The sixth European registrar conference was organised by swissregistrar at the Congress Center in Basle.

During the two days of the conference, the following topics were addressed: different types of art spaces; collectors and museums; problems and opportunities arising from new museums in the Middle East; documentation and archiving of museum work; collecting, inventorying and exhibiting new media; ethical issues in museum work: laws, controls and procedures; museums and living artists: potentially conflicting interests?

Below are the themes and papers addressed, extracted from the conference programme.

Welcome address
Michael Koechlin, Head of Culture, Department of Education Canton of Basle City, and Elaine Vogel Keller, President of swissregistrars

A Different Type of Space for Art
Schaulager: A Different Space for Art
Theodora Vischer, Director, Schaulager, Münchenstein/Basel

Unlimited Accumulation? From Considerations of Preservation Principles to New Ways of Exhibiting
Catherine Duruel, Head of Collections, Centre Pompidou, Paris

Panel discussion:
Collectors and Museums – Towards a Better Partnership
Presentation: Bice Curiger, Curator, Kunsthaus Zürich
Maria de Peverelli, Art Consultant, Zurich
Thomas Koerfer, Collector, Zurich

New Museums in the Middle East: Issues and Opportunities
Dubai’s Aspiration to Become a Center for Global Culture
Michael Schindhelm, Director for Culture, Arts and Heritage, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority

Building the Future in Abu Dhabi: The Case of Saadiyat Island
Maria Paula Armelin, Registrar, Guggenheim Museum, New York

New Directions: The British Museum’s Loans and Travelling Exhibition Programme
Jill Maggs, Loans Manager, The British Museum, London

United in Diversity
Paul Williamson, Director Museums and Galleries, and Mark Hunt, Technical Manager, Constantine, London

Insuring Works of Art in the Emerging Markets of the Middle East
Robert Graham, Blackwall Green, London

Preserving for the Future: Documentation and Storage of Museum Work
PEVIAR, a Digital Storage Solution for Long-Term Archiving
Rudolf Gschwind, Head of Imaging& Media Lab, Basel

Small and Large Scale: Digital Preservation in Museums and in ICOM-CIDOC
Stefan Rohde-Enslin, Head of Institute for Museum Research – SMB-PK, Berlin

New Media Art: Collecting, Inventorying and Exhibiting New Media
The Preservation of Video Art: Collecting Data, Archiving, Lending
Agathe Jarczyk, Conservator, Videocompany Zofingen, Switzerland

Building-up a Permanent Collection of Audio-Visual Work
Elena Volpato, Curator Video Collection, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Turin

Ethical Issues in Museum Work: Laws, Controls and Procedures
Art without Borders? Ethical Challenges for Museums
Jean-Frédéric Jauslin, Director, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

CITES and Museums: How do Endangered Species Regulations Affect the Work of a Registrar?
Stephen Nash, CITES Secretariat, Geneva

Legal Immunity for Artworks for Temporary Loans to Switzerland
Benno Widmer, Head Specialized Body for the Transfer of Cultural Property, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

Panel discussion:
Museums and Living Artists: Potentially Clashing Interests?
Presentation: Stephen Dunn, Registrar, National Gallery, London
Sabina Lang, Artist, Burgdorf
Luca Trevisani, Artist, Berlin
Fabienne Eggelhöfer, Curator, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
Luisa Mensi, Conservator, Turin