Comments on Conservation and Curation

Hey there fort followers! This is Cece reporting from the stables. I’m going into my fourth year at Western Michigan University but this is only my second year as an anthropology major. I bounced around a little bit, from art to nutrition, until I took an anthropology course and realized how rewarding the subject could be. The opportunities to learn from humans and physically touch pieces of our own history are profound and exciting. The lecture we all attended tonight, “Conservation and Collections Management” by Kelly Rectenwald, touched on the importance of caring for and properly displaying what we find throughout our excavating and learning.

A Fort St. Joseph Archaeological School alum, Ms. Rectenwald has not one but two degrees in curation, emphasizing the articulate care that must go into preserving our past. She discussed her most recent project, an installation at the Museum of Modern Art centered on the Nabatean people. They occupied what is now present day Jordan during second century C.E. as merchant-traders. They are well known for their rock cut tombs and temples, the latter being what Kelly helped to curate over a two year period.

The process of curation requires a background in chemistry so that the ancient materials may be conserved properly. This might involve taking x-rays and CT scans, so the elements present can be quantified and carefully documented in order to provide the utmost care for the given artifact. Ms. Rectenwald was in charge of installing a Nabatean stone temple facade that had been excavated in 1939 by a Cinncinati native and later requested by the Museum of Modern Art for their 2019 installation, “World of Empires”. The facade weighed a total of 4,641 pounds and had gone through multiple transformations, the original mortar being chiseled and re-constructed five times. Ms. Recetenwald explained her process of looking at old photographs from the original site in Jordan to distinguish where original stones had been removed or modified in order to come up with the most accurate final product. The weight of the artifact was too great for the floor of the MOMA to bear, so the stones of the temple as well as the arch were carefully mounted upon steel shelves that took up to half an hour to drill holes into. For the first time in 15 years, Ms. Rectenwald had succesfully installed this Nabatean temple that stood over ten feet tall.

This lecture shined a light on the incredible amount of work that goes into displaying parts of our history so that the general public can gain a unique understanding of our shared past. Rectenwald remarked on an old coin bag that had been carefully mounted so that the chain was hanging just so it looked like someone might have had it hanging off of their arm; a subtle choice that allows us to relate to and ask questions about those who came before us. Along with a diligent code of ethics, the process of an experienced conservator ensures high standards for the interpretation, display, preservation and staging of objects from our past.

Thank you to Kelly Rectenwald for all that you do and for an inspring lecture on what happens behind the scenes at our favorite museums and history centers. And thank you to the Fort Followers for your continued support! We’ll see you at the next lecture: “Preserving the Past at Fort Michilimackinack” on Wednesday, July 24th at 7pm.