AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

The Language of Beauty in African Art, was a large, loan heavy, traveling exhibition organized by the Art Institute of Chicago. Encompassing nearly 200 loaned objects from 50 private lenders, in addition to over 100 loaned objects from 15 institutional lenders, the scope of the show was a massive, all-encompassing, tightly scheduled undertaking by the entire museum. With a staff of six objects conservators, two textiles conservators, and one mountmaker, the need for highly orchestrated communication, full transparency of our own strengths and weaknesses, as well as trust in our colleagues was required to reach a successful installation at the Art Institute.

The rapid flow and strict timeline of work was put to an extreme challenge with the incredible beauty and material fragility of a 19th Century Chokwe Mana Pwo mask. After reviewing the lender’s documentation, conservators expected to open the crate and be met with a serene and elegant woman’s face: delicately carved in wood crowned with a distinct woven, braided and twisted hairstyle of natural fibers with earthen decorations, and accentuated with glass beads. As incoming condition reporting started, one of the worst surprises for any conservator occurred. Uncrating revealed an unrecognizable, jarring sight: a bare mount, surrounded by an indiscernible pile of dust, fragments, and debris.

This paper will intertwine logistics of working across disciplines, building camaraderie through good communication in high stress working conditions between three specialists who had never worked together before, and managing expectations of treatment goals and results with private owners of artworks. These issues are explored through the lens of a treatment that required limiting handling, an integrated mount and structural support, considerable consolidation as well as sensitivity to the mixed media of the object. The Chana Pwo mask regained her structural integrity and graceful pose hours before install, as one of the last works to take its place before opening events began. Months later, while all involved waited with apprehension, the mask was shipped back to the lender, and was confirmed as arriving safely in one piece, with her head held high and secure on her mount.