El restaurador como artista-intérprete

Abstract

Conservation work is compared to that carried out by performing artists, since they both deliver to an audience the interpretation of the work by other artists. It emphasizes on the difference between hand skills, scientific and technological knowledge, in relation to the sensitivity and ability required for the interpretation of an object during its conservation. Through examples, it highlights the enormous cultural responsibility of the conservator through the interpretation of the message that the restored object should communicate, questioning the teaching of interpretation skills in professional conservation training, as well as its curricular implications. Cleaning operations are used as an illustrative example, in order to discuss the concept of patina. This article concludes that conservation cannot only be judged as scientifically objective or technically skilled since it is obvious that any interpretation implies subjectivity: a topic that surely has not been consciously and responsibly examined in Mexico.