Nothing Lasts Forever? Considering Lifespans in a Contemporary Collection.

For many European museums, caring for their collections 'in perpetuity' was implied or stated explicitly in their founding acts. However, as heritage science has developed as a discipline, the reality of eternal lifespans began to be questioned, and work on lighting guidelines led to a target lifespan of 500 years being adopted by many museums. This is often not feasible for the ephemeral materials more frequently found in contemporary artworks, which can break down quickly. Furthermore, for contemporary artworks with relevance to particular social or political circumstances, keeping them into the distant future may not feel essential. These factors, coupled with concerns about the financial and environmental impact of storing and caring for an ever-expanding volume of heritage material, have sparked new conversations about collection lifespans. This paper discusses lifespans for contemporary art, referring to the collection belonging to the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), and outlining several potential approaches. A nuanced and honest approach is arguably required, which should include exploring the artist's intent, identifying the critical elements of each artwork, and deciding how to manage change, while factoring in stakeholder perspectives and resourcing considerations. Such an approach would involve accepting the reality and inevitability of shorter lifespans for some artworks and could be considered the epitome of environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]