Historically, the interiors of manors and palaces have been closely linked to collections. A collection is part of the interior, and at the same time, it is the interior itself.
In a table-display case designed by Kotryna Gurskaitė, artist and restorer Domas Noreika presents a collection of materials compiled through practical experimentation, revealing various restoration methodologies and practices. Each of the table’s six drawers illustrates a different restoration strategy, offering a distinct perspective on the materiality and biopolitics of heritage.
The impetus to present a new table collection was inspired by the theme of the 60th anniversary of ICOMOS – the global non-governmental organisation dedicated to the conservation of monuments and sites – which in 2025 focuses on ‘Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage’. Each drawer offers a critical perspective on restoration ideas, reflecting experiences of fragility, uncertainty, mistrust, and threats.
The work reflects on preventive conservation, the romantic concept of decay, the principle of non-intervention, therapeutic intervention, scientific professionalism, archaeological restoration, aesthetic integration, and anastylosis.
The contents of the drawers are shaped through collaboration with emerging artists (Viktorija Aprimaitė, Sofija Laurušonytė, Paulina Vasiliauskaitė, Gasparas Zondovas, and Merkys Žebrauskas), using materials characteristic of their work. Noreika interprets the tools and ideas they use to create a new work: a collection of materials called Drainage. This earthworm is an engineering system that illustrates new trends in heritage conservation and attitudes toward restored values.
A specially created scent experience accompanies Restorer’s Imagination Table II.
Patron of the Contemporary Art Centre and Sapieha Palace: reefo
Media partners: 15 min, Žmonės