2025 Poster Session

Conservation display parameters are devised to minimize damage to cultural heritage  while simultaneously maximizing their viewability. The Field Museum performs microfade testing (MFT), sharing this information with collaborators to help them determine if an item is suitable for display. This poster presentation will review the Field Museum’s methodology and guidelines for best practices using MFT. It will highlight the outcomes of sharing test results with Native collaborators for various belongings currently on exhibit in the Field Museum’s Native Truths Hall. When working with Native American belongings and deciding on an appropriate length of time an item can safely be exposed to light, this analysis can become the basis for a collaborative discussion during outreach and communication. 




When MFT is done in consultation with Tribal Representatives, it creates a space for shared stewardship. MFT results can help demonstrate the long-term stability of an item or flag potential light sensitivity. Explanations on how conservation and collections care specialists normally limit damage to an item, i.e. either decreasing the intensity of light exposure or shortening the exposure time, creates transparency in the work so that Native collaborators can make determinations that they believe are best for their belongings.




The purpose of using MFT when consulting and collaborating with communities is in the interest of giving Tribes and Native individuals more decision-making over their belongings in museum collections and allows the conservator to practice ethical stewardship. MFT presents conservation with another aspect of decision-making that can be shared and lead to an open discourse on how best conservators can work with underserved communities to care for their cultural heritage. It is important that conservation broadens outreach and collaboration by truly allowing Indigenous peoples to have authority over their cultural belongings.