07. BIS 14. September 2007

BigStuff 2007

Beyond Conservation – Industrial Heritage Management

Big Stuff has become now a unique triennial international meeting focused on the challenges and triumphs of conserving our large technology heritage. The conference features four days of talks, workshops and discussions about the preservation of sites, oversized objects, machinery, and working technology in the context of their significance and interpretation. The meeting aims to bring together Conservation professionals, Curators, and those working in or interested in the heritage field; to share experiences and ideas, and encourage a consistent approach to preserving technological heritage.

Following the very successful starting conference, BigStuff 2004, in Australia, a sequel—BigStuff 2007—took place in the Ruhr region (Ruhrgebiet), a former highly-industrialized coal and steel region in Germany. Organizer was the German Mining Museum (Deutsche Bergbau-Museum) in Bochum, in partnership with the Westphalian Museum of Industry (Westfälischen Industriemuseum) in Dortmund. The conference was organized under the motto ‘Beyond Conservation – Industrial Heritage Management’: Over the past 20 years an increasing number of industrial sites have been declared as monuments regarding their importance for the development of the region. This listing however did not consider the fact that the sites were never intended to survive for eternity. Because of their architecture, size and huge complexity they exceed all dimensions and aspects of conventional monument conservation BigStuff 2007 intended to bring together experts who have achieved results in preserving this kind of monuments and contribute to an exchange of information and knowledge.

Listed below you will find the proceedings from the BigStuff 2007 conference.

The proceedings, which can be downloaded here, include:

  • conference reader presenting all organization details as well as the abstracts of all kind of contributions (invited lectures, national reports, workshop notes, posters and informal contributions);
  • PP presentations of lectures provided by the speaker;
  • full text versions some contributions provided by the speaker;
  • transcriptions of the question and answer sessions which followed most of the presentations;
  • written versions of material presented at the poster session;
  • a transcription of the open discussion: "Future directions in the care of large technology" held at the end of the workshop;

You can download the conference reader here.