Online Symposium – Friday, October 21, 2022, 13.00 – 18.00 o’clock (CET)

“Prediction of radiation-induced damage of white paper in cultural heritage objects”

Content:

Light exposure is one pressing preservation issue in all museums, archives, and libraries where paper objects undergo ever-increasing cycles of public exhibition and loans. Planning exhibition horizons for paper objects depends fundamentally on light dose decisions. Except for lignin-rich and optically brightened types, white paper is considered stable by guidelines, a classification we believe is too undifferentiated.

The members of the research project – the Stuttgart Academy of Art and Design, the Museum of Prints and Drawings and the Rathgen Research Laboratory both at the State Museums at Berlin, and Dresden University of Fine Arts – and invited speakers will

• present the ongoing research project “Prediction of radiation-induced damage of white paper in cultural heritage objects” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
• provide context with a focus on historic and modern white paper

offer a platform for exchange regarding (future) exhibition policies for white paper

Organization and registration

• Organized by Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, please register by email to ute.henniges(at)abk-stuttgart.de
• Zoom-link will be provided to registered participants Programme

Programme

13.00 Welcome and Introduction

Prof. Dr. Irene Brückle (head of the paper conservation programme at the Stuttgart Academy of Art and Design)

Prof. Dr. Stefan Simon (Director of the Rathgen Research Laboratory at Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz)

Prof. Dr. Dagmar Korbacher (Museum Director of the Kupferstichkabinett at Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz)

13.15 – 14.30 Session 1 – Focus on paper

▪  Keynote: A Perspective on Paper Physics and Light.
(D. Steven Keller, Miami University, OH)

▪  Colour of white paper.
(Irene Brückle, Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design)

▪  Even whiter – OBAs in modern paper.
(Fabienne Meyer, Kupferstichkabinett Berlin)

▪  Model papers for profiling light induced colour changes.
(Marie Kern, Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design)

14.30 – 14.45 Break

14.45 – 16.00 Session 2 – Instruments – Xenon and LED MFTs

▪  Keynote: Lightfastness testing of paper-based objects
(Julio del Hoyo Meléndez, The National Museum in Krakow)
Challenges for Xenon-MFT: Reproducibility and measurement of UV content
(Giulia Vannucci, Rathgen Research Laboratory)

▪  Visibility of MFT measurement spots
(Thomas Prestel, Hochschule für Bildenden Künste Dresden)

16.00 – 16.15 Break

16.15 – 17.30 Session 3 – Lighting policies

▪ Keynote: Specifying and managing light exposure for paper-based collections
(David Saunders, hon. research fellow, British Museum)

▪ Impulse statements from the project members and discussion
Followed by discussion and exchange with the participants

17.30 – 17.45 Closing remarks
(DFG project member statements)