Preserving What Is Valued: Museums, Conservation, and First Nations

by Miriam Clavir

Museum practice regarding handling and preservation of objects has been largely taken as a given, and it can be difficult to see how these activities are politicized. Author Miriam Clavir argues that museum practices are historically grounded and represent values that are not necessarily held by the originators of the objects. She first focuses on conservation and explains the principles and methods conservators practise. She then discusses First Nations people's perspectives on preservation, quoting extensively from interviews done throughout British Columbia, and comparing the British Columbia situation with that in New Zealand.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Miriam Clavir is both a writer and a professional art and artifacts conservator. In her mystery stories she adds fictional murder and mayhem to her insider knowledge of museums and archeological excavations. She has published two mystery novels starring the amateur sleuth, Bérénice “Berry” Cates: Insinuendo: Murder in the Museum and Fate Accompli: Murder in Quebec City (Bayeux Arts, 2012, 2018). In addition, two mystery short stories have appeared in “The Whole She-Bang” (Vols. 2 & 3).

Miriam also writes literary fiction and has had short stories published in The Antigonish Review (2012), The Nashwaak Review (2014), Grain Magazine (2015), the Society (2016), and the New Orphic Review (2017).

In the field of museum conservation Miriam has authored many publications both for her profession and for the general public. UBC Press published her award-winning scholarly book, Preserving What is Valued: Museums, Conservation and First Nations (2002). Her articles on collections conservation and practice have most often considered broader rather than purely technical questions, such as, “What are we preserving, for whom and how?”

Miriam currently divides her time between her home in Vancouver and a writing retreat in rural Ontario.