Follow this page for announcements of events and publications, calls for papers, and other information about and around our activities. For short essays about our work, see Writings.
Our books Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge Vol. 1 (2023) and Vol. 2 (2025) have been reviewed by Nicole Savoy in News in Conservation, the journal of the International Institute for Conservation (IIC) — and we could not be more delighted.
A heartfelt thanks to Nicole for her generous reading and for engaging with our work. And thanks as well to everyone who contributed to these volumes and supported them along the way.
Read the review here.
December 20, 2025
Attention performance and book lovers:
Our book Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care (Vol. 1) is now out in softcover — for just one-third of the hardcover price!
With contributions from 25 fantastic authors, this book opens up new ways of thinking about how performance can be studied, experienced, acquired, and cared for. A resource for students, researchers, curators, and conservators interested in the future of performance in museums and beyond.
August 20, 2025
The research group Musealization of Art (mARTE) has just published the handbook Guide for the Preservation of Performance Art in Brazilian Public Museums. Launched during the group’s 5th Colloquium, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, at the beginning of June 2025, the publication is the result of the research project Protocols for the Musealization of Performance Art Conducted by Public Art Museums, funded by Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). It also received institutional support from the Brazilian Institute of Museums (Ibram).
August 01, 2025
Felipe Ribeiro , a visual artist, performance scholar and Associate Professor of the Dance Studies M.A. Program at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, has joined our project as a Guest Researcher. Welcome Felipe!
If you are interested in Felipe’s work, join us at HKB and online on April 23, 2025, 17:00-18:30 to participate in his lecture performance “Common Ground.” For more information, follow this link.
February 1, 2025
THE SECOND AND FINAL VOLUME OF PERFORMANCE: THE ETHICS AND THE POLITICS OF CONSERVATION AND CARE, HAS BEEN PUBLISHED AS OPEN ACCESS!
We are thrilled to announce that Volume II of Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care is now available as an Open Access publication!
This volume concludes our multi-year project, offering critical insights into the conservation and care of performance as a living practice.
Book presentation on March 13 – join us!
November 20, 2024
OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION GRANT FOR THE SECOND VOLUME OF OUR ANTHOLOGY!
Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care, Vol. 2 We are happy to announce that the second volume of our anthology Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care has received a book grant from the Swiss National Foundation! With the support of this grant, we will be able to…
“Activating Fluxus, Expanding Conservation:” our sister project at College Art Association, Chicago
Activating Fluxus is hosting a hybrid session at the College Art Association, Chicago.
We are hiring!
Come work with us as SNSF Postdoctoral Fellow, 75%, in our project Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge (2020-25). This is a short-term position that commences on April 15, 2024, and ends on January 31, 2025. Please refer to the full description of this position below.
“Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care” now available in hardcover
Whether you’re an academic, a theater and performance studies enthusiast, or someone with a keen interest in thought-provoking discussions, this hardcover edition is a tasteful addition to your reading repertoire. It’s not just a book; it’s a modest celebration of intellect and collaborative spirit.
PERFORMANCE: THE ETHICS AND THE POLITICS OF CONSERVATION AND CARE, VOL. 1, has just been published!
Calling all art enthusiasts, scholars, and conservators! We are excited to announce the release of an exceptional book that will change the way you perceive performance art and its conservation.
Join us in Lyon in June 2024!
The research team Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge is pleased to announce the call for papers for our panel at the 36th Congress of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art, which will take place in Lyon, France, June 23–28, 2024. The theme of the conference is Matter Materiality. Read the description of our CFP and submit…
Survey: how do you want your performances to be conserved?
In advance of our third annual colloquium, Performance Conservation: Artists Speak, we collected responses from artists engaged with performance about their own thoughts and feelings on conservation and performance’s afterlives.
A workshop with Rosanna Raymond on Moana Tatatau
You are invited to join a workshop with artist and scholar Rosanna Raymond on Wednesday, May 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (including a break for lunch) at the Amerbach Studios in Basel. On Tuesday, May 16, Rosanna will speak at our colloquium, Performance Conservation: Artists Speak. On the following day, she offers a…
Open Access Publication Grant for our forthcoming anthology!
Our new anthology, Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Conservation and Care has received a grant from the Swiss National Foundation for the Open Access processing fees. The book, which is in production with Routledge, will be published this summer in hardback, paperback, and as an e-book. We are thrilled about this news.
Event: Activating Fluxus: In and Out of the Archive
The related research project Activating Fluxus announces an online event investigating archival space as a site for activating artworks created since 1960.
Book launch and panel discussion: Object-Event-Performance: Art, Materiality, and Continuity Since the 1960s
Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 5 p.m. CET / 11 a.m. EST Until April 1, you can purchase the book at 30% off using the code BARDOBJECT30. The SNSF research project Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge, in collaboration with the SNSF research project Activating Fluxus, is pleased to host a public presentation of the book titled Object-Event-Performance: Art, Materiality,…
Announcing a new publication: Object—Event—Performance
This blog post celebrates the publication of a new volume, Object—Event—Performance: Art, Materiality, and Continuity Since the 1960s (2022). The volume’s ten chapters consider questions of conservation that arise with new artistic mediums and practices.
Interview with Gisela Hochuli now online
Watch our interview with artist Gisela Hochuli about her performance In Strange Hands II.
Something Great webinar now online
On May 24, 2022, Hanna Hölling and Jules Pelta Feldman presented the keynote lecture for the “Neue Schule” webinar of Something Great, an innovative Berlin-based performance collection that is rethinking what it means to create, acquire, and continue live performance art. Their talk was followed by a conversation between Mariama Diagne (Post Doctoral Researcher, SFB…
PhD candidate sought for “Activating Fluxus”
Join the team of our sister project, “Activating Fluxus.”
Jules Pelta Feldman on Basel’s Radio X
Recently, Jules Pelta Feldman, postdoctoral fellow for “Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge,” was invited to appear on Radio X for a discussion about performance art with artist and curator Chris Regn, Sandro Lunin, outgoing director of Basel’s Kaserne and organizer of many theater festivals, and moderator Danielle Bürgin of Radio X. The conversation, which was part…
Natilee Harren: Fluxus Forms of Activation
The SNSF research project “Activating Fluxus,” which is also hosted by Bern Academy of the Arts and lead by our own project lead Hanna Hölling, welcomes Fluxus scholar Natilee Herren for a discussion of her book Fluxus Forms: Scores, Multiples, and the Eternal Network (University of Chicago Press, 2020).
Anna Schäffler: The Art of Preservation
Join us for a talk by Dr. Anna Schäffler, who will discuss her research on cooperative forms of preservation in connection with the work of German conceptual artist Anna Oppermann.
Announcing our second annual colloquium: Friday, September 30
Join us and a variety of artists and experts for our second annual colloquium on Friday, September 30.
Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge at symposium “Revolving Documents #1,” June 9-10
Join on June 10 at the Museum Tinguely in Basel for presentations from each of the four members of Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge.
The Afterlives of Performance: May 24, 2022
We’ll see you online on May 24 for a talk and panel discussion about lives and afterlives of performance.
Join us at the College Art Association Annual Conference on March 3
Join us for the CAA panel “Conserving Performance, Performing Conservation” on Thursday, March 3, at 9:00 a.m. CST / 4:00 p.m. CET.
Call for papers: Conserving performance, performing conservation
Submit an abstract to our upcoming (online) session at the College Art Association’s annual conference! Theoretical, art historical, practice-based and experimental contributions are all welcome.
Call for proposals – Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Care
Submit a paper for presentation at our colloquium in May, “Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Care – #1. Mapping the Field.”
Hello, we are “Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge”
How can live art be preserved for the future? And what does conservation theory and practice have to teach other disciplines seeking to understand art’s most ephemeral medium?
Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge 