Preserving conceptual integrity: ethics and theory in preventive conservation

Requests to museums from First Peoples can challenge the ethics and practice of preventive conservation. How ethnographic objects are seen by museums, conservators and First Peoples (both museum staff and others) has implications for key concepts in the IIC-CO/CAPC Code of Ethics such as ‘conceptual integrity’ and ‘cultural significance’. There are also implications for preventive conservation in such areas as care, storage, access, handling, environment and job safety. This paper outlines some of the differences and some of the convergences in these areas regarding the viewpoints of First Peoples and museum conservators. If the differences are significant, negotiated solutions achieved through consultation and partnership arrangements can bring together different concepts to create a new and mutually satisfactory program for object preservation.