Announcement of Conference and Call for Papers

COST Action FP1302 4th Annual Conference

Preservation of Wooden Musical Instruments
Ethics, Practice and Assessment

Brussels, Musical Instruments Museum (MIM), 5-7 October 2017

The fourth and final conference of the COST WoodMusICK action will be dedicated to the preservation of wooden musical instruments. It is meant to share conservation issues, aiming at the best possible collaboration of professionals in preservation. The audience will consist of both conservators and the field adjoining professionals.

The conservation of wooden musical instruments involves the preservation of tangible and intangible values. Often conservators are facing various dilemmas in balancing between preserving the current state of an instrument (conservation), returning to its previous or original state (restoration) and/or making instruments functional again (repair), establishing criteria for the use of the instruments (playability).

In order to have a correct understanding of the complex reality represented by each instrument, the decision making process requires a close collaboration between different figures (i.e. conservators, curators, musicologists, historians, makers, musicians, conservation and materials scientists) for a proper management of various factors such as the condition of the instrument, its uniqueness, owners’ desire, conservation materials, limitations of methods, cost and time. The process is therefore not easy and sometimes not possible as criteria are not weighted and standardised.

The scientific committee has selected the following main topics for submitting proposals:

Ethical considerations and decision making processes

• theoretical approaches
• case studies of treatments that did or did not manage to preserve wooden musical instruments values

Innovative methods and materials

• examination and investigation (methods and/or techniques)
• preventive conservation
• remedial conservation (disinfection, cleaning, consolidation, adhesion, aesthetic reintegration, etc.)
• conventional and innovative materials, methods and techniques

Assessing the impact

• analytical techniques
• monitoring techniques
• assessment protocols

Submissions:

People interested in participating are requested to submit a one-page abstract, related to the topics indicated above (please use the template in attachment). Collaborative papers joining different disciplines will be preferred.

Acceptance of papers will be notified to authors by April 30th, 2017.

Authors of accepted papers will have to submit an extended four page abstract by July 31st, 2017.

COST refunds travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses to authors of accepted papers and posters. Reimbursement is conditional upon submission of the above mentioned texts and attendance.

Important dates:

• April 19th, 2017 – Deadline for abstract submission
• April 30th, 2017 – Notification of Acceptance of the Abstract
• July 31st, 2017 – Deadline for extended abstract