ERC-project: Dynamics of the Durable: A History of Making Things Last in the Visual and Decorative Arts

Our cultural heritage comprises many art objects that are hundreds and sometimes thousands of years old. How did they survive this long? While many factors determine if and how art can be preserved, one has fundamentally impacted its long-term survival: the desire to make and own artefacts that withstand the test of time. Dynamics of the Durable: A History of Making Things Last in the Visual and Decorative Arts (DURARE) is a five-year research project funded by the European Research Council. Led by dr. Marjolijn Bol the project will study the impact of the artisan’s and the patron’s ambitions to craft, own and theorize durable objects on the long-term development of the visual and decorative arts.

To achieve durability, artisans have worked stone and metal, created dyes and pigments thought never to fade, made surface coatings ensuring the protection of more brittle materials, and transformed soft clay into long-lasting ceramics. Patrons coveted physically stable objects; yet stability does not always ensure durability: culturally fragile gold, for instance, can be melted and re-used. Beyond how the durable was made, DURARE will map the social practices influencing durability. We will also establish how, through artistic and social pursuits for durable art, humans acquired knowledge of the stability and behavior of materials over time, thus impacting knowledge traditions outside art history. And finally, we will elucidate the created practices and institutions facilitating durability, such as cultural heritage conservation and museums.

Project members: Marjolijn Bol (PI), Grace Kim-Butler (Post-doc), Jan van Daal (PhD Candidate), Henrike Scholten (PhD Candidate), Clara Mikellides De Chiaro (project assistant). For more information about this project, visit our project website.