Lights On! Sustaining Light-Based Art

The three-day event will address current issues relating to the production of knowledge and the writing of art history, as well as conservation, care, outreach and learning in museums of contemporary art.

Within this context, the symposium ‘Lights On! Sustaining Light-Based Art’ will examine the conservation of light-based artworks and their future in museum collections.

The event, taking place on 13 November 2026, will address challenges such as technological obsolescence, material availability and sustainability. Taking Dan Flavin’s site-specific installation *untitled* (1996) at the Hamburger Bahnhof as its starting point, the symposium will examine how these factors affect the authenticity, material integrity and long-term care of light-based art.

‘Lights On!’ brings together international experts from the fields of restoration, curatorial practice, collection management and research. It highlights current approaches to documentation and conservation and fosters dialogue between institutions, artists, manufacturers and estate administrators regarding the future care of light-based artworks.

Participation is free of charge.

Please note: Registration and the waiting list are now closed.

Programme

Registration / Conference office opens: 08:30–09:00

Welcome: 09:00–09:15

Till Fellrath, Co-Director of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart

Symposium Planning Committee, Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Berlin / Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna

Keynote: 09:15–09:55

Reinhard Bek: ‘More Light!’, Bek & Frohnert LLC, New York

Case studies – insights into specific examples

Moderator: Andrea Sartorius: 09:55–10:15

Markéta Krausová, Evelyne Snijders: “Too Hot to Handle?” Exploring alternative light sources for Simone Forti and Lloyd Cross’s “Integral Hologram Angel” (1975–76) – University of Amsterdam

Teddy Woods, Jihyun Choi: “Keeping Offspring Switched On” – The conservation of a living light installation – University College London & Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul

Hannah Backes, Ute Kannengießer: Illuminated from all sides – Albertina, Vienna

Coffee break: 10.15–10.45 am

Section 1: Collection Care – Protocols and Practices for Light-Based Art

Moderator: Carolin Bohlmann, 10.45–12.00

Alessandra Guarascio, Yeung Shin Li, Dieke Ribbers: From neon systems to light bulbs to LEDs – institutional approaches to the preservation and long-term conservation of dynamic artworks – M+ Museum, Hong Kong

Caitlin Gozo Richeson, Caroline Longo: ‘Illuminating Preservation’ – Developing conservation frameworks for light-based artworks at the Museum of Modern Art – The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Melissa David, Kendra Roth, Miriam-Helene Rudd: ‘Illuminating the Gaps’ – Developing protocols for light-based objects in the collection of modern and contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Section 2: Documentation of light-based art

Moderator: Josephine Bobeck, 12:00–13:00

Bogna Skwara, Ellen Moody, Maggie Bell, John Griswold, Olivia Kuzio: ‘Looking on the Bright Side’ – Spectrometric insights into the history of Robert Rauschenberg’s ‘Green Shirt’ – Getty Conservation Institute, Norton Simon Museum, USA

Eva Rieß, Pauline Reschke, Andreas Barthelmes, Florian Holzherr: How can light be captured? Documentation strategies for light-based artworks – Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Berlin

Lunch break: 1.00–2.15 pm

Section 3: Light as a Medium – Various Light Sources as Artistic Tools

Moderator: Taylor Hinojosa-Hayes, 2.15–3.30 pm

Taylor Healy: ‘Truth in Light’ – Myths and Misconceptions in Neon Art (Art Institute of Chicago)

Lou Ashon, Alexandra Nichols, Willa Ratz: Dealing with Diminishing Luminance – Conservation of a Software-Based Light Sculpture by Mona Hatoum (Tate, London)

Nick Pendemonti, Caroline Gil Rodríguez: ‘Tunnel Vision’ – Three light-based art installations at the MFAH (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)

Coffee break: 3.30–4.00 pm

Section 4: Looking to the Future – Approaches to Preservation

Moderator: Elisa Carl, 4.00–5.15 pm

Zoelle Nagib, Jacob Fishman: Neon in a New Light (Lightwriters Neon, Chicago)

Christine Haynes Mitchell, Patrícia Navedo García: The ‘Afterlife’ of Lighting – Maintenance and Obsolescence of Three Lighting Technologies at the MFA Boston (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Joy Bloser, Steve Morse, James Craven, Corina E. Rogge: Stock reserves, collaborative care and supply chain management – three decades of conserving Dan Flavin’s permanent installation at the Menil Collection (The Menil Collection, Houston & Estate of Dan Flavin)

Panel discussion: What next? What visions, strategies and responsibilities will shape the future of light-based art?

Moderator: Pia Gottschaller, 5.15–6.15 pm

Reinhard Bek (Bek & Frohnert LLC, New York)

Joy Bloser (Niki Charitable Art Foundation)

Ellen Moody (Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles)

Francesca Esmay (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York)

Willa Ratz

IN ENGLISH