Kim Siebert - Heritage Collection Conservator, Curator and Artist- she developed her practices at national, independent and UNESCO World Heritage Site museums, on three continents - working with contemporary and historical collections, preventive conservation collection care, museum storage management, international transportation of heritage collections, professional training and risk assessment. Her specialization is in textile treatments and care for the preservation of historical performance puppets and beadwork. Her practice emphasizes ethical collaboration and exchange with makers in partnerships, respecting inherited values and techniques of makers and performers in conservation approaches to the long term preservation of the material culture.
Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia (JOSA Vol. 51), 2019, 2019
The conservation of world culture collections, and particularly of objects relating to performa... more The conservation of world culture collections, and particularly of objects relating to performance, requires a deeper understanding of not only their historical significance, but of their connection to contemporary communities. In the twenty-first century, the preservation of material physicality is not always the most vital responsibility of the conservator. The paradigm shift proposed by a post-normal scientific approach to materials conservation engages source communities and contemporary performers as experts to be consulted in the conservation of performative objects such as musical instruments, puppets and costumes. By viewing these objects not only as self-contained artefacts but also as facets documenting a cultural tradition, the role of the conservator and the museum at large is to encourage and enhance living links between the collection and the community from which they originate. Recognising their accountability beyond the self-appointed role of property holders, conservators and museums move into a position of co-guardianship. The
collection becomes an aspect of a complex cultural heritage, determined by the community of origin first and foremost.
Taiwan proposes an unusual opportunity for contemporary engagement with the ancient Chinese tradition of puppetry. The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum belongs to a larger organisation, the Taiyuan Foundation, working with master performers and new generations of puppet-makers and performers. During an Asialink Arts Residency, emerging conservator, Rosie Cook, worked alongside TAPTM Head of Conservation, Kim
Siebert, and in consultation with puppeteer, Kuo Chienfu, on a project to conserve a selection of budaixi Chinese glove puppet costumes in preparation for a publication on the topic of Chinese garments. Reflections upon the performative nature of conservation, as well as discussions with performers and puppet experts, resulted in a treatment informed by the performative nature of puppetry, focused more on dialogue, significance and preventive conservation, than on technical intervention. This paper introduces the context of this conservation project, and demonstrates how engagement and consultation with
puppeteers, as well as considerations of how conservation integrates performance into its practice, have directed the treatment of a selection of budaixi costumes.
English Keywords: potehi, puppet, intangible culture, performance, conservation
Chinese Keywords:
The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum (TAPTM, founded in 2000) is part of the Taiyuan Foundatio... more The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum (TAPTM, founded in 2000) is part of the Taiyuan Foundation which also includes the Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company, the Nadou Theatre, Taiyuan Publishing and Taiyuan Film. The Museum works closely together with these organizations which result in a rhythm and partnership where we gain in creativity, capacity, exchange and sustainability: a potent combination in the preservation and promotion of the art of Asian puppetry. Thus the Museum performs its museological duties, surrounded by a participating team of shared performers, scholars, designers, educators and patrons with a loyal and expanding audience sharing a creative vision. The Conservation Unit is the guardian of the unique collection of over 10,000 Asian puppet theatre objects. We work on the preservation and interpretation of this cultural legacy with our sights on the future. This paper charts the evolution of the private collection of Dr. Paul Lin into a museum with professional standards of practice in a context that has already delivered an international reputation. For the Conservation Unit this is about stepping up to the challenge. We are situated in a 1930s heritage building (with all its related problems), located on a tropical island in a typhoon and earthquake zone. Puppet performances and temple celebrations are still happening on the streets around the museum, so we are part of a living culture and share its vitality.
Kim Siebert, Chief Professional Officer, Education Division, South African National Gallery and ... more Kim Siebert, Chief Professional Officer, Education Division, South African National Gallery and exhibited on the 1985, 1988 and 1991 Triennials, coomented on the debates, controversies and issues with funders of the 1991 Triennial
A set of public responses to the 1991 Cape Town Triennial, opened at the South African National Gallery, were published in de Arte, in a special edition, in a context of much controversy. The withdrawal of this multinational sponsor was to shut down the possibility of any future exhibitions of South African artwork that were submitted blind to a selection committee. Controversy always followed this exhibition, which toured 5 provinces and was the most widely viewed travelling art exhibition to date. It did, however, also involved the facilitation and resources of state and municipal galleries and their staff, most particularly that of the South African National Gallery, which hosted the timeous selection process as well as the exhibition, and providing catalogue data and art handling. The withdrawal of the sponsor, Rembrandt Trust Limited, a South African tobacco and industrial company founded by Anton Rupert, with growing public notoriety due to its products, made this the last occasion for this opportunity for artists, and no exhibition was to replace the scale and scope of this national showcase of contemporary art. Two years later South Africa was to hold its first free and fair general election.
Project Design Workshop for Museum Development:
personal comments on the workshop organised by I... more Project Design Workshop for Museum Development: personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held in Accra, Ghana, 19-30 May 1997
Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place., 2015
"Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of pup... more "Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of puppets from the Paul Lin Collection and selected personal artifacts guest curated by Kim Siebert. This booklet/ document was published internally and made available for the duration of the exhibition at the Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, No. 79, Xi-Ning N. Road, Taipei. Duration of the Exhibition: 8 March - 30 September 2015.
The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, in Dadaocheng, launched the first invited artist programme with Kim Siebert, as curator. The exhibition, Die Blaue Stunde, was conceived of as a meeting of African and Asian performance traditions, inspired by some of the lesser known works in the museum’s permanent collection. Since Ms. Siebert, as the museum’s Conservator, she had the opportunity to explore the collection first hand, since she joined the staff in 2008. The collection has been donated to the Taiwan Museum in 2020.
The artist chose to present the audience with an installation that traces her journey and origin from and across Africa, to her destination and home in Taiwan. The language of choice is the collection of the cloths she has bought and used from places along the way. This is the blue cloth to be particular, and the cultural heritage of indigo cloth specifically, a craft and skill known to this island, as well as the cultures of Africa and beyond. The journey starts with the indigo cloth of her German ancestors, known as "blaudruck", "duitse sis", or "shweshwe" by their African regional names. This blue cotton was first brought to southern Africa with German immigrants who settled in the Eastern Cape. These indigo threads follow her across to West Africa, to Arizona, and finally to Asia, and Taipei. The exhibition pays homage to memory, ancestry, cloth, cultural legacies and how our journeys transform us along the way.
Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place., 2015
"Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of pup... more "Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of puppets from the Paul Lin Collection and selected personal artifacts guest curated by Kim Siebert. This booklet/ document was published internally and made available for the duration of the exhibition at the Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, No. 79, Xi-Ning N. Road, Taipei. Duration of the Exhibition: 8 March - 30 September 2015. The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, in Dadaocheng, launched the first invited artist programme with Kim Siebert, as curator. The exhibition, Die Blaue Stunde, was conceived of as a meeting of African and Asian performance traditions, inspired by some of the lesser known works in the museum’s permanent collection. Since Ms. Siebert, as the museum’s Conservator, she had the opportunity to explore the collection first hand, since she joined the staff in 2008. The collection has been donated to the Taiwan Museum in 2020. The artist chose to present the audience with an installation that traces her journey and origin from and across Africa, to her destination and home in Taiwan. The language of choice is the collection of the cloths she has bought and used from places along the way. This is the blue cloth to be particular, and the cultural heritage of indigo cloth specifically, a craft and skill known to this island, as well as the cultures of Africa and beyond. The journey starts with the indigo cloth of her German ancestors, known as "blaudruck", "duitse sis", or "shweshwe" by their African regional names. This blue cotton was first brought to southern Africa with German immigrants who settled in the Eastern Cape. These indigo threads follow her across to West Africa, to Arizona, and finally to Asia, and Taipei. The exhibition pays homage to memory, ancestry, cloth, cultural legacies and how our journeys transform us along the way.
Personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held ... more Personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held in Accra, Ghana, 19-30 May 1997
Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia (JOSA Vol. 51), 2019, 2019
The conservation of world culture collections, and particularly of objects relating to performa... more The conservation of world culture collections, and particularly of objects relating to performance, requires a deeper understanding of not only their historical significance, but of their connection to contemporary communities. In the twenty-first century, the preservation of material physicality is not always the most vital responsibility of the conservator. The paradigm shift proposed by a post-normal scientific approach to materials conservation engages source communities and contemporary performers as experts to be consulted in the conservation of performative objects such as musical instruments, puppets and costumes. By viewing these objects not only as self-contained artefacts but also as facets documenting a cultural tradition, the role of the conservator and the museum at large is to encourage and enhance living links between the collection and the community from which they originate. Recognising their accountability beyond the self-appointed role of property holders, conservators and museums move into a position of co-guardianship. The
collection becomes an aspect of a complex cultural heritage, determined by the community of origin first and foremost.
Taiwan proposes an unusual opportunity for contemporary engagement with the ancient Chinese tradition of puppetry. The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum belongs to a larger organisation, the Taiyuan Foundation, working with master performers and new generations of puppet-makers and performers. During an Asialink Arts Residency, emerging conservator, Rosie Cook, worked alongside TAPTM Head of Conservation, Kim
Siebert, and in consultation with puppeteer, Kuo Chienfu, on a project to conserve a selection of budaixi Chinese glove puppet costumes in preparation for a publication on the topic of Chinese garments. Reflections upon the performative nature of conservation, as well as discussions with performers and puppet experts, resulted in a treatment informed by the performative nature of puppetry, focused more on dialogue, significance and preventive conservation, than on technical intervention. This paper introduces the context of this conservation project, and demonstrates how engagement and consultation with
puppeteers, as well as considerations of how conservation integrates performance into its practice, have directed the treatment of a selection of budaixi costumes.
English Keywords: potehi, puppet, intangible culture, performance, conservation
Chinese Keywords:
The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum (TAPTM, founded in 2000) is part of the Taiyuan Foundatio... more The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum (TAPTM, founded in 2000) is part of the Taiyuan Foundation which also includes the Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company, the Nadou Theatre, Taiyuan Publishing and Taiyuan Film. The Museum works closely together with these organizations which result in a rhythm and partnership where we gain in creativity, capacity, exchange and sustainability: a potent combination in the preservation and promotion of the art of Asian puppetry. Thus the Museum performs its museological duties, surrounded by a participating team of shared performers, scholars, designers, educators and patrons with a loyal and expanding audience sharing a creative vision. The Conservation Unit is the guardian of the unique collection of over 10,000 Asian puppet theatre objects. We work on the preservation and interpretation of this cultural legacy with our sights on the future. This paper charts the evolution of the private collection of Dr. Paul Lin into a museum with professional standards of practice in a context that has already delivered an international reputation. For the Conservation Unit this is about stepping up to the challenge. We are situated in a 1930s heritage building (with all its related problems), located on a tropical island in a typhoon and earthquake zone. Puppet performances and temple celebrations are still happening on the streets around the museum, so we are part of a living culture and share its vitality.
Kim Siebert, Chief Professional Officer, Education Division, South African National Gallery and ... more Kim Siebert, Chief Professional Officer, Education Division, South African National Gallery and exhibited on the 1985, 1988 and 1991 Triennials, coomented on the debates, controversies and issues with funders of the 1991 Triennial
A set of public responses to the 1991 Cape Town Triennial, opened at the South African National Gallery, were published in de Arte, in a special edition, in a context of much controversy. The withdrawal of this multinational sponsor was to shut down the possibility of any future exhibitions of South African artwork that were submitted blind to a selection committee. Controversy always followed this exhibition, which toured 5 provinces and was the most widely viewed travelling art exhibition to date. It did, however, also involved the facilitation and resources of state and municipal galleries and their staff, most particularly that of the South African National Gallery, which hosted the timeous selection process as well as the exhibition, and providing catalogue data and art handling. The withdrawal of the sponsor, Rembrandt Trust Limited, a South African tobacco and industrial company founded by Anton Rupert, with growing public notoriety due to its products, made this the last occasion for this opportunity for artists, and no exhibition was to replace the scale and scope of this national showcase of contemporary art. Two years later South Africa was to hold its first free and fair general election.
Project Design Workshop for Museum Development:
personal comments on the workshop organised by I... more Project Design Workshop for Museum Development: personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held in Accra, Ghana, 19-30 May 1997
Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place., 2015
"Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of pup... more "Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of puppets from the Paul Lin Collection and selected personal artifacts guest curated by Kim Siebert. This booklet/ document was published internally and made available for the duration of the exhibition at the Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, No. 79, Xi-Ning N. Road, Taipei. Duration of the Exhibition: 8 March - 30 September 2015.
The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, in Dadaocheng, launched the first invited artist programme with Kim Siebert, as curator. The exhibition, Die Blaue Stunde, was conceived of as a meeting of African and Asian performance traditions, inspired by some of the lesser known works in the museum’s permanent collection. Since Ms. Siebert, as the museum’s Conservator, she had the opportunity to explore the collection first hand, since she joined the staff in 2008. The collection has been donated to the Taiwan Museum in 2020.
The artist chose to present the audience with an installation that traces her journey and origin from and across Africa, to her destination and home in Taiwan. The language of choice is the collection of the cloths she has bought and used from places along the way. This is the blue cloth to be particular, and the cultural heritage of indigo cloth specifically, a craft and skill known to this island, as well as the cultures of Africa and beyond. The journey starts with the indigo cloth of her German ancestors, known as "blaudruck", "duitse sis", or "shweshwe" by their African regional names. This blue cotton was first brought to southern Africa with German immigrants who settled in the Eastern Cape. These indigo threads follow her across to West Africa, to Arizona, and finally to Asia, and Taipei. The exhibition pays homage to memory, ancestry, cloth, cultural legacies and how our journeys transform us along the way.
Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place., 2015
"Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of pup... more "Die Blaue Stunde - passages in puppetry, the past and a sense of place" was an exhibition of puppets from the Paul Lin Collection and selected personal artifacts guest curated by Kim Siebert. This booklet/ document was published internally and made available for the duration of the exhibition at the Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, No. 79, Xi-Ning N. Road, Taipei. Duration of the Exhibition: 8 March - 30 September 2015. The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, in Dadaocheng, launched the first invited artist programme with Kim Siebert, as curator. The exhibition, Die Blaue Stunde, was conceived of as a meeting of African and Asian performance traditions, inspired by some of the lesser known works in the museum’s permanent collection. Since Ms. Siebert, as the museum’s Conservator, she had the opportunity to explore the collection first hand, since she joined the staff in 2008. The collection has been donated to the Taiwan Museum in 2020. The artist chose to present the audience with an installation that traces her journey and origin from and across Africa, to her destination and home in Taiwan. The language of choice is the collection of the cloths she has bought and used from places along the way. This is the blue cloth to be particular, and the cultural heritage of indigo cloth specifically, a craft and skill known to this island, as well as the cultures of Africa and beyond. The journey starts with the indigo cloth of her German ancestors, known as "blaudruck", "duitse sis", or "shweshwe" by their African regional names. This blue cotton was first brought to southern Africa with German immigrants who settled in the Eastern Cape. These indigo threads follow her across to West Africa, to Arizona, and finally to Asia, and Taipei. The exhibition pays homage to memory, ancestry, cloth, cultural legacies and how our journeys transform us along the way.
Personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held ... more Personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held in Accra, Ghana, 19-30 May 1997
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collection becomes an aspect of a complex cultural heritage, determined by the community of origin first and foremost.
Taiwan proposes an unusual opportunity for contemporary engagement with the ancient Chinese tradition of puppetry. The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum belongs to a larger organisation, the Taiyuan Foundation, working with master performers and new generations of puppet-makers and performers. During an Asialink Arts Residency, emerging conservator, Rosie Cook, worked alongside TAPTM Head of Conservation, Kim
Siebert, and in consultation with puppeteer, Kuo Chienfu, on a project to conserve a selection of budaixi Chinese glove puppet costumes in preparation for a publication on the topic of Chinese garments. Reflections upon the performative nature of conservation, as well as discussions with performers and puppet experts, resulted in a treatment informed by the performative nature of puppetry, focused more on dialogue, significance and preventive conservation, than on technical intervention. This paper introduces the context of this conservation project, and demonstrates how engagement and consultation with
puppeteers, as well as considerations of how conservation integrates performance into its practice, have directed the treatment of a selection of budaixi costumes.
English Keywords: potehi, puppet, intangible culture, performance, conservation
Chinese Keywords:
A set of public responses to the 1991 Cape Town Triennial, opened at the South African National Gallery, were published in de Arte, in a special edition, in a context of much controversy. The withdrawal of this multinational sponsor was to shut down the possibility of any future exhibitions of South African artwork that were submitted blind to a selection committee. Controversy always followed this exhibition, which toured 5 provinces and was the most widely viewed travelling art exhibition to date. It did, however, also involved the facilitation and resources of state and municipal galleries and their staff, most particularly that of the South African National Gallery, which hosted the timeous selection process as well as the exhibition, and providing catalogue data and art handling. The withdrawal of the sponsor, Rembrandt Trust Limited, a South African tobacco and industrial company founded by Anton Rupert, with growing public notoriety due to its products, made this the last occasion for this opportunity for artists, and no exhibition was to replace the scale and scope of this national showcase of contemporary art. Two years later South Africa was to hold its first free and fair general election.
personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM
for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held in Accra,
Ghana, 19-30 May 1997
The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, in Dadaocheng, launched the first invited artist programme with Kim Siebert, as curator. The exhibition, Die Blaue Stunde, was conceived of as a meeting of African and Asian performance traditions, inspired by some of the lesser known works in the museum’s permanent collection. Since Ms. Siebert, as the museum’s Conservator, she had the opportunity to explore the collection first hand, since she joined the staff in 2008. The collection has been donated to the Taiwan Museum in 2020.
The artist chose to present the audience with an installation that traces her journey and origin from and across Africa, to her destination and home in Taiwan. The language of choice is the collection of the cloths she has bought and used from places along the way. This is the blue cloth to be particular, and the cultural heritage of indigo cloth specifically, a craft and skill known to this island, as well as the cultures of Africa and beyond. The journey starts with the indigo cloth of her German ancestors, known as "blaudruck", "duitse sis", or "shweshwe" by their African regional names. This blue cotton was first brought to southern Africa with German immigrants who settled in the Eastern Cape. These indigo threads follow her across to West Africa, to Arizona, and finally to Asia, and Taipei. The exhibition pays homage to memory, ancestry, cloth, cultural legacies and how our journeys transform us along the way.
collection becomes an aspect of a complex cultural heritage, determined by the community of origin first and foremost.
Taiwan proposes an unusual opportunity for contemporary engagement with the ancient Chinese tradition of puppetry. The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum belongs to a larger organisation, the Taiyuan Foundation, working with master performers and new generations of puppet-makers and performers. During an Asialink Arts Residency, emerging conservator, Rosie Cook, worked alongside TAPTM Head of Conservation, Kim
Siebert, and in consultation with puppeteer, Kuo Chienfu, on a project to conserve a selection of budaixi Chinese glove puppet costumes in preparation for a publication on the topic of Chinese garments. Reflections upon the performative nature of conservation, as well as discussions with performers and puppet experts, resulted in a treatment informed by the performative nature of puppetry, focused more on dialogue, significance and preventive conservation, than on technical intervention. This paper introduces the context of this conservation project, and demonstrates how engagement and consultation with
puppeteers, as well as considerations of how conservation integrates performance into its practice, have directed the treatment of a selection of budaixi costumes.
English Keywords: potehi, puppet, intangible culture, performance, conservation
Chinese Keywords:
A set of public responses to the 1991 Cape Town Triennial, opened at the South African National Gallery, were published in de Arte, in a special edition, in a context of much controversy. The withdrawal of this multinational sponsor was to shut down the possibility of any future exhibitions of South African artwork that were submitted blind to a selection committee. Controversy always followed this exhibition, which toured 5 provinces and was the most widely viewed travelling art exhibition to date. It did, however, also involved the facilitation and resources of state and municipal galleries and their staff, most particularly that of the South African National Gallery, which hosted the timeous selection process as well as the exhibition, and providing catalogue data and art handling. The withdrawal of the sponsor, Rembrandt Trust Limited, a South African tobacco and industrial company founded by Anton Rupert, with growing public notoriety due to its products, made this the last occasion for this opportunity for artists, and no exhibition was to replace the scale and scope of this national showcase of contemporary art. Two years later South Africa was to hold its first free and fair general election.
personal comments on the workshop organised by ICCROM
for the PREMA 1990-2000 PROGRAMME and held in Accra,
Ghana, 19-30 May 1997
The Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, in Dadaocheng, launched the first invited artist programme with Kim Siebert, as curator. The exhibition, Die Blaue Stunde, was conceived of as a meeting of African and Asian performance traditions, inspired by some of the lesser known works in the museum’s permanent collection. Since Ms. Siebert, as the museum’s Conservator, she had the opportunity to explore the collection first hand, since she joined the staff in 2008. The collection has been donated to the Taiwan Museum in 2020.
The artist chose to present the audience with an installation that traces her journey and origin from and across Africa, to her destination and home in Taiwan. The language of choice is the collection of the cloths she has bought and used from places along the way. This is the blue cloth to be particular, and the cultural heritage of indigo cloth specifically, a craft and skill known to this island, as well as the cultures of Africa and beyond. The journey starts with the indigo cloth of her German ancestors, known as "blaudruck", "duitse sis", or "shweshwe" by their African regional names. This blue cotton was first brought to southern Africa with German immigrants who settled in the Eastern Cape. These indigo threads follow her across to West Africa, to Arizona, and finally to Asia, and Taipei. The exhibition pays homage to memory, ancestry, cloth, cultural legacies and how our journeys transform us along the way.