Provenance Research and Museums: Prioritizing Stewardship Over Ownership. Let's Get Creative.

Jane Milosch, founder and Director of the Smithsonian's Provenance Research Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution, oversees its WWII-Era Provenance Research Project and advises on international cultural heritage projects, provenance, and training programs.

Provenance research is an integral museum practice that documents a chain of ownership---ideally unbroken---from the creation of an object to the present. Since the end of WW2, the importance of documenting the movement and histories of objects has come more and more into focus for museums, collectors and the commercial art market.

Jane Milosch will introduce the Smithsonian Institution's role in this area, stressing the need for interdisciplinary and collaborative work. She will argue that provenance research should no longer be considered as a dry list of dates and transactions, but instead be at the forefront of connecting histories, culture and people through objects in a rich and dynamic manner.