Interpreting/ Re-interpreting Collections, Society for the History of Collecting session at the 111th College Art Association Annual Conference, New York, February 15–18, 2023

This panel seeks to open a discussion on interpreting/ re-interpreting collections building up on a number of prominent recent changes observed (for example at the Frick Madison, at MoMA with the redisplay of its collections, or at the Wallace Collection which now allows temporary loans).

Collections are not static: indeed, in the same way as they may evolve, their founding documents, contents, relevance and significance may be examined with different lenses which themselves may vary in time and space. This may be true of both private and public collections located in any part of the world.

We encourage papers that examine critically both historical and contemporary occurrences of such shifts in interpretation. These revisions might come from artists, art critics, communities, scholars, benefactors, public opinion, experts or trustees. Analyses should particularly highlight nodes of interpretation, and causes for re-interpretation (i.e., changes of taste, context, legal framework, among others), as well as the consequences that such re-interpretations may have over the collections.

Co-chairs
Rebecca Lyons, Royal Academy of Arts
Marie Tavinor, Royal Academy of Arts