The Conservation Caste, Decolonization and Belongings
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Dennis Piechota
Mar 16, 2023, 5:25:16 PM3/16/23
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I've often wondered, what are the limits on a conservator's agency? Can we lead discussions of decolonization when we ourselves are part of a kind of subordinate caste within our museums and universities?
I recognize that my use of the word 'caste' is inflammatory. But it was Isabel Wilkerson's book Caste that prompted me to re-examine my place. For a half century I have enjoyed the benefits and limits of working within a professional subordinate caste.
I suppose it is partly because we work with our hands. within an academic environment. In that sense we may be seen as closer to the janitorial than the curatorial staff. One could further argue that we evolved from the European guild system; while our curators evolved from that academy. Indeed, viewed broadly, in the arc of our publications we have celebrated the importance of Method while our curators celebrate Theory. Viewed from the loft of the PhDed, our masters degrees, when we have them, may only confirm the correctness of our subordination.
Both origins, whether European guild or academy, were steeped in and supported by an imperial view of culture. Though we are more self-aware, we continue it today. Dislodging it is hard, awkward and uncomfortable. I think of Ariella Aisha Azoulay who argues in Potential History that our collections, being built on imperial violence, require that we as its preservers, go on strike as a first step in highlighting that origin. I think of Sara Gonzalez, an archaeologist working closely with indigenous groups, who has stopped using the term 'artifact' because it cuts the object's tie to the creators and their descendants while reinforcing a sense of imperial academic ownership. To begin a reconnection she now refers to artifact collections as "belongings."
As a member of what I'm calling the conservation caste, this I can do too.
Dennis
I recognize that my use of the word 'caste' is inflammatory. But it was Isabel Wilkerson's book Caste that prompted me to re-examine my place. For a half century I have enjoyed the benefits and limits of working within a professional subordinate caste.
I suppose it is partly because we work with our hands. within an academic environment. In that sense we may be seen as closer to the janitorial than the curatorial staff. One could further argue that we evolved from the European guild system; while our curators evolved from that academy. Indeed, viewed broadly, in the arc of our publications we have celebrated the importance of Method while our curators celebrate Theory. Viewed from the loft of the PhDed, our masters degrees, when we have them, may only confirm the correctness of our subordination.
Both origins, whether European guild or academy, were steeped in and supported by an imperial view of culture. Though we are more self-aware, we continue it today. Dislodging it is hard, awkward and uncomfortable. I think of Ariella Aisha Azoulay who argues in Potential History that our collections, being built on imperial violence, require that we as its preservers, go on strike as a first step in highlighting that origin. I think of Sara Gonzalez, an archaeologist working closely with indigenous groups, who has stopped using the term 'artifact' because it cuts the object's tie to the creators and their descendants while reinforcing a sense of imperial academic ownership. To begin a reconnection she now refers to artifact collections as "belongings."
As a member of what I'm calling the conservation caste, this I can do too.
Dennis
Dennis Piechota
he/him/his
Archaeological Conservator
Archaeological Micromorphologist
Fiske Center for Archaeological Research
UMass Boston
Office: 617-287-6829
he/him/his
Archaeological Conservator
Archaeological Micromorphologist
Fiske Center for Archaeological Research
UMass Boston
Office: 617-287-6829
George Schwartz
Mar 16, 2023, 7:59:02 PM3/16/23
to Alternative Conservation Discussions
Bravo Dennis, right on point and if we think it through, how can anyone disagree.
Blame it all on the language, its foibles and on semantics.
And we will live our lives and die on this hill.
Nicely summarized.
George
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