Introducing: Julie Fassbender

Combining Work and Studies in the Conservation of Contemporary Art

Julie Fassbender is administrative assistant at MACCH’s partner institute Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg (SRAL). As one of the leading institutes in the field of conservation and restoration, SRAL fosters an environment of learning and collaboration. Supported by SRAL, Julie enrolled in the master’s programme Arts and Heritage at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University. Julie reports on her experiences combining her studies at Maastricht University with her work at SRAL.

After completing my bachelor’s degree in art history at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, I moved to Maastricht. Here, I studied fine arts at Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design (MAFAD), specialising in Performance Art and Installation Art. The theoretical and practical side of art are two complementary sides, in which I feel very much at ease. My previous education gave me a solid background for the master’s program at Maastricht University. In fact, the content of my master’s study relates in multiple ways to practical and theoretical dimensions of production, conservation and restoration of art. The decision to combine my work with a master’s study in Arts and Heritage was thus a logical step – for me as an individual and for SRAL as an institution. By supporting my studies, SRAL acknowledges that cultural institutions benefit from collaboration with the university. 

Questions of conservation, authenticity and heritage management are real-life issues that are of prime concern both for academic research and teaching at Maastricht University and for the professional environment of SRAL. The theoretical and practical frameworks that I am acquiring through the different courses of the master’s programme can be applied directly to my work. In my thesis, I will explore issues of authority and the role of artists in Artist Estates’ planning. I hope that I can contribute to strengthening the interdisciplinary collaboration between MACCH and SRAL and connect, even more, the academic and professional world of conservation in Maastricht.