PREVENTING THE INEVITABLE

Conservation Tips & Tricks | Selin Kahramanoglu

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Curious about the title? I'm glad I caught your attention!
For the next few months, my articles will feature a three-part series about different methods of conservation. This week, we will focus on preventive conservation, and use the Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul (Aya Sofya, in Turkish) as our case study. It is also my favourite place in the whole world, so I'm excited to dive in!

Hagia Sophia during May. Photo courtesy of Selin Kahramanoglu.

Preventive conservation is a strategy that is always used in museums - it is basically Conservation 101. The purpose is to predict how an artifact will decompose overtime (because it is inevitable), and how we can take early measures to slow it down. It is incredibly important that all conservation methods are reversible. Nothing at all is permanent, so leave your Sharpie marker at home!

When we're talking about preventing the deterioration of cultural heritage, we are referring to both the artifacts, and the housing institution. This means that the historic object should be regularly checked for damage over time, but also the building's environment requires regular maintenance. Shall I go on?

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Using the Hagia Sophia museum as our example, let's look at the main components of preventive conservation...

Is it getting hot in here?

Idris Elba aside, Turkey is very hot in the summer and throughout most of the year (I swear it was 40 degrees Celsius in June and I was melting). This extreme heat can cause major damage to the artifacts and historic infrastructure. With the Bosphorus Strait nearby, the Hagia Sophia also suffers from high humidity, causing even worse long-term problems.

Can you see my sweat glistening? Photo courtesy of Selin Kahramanoglu.

Solution: Central air-conditioning is essential for conservators to stay sane in the high heat, but also to save the artifacts and historic structure. Small, portable humidifiers and dehumidifiers can help control the moisture in the air. According to the International Council of Museums and the Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC), the typical museum should stay at around 20 degrees Celsius and roughly 50% relative humidity.

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Turn that light out! Or, maybe not?

If you've ever walked through Hagia Sophia, the upper gallery has many windows that overlook the lovely gardens outside and provide natural lighting for visitors inside. However, this is a total nightmare! It may be beautiful, but inconsistent lighting will cause damage to anything touched by sunlight or direct artificial lighting.

Beautiful but damaging natural lighting. Photo courtesy of Selin Kahramanoglu.

Solution: Rather than cover-up the scenery with blackout blinds, the museum can invest in lighting the rest of the gallery space at an indirect angle, so that the room is lit as evenly as possible throughout the day. Along with the chandeliers, these lights will have to be altered with each change of season, and need to be readjusted on overcast days too. Light blinds will also reduce the intensity of sun rays streaming in.

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This is a 'No Spider Zone'

Nobody likes dusty air and creepy crawlies. As an old building in the heart of the city, Hagia Sophia is naturally prone to both of these threats. With open windows, bugs can fly in and nest, or eat up the textiles. The doors are left open because of the numerous visitors constantly walking in and out of the building, this invites other air pollutants to enter as well.

Ongoing excavations outside means a lot of dust for the inside. Photo courtesy of Selin Kahramanoglu.

Solution: Keeping doors and windows closed would help, but it could cause the museum to get stuffy. Ideally, the windows would have screens to keep the bugs out, and protect everything inside. Still, the museum should have numerous air filters throughout the space to help keep the environment clean, even with the AC on.

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Now you know the basics of preventive conservation! Conservators also consider the possibility and intensity of vibrations (from earthquakes, or subways), sterilizing equipment before treating an artifact, using a fume hood for chemical treatments, and wearing gloves when handling metal artifacts.


If you use all these strategies, then you will create a safe and stable museum environment for historical sites and collections for many years to come. Well done!

References

ICOM-CC Environmental Guidelines

Museum Association Guide for Lighting

DUST, RUST, AND ALL THE REST: PART ONE

CONSERVATION TIPS & TRICKS

BY JULIE DAECHSEL

I love dust. I love rust. I love grime.

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Before you question my sanity and scroll past this post, I let me explain – I love cleaning these things off an object. In this two part series, I’ll outline a practical beginner’s guide to conservation. By using stories from my time in the Markham Museum’s curatorial department, I’ll show you how to defeat dust, rust, and all the gross grime that attacks artifacts.

Part one will look at planning your war on dirt and part two will show you how to execute your plan and annihilate your foes.

Why conserve?
Removing layers of dirt and neglect from an object is insanely satisfying, and not just for the conservator. To the object, conservation is life or death (seriously): surface dirt and grime promotes deterioration, interferes with the aesthetics and the interpretation of an object, and attracts pests.

I think most people are more frightened of conservation than they should be. I’ll take this moment to clarify what I mean by “conservation” – it is by no means restoring an object to perfection. Cleaning an object doesn’t mean taking the object back to its original state: it means preventing further deterioration.

Definitely not the kind of cleaning I mean. Source.

Before cleaning, ask yourself...

Is it required? Does the object need to be cleaned?
Look at the object itself and how the museum (or entity that owns the object) wants to use it. If the object’s purpose depends on it being hygienic, then a deeper clean makes sense. Case in point: the curator of the Markham Museum, Janet Reid, restored a brass and chrome Babcock tester by removing layers of oxidation. Her goal was to clean it to a level appropriate for "Dairy Testing Clean", as it was a dairy testing tool. In consultation with Miriam Harris, Professor of Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management at Fleming College, it was determined that certain mechanical cleaners would be safe for both object and conservator.

Babcock tester from the Markham Museum after being restored. Layers of green corrosion were removed. Photo courtesy of Anna Kawecka.

The tester is now fully functioning as the corrosion was removed from all surfaces. Photo courtesy of Anna Kawecka.

What is a reasonable level of clean?
Determine how dirty the object is and what resources are available to you. Conservation is a lengthy and expensive process. So how do you balance the needs of the object with limited resources?

Triage the object: identify areas that need immediate attention (those that put the object in danger of irreversible damage) and areas that are not hazardous but not ideal. Figure out how much time and how many resources you can devote to the object. From there, it’s a matter of making a plan: the entire object needs to be brought to a uniform level of clean.

At the museum, Janet Reid wanted to add a cast iron horseshoe to an exhibition. Two hours were devoted during a busy exhibition installation to improve the appearance of this horseshoe (which was to be added to the upcoming exhibition) and stop the active corrosion. From a compromise between curatorial goals and conservation ideals, the horseshoe was taken from this:

Pretty gross, right? Photo courtesy of Julie Daechsel.

To this:

Two hours of conservation work. Photo courtesy of Julie Daechsel. 

Notice how it is uniformly clean? Equal amounts of time were spent cleaning every surface.

What is the dirt? How should it be removed?
Without intensive curatorial training, it’s next to impossible to look at an object and diagnose its dirt. Never blindly guess what dirt or corrosion is on your object: make an educated guess.

Look at where the object acquired its grime: was it outside, in a barn, in a basement? Could the grime be dirt, dust, or a combination? What is the object made of? When in doubt, ask other museum professionals: send a picture to the OMA listserv and wait for the responses to pour in. Museum professional love to share their wisdom and are only an email away. If you’ve identified the material, consult the CCI Notes before drafting your plan of attack.

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But remember, never clean something without express permission from the object’s owner and never touch an object without complete confidence. Even the smallest inkling of uncertainty should give you pause.

Tune in to part two where I get down to the brass tacks (pun intended) of actually cleaning!

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