The Kick-Off Conference and launch of the Maastricht Centre for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH) will take place on Sunday 22 and Monday 23 March 2015. This new research centre, coordinated by FASoS, will bring together economic, legal, historical, philosophical, and practical expertise in response to the increasingly multi-layered and complex challenges facing the fields of arts and heritage today.
MACCH is a collaboration between the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, School of Business and Economics of Maastricht University, as well as the Sociaal Historisch Centrum voor Limburg and the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg.
The Kick-Off conference will highlight research conducted by MACCH with a specific focus on the changing roles of experts in art and heritage worlds. In particular, we aim to provide a trans-disciplinary forum for debate about relevant assemblages of value: In art and heritage worlds, past and present, who are the trusted experts and what characterizes their authority and legitimacy to valorize selected objects and practices of art and heritage? What precisely are the values that these experts create and negotiate – and what is the value of their expertise? In other words, how do experts and how does expertise assemble value when it comes to art and heritage?
Convened towards the end of The European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht, the Kick-Off conference begins with a keynote lecture by Prof. Wiebe E. Bijker on the question: ‘Can we draw lessons from studying science and technology in society to address questions about the role of experts and expertise in arts and heritage worlds?’, and a panel discussion on ‘Public Participation in Art and Heritage Presentation and Conservation’ on Sunday afternoon 22 March – followed by a reception. Panels and paper presentations offering different perspectives on the changing roles of experts in arts and heritage are scheduled on Monday 23 March.
The conference and launch are open to all interested parties; registration is required. For more information and registration, please visit our conference website.
