Broken Collection

The aim of the project is to investigate the limits and possibilities of conservation and of the history of art by using artistic means. The whole project starts off with the broken collection of Loosdorf Castle (Schloss Loosdorf). It consists of very many pieces of valuable porcelain from Asia and Europe which were destroyed in the Second World War. Launching out from the question of how to tell their story and to revive them as a living experience in the state they are in, a conflict area opens up between what is broken and what is whole, between preservation and destruction: when is something broken and when is it whole? What gives objects exceptional value? Do breakages and missing pieces distort our view of things, or do they open up a new potential for perception? On one hand, the project sets a basis for knowledge. The (hi)story the biography of the objects is retraced, namely as regards the interaction between the human being and the object, production procedures, collecting, all the way to preservation and destruction. Among other things to be determined is how the pieces, the shards, belong together and how complete they are. On the other hand, the project takes a practical, experimental and communal and collective approach. In annual workshops in Schloss Loosdorf, also at the Institute of Conservation, and in the Ceramics Studio of the University of Applied Arts Vienna the project team and international project partners from art, conservation and art history get together to collaborate on three topics: firstly, they will apply themselves to the issue of reassembling what is broken and in doing so address the issue of authenticity that this involves. Secondly, the group will turn to the hard and yet fragile material of porcelain in order to assess the quality of the collection. The third topic is that of the fragments themselves, including the treatment of the shards as objects in their own right within new arrangements and forms of presentation. The interaction with the shards takes place under the direction of the project team of the Institute of Conservation to exclude the danger of damage to the historical collection. The activities in the workshops are to be documented and scientifically evaluated in experience- sharing sessions together. The outcome of the project is not only knowledge gained, but also the organisation of an exhibition in Schloss Loosdorf in which the conserved and restored historical objects, shards and new artefacts enter in dialogue with one another. In conclusion there will be a conference on the theme Zerbrochene Sammlung Broken Collection. Here, the project team, project partners and other experts will all be able to talk about their work; the contributions will be compiled in a book.