Following the success of this year’s event, we are eagerly awaiting next year’s edition

The 11th Conservation and Restoration Encounter was held at the Pontevedra Museum on 24 and 25 November.

This year the focus was on reserve rooms, the place where restoration begins, since museums are engaged in a process of reflection and critical discussion around the way to address the multiple changes they face in moving forward in integrated and more efficient management across their daily practice. One of the aspects that speaks best to a new understanding of museums and their organisation is the growing attention paid to collection reserves that have long been undervalued and insufficient but are now moving out of the shadows to take their place at the forefront of museum professionals’ concerns.

The panel of speakers, including EUN, shared with the 200-plus attendees at the two-day event the experiences of museums including the Barcelona History Museum, the Gordailua Heritage Collection Centre of Gipuzkoa, the Albayalde Conservation Centre, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, Madrid’s Queen Sofia National Museum Art Centre, the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia, the Malaga Museum, the Lorraine Conservation and Study Center (Metz, France) and the Archaeological Museum of Alicante. The EUN talk focused on optimising museum spaces for the efficient storage and management of historical, artistic and cultural heritage.

EUN chief executive Alberto Lorenzo Mitxelena said the event was of an extremely high level both for its organisation and especially the panel of speakers and matters discussed over the two days, particularly the present and growing importance of efficient and sustainable management and management software in museums.