We believe that these qualities, and the progress and future of our field, are clearly reflected in the many passionate ConNext presentations given by our next generation of emerging art conservators.
But don’t take our word for it, find out for yourself in this year’s edition and on our ConNext YouTube channel, featuring over 100 student and keynote papers from all past editions.
The ConNext Team,
Vincent Cattersel (University of Antwerp), Sophie Glerum (University of Amsterdam), Shayne Rivers