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The article presents an overview number of the key conservation issues and challenges that ephemeral media have presented at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. A discussion of the impact that light, temperature, humidity, oxygen, and the unpredictablity of materials and media that are used in ephemeral art have on the ability of museum conservators to protect ephemeral art from deterioration or adverse chemical reactions, is presented. The role that museum conservators play in the documentation of artists' materials and techniques is discussed.