Provisional semantics addresses a fundamental challenge facing the Towards a National Collection programme: how to develop ethical, equitable and transparent readings to support a more diverse public to engage with the digitised national collection. Currently, many subject index terms, catalogue entries and associated captions of artworks, visual media and artefacts have been informed by colonial contexts, attitudes and modes of perception. These can therefore be outdated and/or offensive to present day audiences, not least people of African and Asian descent in the UK, whose diasporic histories are intertwined with Britain's colonial and imperial past. Outdated and offensive language and interpretation deters engagement by the very audiences that collections seek to attract. Many in the heritage sector recognise the need to interrogate and redress problematic language and representations and there is a drive to decolonise - that is to explore and undo fundamental relationships of power and inequity, and to diversify - that is to present multiple perspectives. Yet at present the lack of research examining what is required in terms of ethical methodologies and practical and attitudinal shifts prevents sustainable change from taking place. Provisional semantics seeks to address this challenge by (1) examining what methodological, ethical and practical changes heritage organisations need to make to accommodate the multiple and provisional interpretations necessary for a sustainable digitised national collection to genuinely represent UK Heritage. And (2) testing what methods and approaches that engage intellectually and practically with the decolonial agenda can heritage organisations employ to produce search terms/catalogue entries and interpretations fit for purpose for an evolving digitised national collection. Over 18 months the project will undertake a wide-ranging literature and practice review and utilise three case studies centred on specific collections at The National Trust, Imperial War Museum and Tate that address the histories, representations and artistic practices of people of African and Asian descent. Each case study will test a different approach to collaborating with key stakeholders of each collection whose expertise as people of African and Asian descent can help provide more equitable, multi-perspectival interpretations. This research will be further enhanced by a close reading of sample texts from each collection undertaken by our academic partner, Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton, whose research focuses on arts and decolonisation in museums, collections and heritage organisations. In addition to the case studies and close readings, the main output will be a state of the art report that brings together the findings from the research, outlines the key challenges and provides evidence-based recommendations. These recommendations will have been tested with a group of interdisciplinary experts and disseminated to a wider group of heritage organisation professionals, academics and representatives from the standards agencies via 'sense-checking' workshops, events linked to the wider programme, journal articles, social media and through the project webpages that will be maintained on the Tate website. Through piloting methodologies Provisional Semantics will contribute new knowledge and directly support heritage organisations seeking to decolonise and diversify their collections as an embedded strategy towards developing a genuinely representative digitised national collection. The research aims to meet the needs of academics, standards agencies, heritage professionals, policy makers and the wider public. Importantly, Provisional Semantics will have wider benefits in terms of reshaping how key stakeholders of African and Asian descent can actively participate in forming the narratives of UK Heritage.

Within the context of safeguarding tangible heritage for current and future generations, 20th- and 21st-century oil paintings are presenting a range of challenging problems that are distinctly different from those noted in paintings from previous centuries. Problems are often but not exclusively associated with unvarnished, unprotected surfaces. Phenomena increasingly observed include the formation of vulnerable surface 'skins' of medium on paint surfaces, efflorescence, unpredictable water and solvent sensitivity, and alarming incidences of dripping paints several years after the paintings have been completed. The current lack of understanding of the nature of change in modern manufactured oil paints means that the established empirical approach to conservation treatments such as surface cleaning are not applicable to a great number of works. In particular, commonly used systems that rely upon water as a major component cannot be applied to clean modern oil paintings. So far, few alternative methods of treatment have proven effective and as a consequence the presentation of modern oil paintings may be compromised. This project aims at making a significant impact on our understanding of the reasons behind these phenomena by exploring several aspects of paint formulations (oil fraction, pigment-medium interactions, additives) and case study works of art. This will in turn facilitate the modification and development of surface cleaning systems that are more appropriate for use on the increasing numbers of unvarnished oil paintings in international and private collections. New cleaning systems will be trialed on works of art in several internationally significant public collections. This information will be disseminated via web platforms, seminars, conferences and a documentary for the general public and the cleaning systems will be introduced through continuous professional development workshops for practicing conservators, thereby offering practical solutions to conservators facing these difficult challenges.

Summary\n\nNew Media Art describes certain kinds of art practise that exploits the potential of various digital media technologies. What we might consider to be contemporary 'Intermedia Art' moves amongst and between these media technologies and other performative forms and, in so doing, raises key questions about creative, institutional and audience engagement with the visual. These topics, and notions of performativity and authenticity, will be explored by this Network. The elements that may be found in New Media Art might include durational and time-based works, art which is screen-based, sometimes with a strong narrative and sometimes philosophically conceptual. Notions of authorship and authenticity have for so long been central to most western theories of art and the challenge comes in understanding which categories should be applied to a work of digital art when the format of the original is unclear, where it is technically impossible to distinguish between the original and subsequent versions and when it is impossible to confirm how many versions or editions exist? Given these mystifying circumstances and ambiguities, how might 'performativity' be understood in relation to such art? If we cannot be sure what we are engaging with, how can we relate to or comprehend the position of the author responsible?\n\nThe Network will exploit Tate's unrivalled position in relation to the acquisition, technical management and understanding of Art,, establishing an interdisciplinary forum to set out what will be the key research questions in the subject area of New Media Art. Museums displaying contemporary art are increasing challenged by the rapid pace of change and technical innovation associated with New Media Art / the kinds of spaces that will be needed, the kinds of technical infra-structure and the kinds of interpretation that will best suit its audiences? \n\nA form of art that eludes familiar and accepted categories demands the attention of scholars from an equally wide range of disciplines, hence the decision to constitute the Network as an interdisciplinary body and use the significant potential of Tate On-line to disseminate the findings to wider audiences. The core participants of the Network will include artist-practitioners, scholars in various disciplinary fields, both established and at postgraduate levels, as well as curators.\n\nThe Network will convene at Tate Modern on five occasions over a two-year period. Each meeting will have a theme and for each meeting a small working group will be charged with the production and dissemination of interim findings towards the publication of a final Summary Report. The programme will open with a meeting about performativity and intermedia in relation to the historical and critical positioning of New Media Art and at Meeting Two, the topic will be authenticity and the challenge that ambiguity with regard to authorship, originality and value represents to gallery and art museum acquisition policies. At Meetings Three and Four , the Network will consider the key material and practical museological questions of architectural space and technical infrastructure as well as the potential of non-physical digital 'platforms' before turning finally at Meeting Five to the business of commissioning and displaying New Media Art.\n\n Following the final meeting, the Principal Investigator will oversee the final editing of each Research Report arising from the five meetings of the Network to produce an invaluable set of working and position papers in a field that will have immediate application to ongoing research projects and disseminated via Tate On-Line.\n

The focus of our application to the AHRC Capability for Collections Fund is the refurbishment and upgrading of spaces, facilities and equipment within the Conservation Science and Preventive Conservation (CSPC) section of Tate's Collection Care division. All spaces are located within the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital building on Tate Britain's Millbank site. Designed as hospital wards, the six spaces across three floors with their awkward shapes, draughty windows and ageing infrastructure, have never been truly fit for purpose. Developing organically since 1993, they house a permanent team of 5 staff, plus fixed-term posts, seconded Tate research staff, interns, post-graduates and researchers. They are in urgent need of redesign and refurbishment to create a cohesive, flexible and operationally effective suite of rooms that are energy efficient and health & safety compliant. Within the lab spaces, we are also requesting replacement/upgrades to key core scientific instruments nearing obsolescence. As a GLAM sector institution, building maintenance and public-facing areas have necessarily been prioritised for constrained capital investment. This essential upgrade will ensure business continuity, facilitate collaboration and significantly enhance research capability and capacity. At the core of Tate's Research Strategy is the imperative that research impacts our practice. Conservation Science is exemplary in this regard, working closely with practitioners to successfully translate research into innovation in the care of Tate's evolving collections; recognised through two ICON Anna Plowden Trust awards for Research and Innovation in Conservation (2010, 2015). The small team is a major contributor to Tate's vibrant research culture, securing 40% of Collection Care Research funds in the past 6 years and actively enhancing Tate's status as an Independent Research Organisation. They have a long tradition of co-supervision of doctoral students and deliver impactful research in contemporary art materials, historic British paintings, preventive conservation and cleaning science. They share their work with broad audiences, with consistently high publication, presentation and professional development outputs. Restoring Rothko and Conserving Whaam! are among Tate's most popular on-line films and the most-watched by 18-34-year olds. The team founded the Modern Oils Research Consortium and lead the field in innovative treatment research on modern painted surfaces. They have secured awards from the European Framework Programme for ground-breaking science-driven collaborative projects such as Nanorestart (2015-2018), as well as an AHRC award for Cleaning Modern Oil Paints (2015-2018), another from the joint AHRC-EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme (2010-2015), and currently host 3 AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships. Their research recognises the value of different forms of knowledge, having developed inherently inclusive and interdisciplinary research methods which directly influence conservation practice and technical art history nationally and internationally. This vital opportunity to renew our facilities will safeguard the future of scientific research at Tate and transform our contribution to the sector. By increasing capacity, supporting access, fostering wellbeing and facilitating collaboration, research activity will grow within Conservation and Collection Care to evolve into innovative policy and practice. This award will contribute towards Tate's long-term goal of developing a state-of-the-art Collections Centre to support knowledge exchange and act as a nexus for inter-disciplinary, creative research. As we actively embed our Research Strategy and Tate's values into our work and partnerships, it is essential that these facilities are upgraded now to enhance our capability for future research and innovation as a member of a UK-wide distributed and impactful heritage research network and the World Class Labs initiative.

Our application to the AHRC Capability for Collections Fund is focused on the urgent replacement/upgrading of ageing digital and portable equipment to help ensure continued research within the Collection Care division. The equipment is located across our Conservation Science, Conservation and Photography studios at Tate Britain. These tools are vital for business continuity in support of physical and digital access to collections, digital engagement, research development and leadership and the effective technical examination, documentation, conservation, and preservation of Tate's collection. This work directly contributes to new knowledge and engagement through deep exploration of both the digital and physical collection. As a GLAM sector institution, Tate faces a sustained lack of resource for capital investment; maintenance of our estate for public access is a constant priority, impacting on other demands. As a result, much of the equipment underpinning Tate's technical research output and capacity has reached or is approaching end-of life and is now redundant or functioning below par. This award would increase our capacity and capability to develop new research questions arising from Tate's unique collections, to sustain existing and form new research collaborations, and to continue to be ambitious and impactful in our practice and policy, nationally and internationally. Collection Care research has been a major contributor to Tate Research, championing and nurturing our vibrant research culture and securing our success as an Independent Research Organisation. The division has a long history of conducting important research in contemporary art materials and conservation, art transport, historic British paintings, digital art and preventive conservation. Much of this output has been made possible through the equipment available on-site, alongside fruitful collaborations, projects and exchange with local, national and international partners. Most recently Collection Care Research has secured awards from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the Reshaping the Collectible project (2018-2021), from the European Framework Programme to participate in ground-breaking scientific, practice-based projects such as Nanorestart (2015-2018), and from the AHRC for projects such as Cleaning Modern Oil Paints (2015-2018) and (to date) six AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) awards. We share our work with broad audiences, through many publications per year, regular presentations, practitioner professional development workshops and effective digital engagement. Digital outputs such as Restoring Rothko and Conserving Whaam!, remain among Tate's most popular on-line films and the most-watched by 18-34-year olds, receiving 480,000 and 133,000 viewings respectively. At the core of Tate and Collection Care's Research Strategy is the imperative that research impacts our practice and contributes valuable outcomes to the wider heritage sector. Collection Care research recognises the value of different forms of knowledge, having developed inherently collaborative and interdisciplinary research methods that draw on the expertise of scientific, technical, arts and humanities disciplines, nationally and internationally. We work closely with practitioners to translate research into innovations in how we care for Tate's collections, sharing these outcomes as broadly as possible. It is essential that our technical equipment is upgraded to enhance our capability for future research and innovation, so that we can play a full part in a UK-wide distributed, impactful and forward-looking heritage research network and the UK Governments World Class Labs initiative. This award would be a significant step towards our long-term goal of developing a state-of-the-art Collections Centre to support knowledge exchange and act as a nexus for inter-disciplinary and creative research, contributing fully to the UK economy and the wellbeing of all.