Fokum News
The Forum Kunst und Markt / Centre for Art Market Studies at TU Berlin cordially invites you to our international symposium with a panel discussion about "Krieg in Europa – Art Handling":
Art Transportation in Times of War and Peace
9-10 November 2023
International Symposium of the Centre for Art Market Studies in cooperation with the Department of Digital Provenance at Technische Universität Berlin and the Berlinische Galerie – Museum für Moderne Kunst
In the 1950s, the planned construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened the accessibility and architectural integrity of Ramses II's two temples at Abu Simbel. As a world wide joint project, the temples were dismantled and rebuilt on a higher plateau between 1963 and 1968. Source: Forskning & Framsteg 3, 1967, p. 161 / Wikimedia Commons.
Transporting art and cultural heritage in times of war and peace may have in all its contexts its unique motivations. Reasons for doing so include art protection, exhibitions, art trade and sales, (inter-)cultural exchange, preservation and conservation, repatriation, art theft and plundering as well as research and study.
The transportation of art, artifacts, and cultural heritage should always involve careful planning, support, and execution to safeguard these valuable and often irreplaceable items, may it be in times of war or peace. Transportation processes should adhere to strict conservation standards to minimize the risk of damage or loss during transit. But have those standards always existed? And do those processes significantly differ between times of peace and times of war due to the varying risks, challenges and motivations posed by conflict and violence?
The conference aims to bring together scholars, researchers, curators, restorers, (museum) experts and practitioners to explore on a global scale issues surrounding “how” transportation of art, artifacts, and cultural heritage is planned, supported and finally carried out, as well as all specific aspects around moving art during situations of war and peace.
For more information see: