The ethnographic conservator’s repertoire easily transfers to contemporary art because modern objects share many of the same problems associated with traditional works, such as identifying materials, stopping deterioration agents and selecting treatments. Two case studies illustrating conservation issues of contemporary art at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) are discussed. A sculpture and a ceramic fabricated in the last ten years exhibit efflorescence. Technical studies were conducted on both objects and valuable contextual information was derived from interviews with the artists. A corrosion inhibitor applied to an iron chain is the cause of the efflorescence on the sculpture; calcareous inclusions in the ceramic body, which resulted in lime popping, caused the deterioration in the ceramic. -- SCMRE