Mag.art. Sabina Simonic

Sabina Simonič is a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Her professional specialization lies in the preservation of modern and contemporary art, a field she also teaches at the Institute for Conservation–Restoration. Within the Academy, she serves as the primary contact for questions relating to modern materials—particularly plastics—and their deterioration phenomena. Simonič is ITIL-certified and has extensive knowledge of management processes and their application within organizational structures. In addition to her academic qualifications, she holds an artistic–craft training in sculptural techniques and has many years of experience as an artist assistant, providing her with a broad and applied practical background.

She is currently pursuing a PhD on the influence of hacker culture on conservation. In her dissertation, “Hacking as a digital craft: subversive approaches to cultural heritage preservation,” she investigates how hacking practices can open up new perspectives on conservation methodologies.

As a board member and the first female chair of Metalab, Austria’s first hackerspace, she experienced the rise of the hacker scene in the late 2000s firsthand and played a key role in shaping its institutional development. She was also significantly involved in the early development of Vienna’s feminist hackerspace, Mz Baltazar’s Lab.

Her deep understanding of conservation–restoration practice also informed her professional advocacy work. As a board member and Vice President of the Austrian professional association of conservators and restorers (ÖRV), she represented the professional interests of the field for many years and engaged intensively with questions of professional identity and role definition within conservation–restoration. She led the working group responsible for developing Austria’s first fee guidelines for conservation–restoration services, published in 2025, thereby contributing significantly to establishing a foundation for fair minimum compensation within the profession.

As a delegate to the European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers’ Organisations (E.C.C.O.), she worked toward the introduction of European standards for protecting the professional title and for a harmonized European classification of the profession.

Simonič is also a board member of the European Network for Conservation-Restoration Education (ENCoRE), representing the European seat for conservation–restoration training institutions held at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Her work within ENCoRE focuses on professional competencies, qualification frameworks, and educational standards.

Links:

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sabina-Simonic-3

ENCoRE: https://encore-edu.org/

ÖRV: https://www.orv.at/

E.C.C.O.: https://www.ecco-eu.org/