TO SAVE OR NOT TO SAVE?

CONSERVATION TIPS & TRICKS

BY: SELIN KAHRAMANOGLU

Welcome to my final article for the summer! I'd like to indulge in a little ancient Greek symposium, and explore a hotly debated topic in conservation practices: How do you decide which artifacts deserve saving? *sips wine* Let’s discuss.

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The reason why this question raises some eyebrows is because everyone’s has an opinion. Even professionals disagree on the circumstances surrounding object conservation. Unfortunately, the alternative is quite drastic: Without conscious care, objects will naturally disintegrate, and in most cases there’s no possible recovery. As a conservator, quite literally, the object’s life is in your hands. Will you save it, or let it go?

Let’s look at three common criteria that help conservators make this decision easier:

1) Quality of Condition 

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Friend, if your artifact looks like it's beyond repair, then it’s probably too late. Based on how much time and resources is needed to recover the original state of the object, then the conservator will decide if it is worth the effort. It doesn’t matter how wonderful the object may be, if it’s already too damaged, then conservators are less likely to work with it.

• A shattered vase, a skull with missing teeth, a painting with discolouration, a book with an unraveling binding, etc. – These are all objects that can be saved. The tasks may be complex, but that just means that it will take more time. It is not impossible.

2) Necessary Tools

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Do you need the pigment of a plant that only grows in some inhabitable land? Then, my condolences, your object can't be saved. Not all conservators are fortunate enough to have every tool at their disposal. Even if the conservator is prepared to put in the extra effort, acquiring new tools takes funding, and not every institution is willing to pay a few thousand dollars to save a single ceramic plate. 

• Let’s say that you have a generous sponsor, who buys all the tools you’ve been dreaming about. Do you know how to use them? Even with all the latest technologies, conservators must have the expertise needed to use these tools, which can take years to learn and special training.

3) Cultural Heritage Value

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Here’s where things get tricky. When discussing conservation, this is the topic that causes the most disagreements among professionals. Conservators need to decide whether or not the object is a cherished part of history to determine if it should be saved. There's lots of questions that need answering, and decisions can be swayed by personal views. 

• Is the artifact the only one of its kind? Who has the right to decide if it's historically valuable? What criteria are they using? How was the object acquired by the museum? Is it useful in the future? – There’s a lot of uncertainty that accompanies questions of value because it is based on individual perspectives and interpretation.

Thankfully, conservation is not always so complex. Conservators often debate with each other to gain new insights, and challenge one another for alternative approaches. Professionals practice open communication and partnership when deciding to conserve an object. Many times, conservators agree about how to best protect an artifact. 

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Remember: If an object is considered unqualified for conservation treatment, it is not lost forever. Some artifacts are meant to deteriorate as part of their meaningfulness to the culture. These days, objects can be reproduced, or preserved through digital means (i.e. 3D scanning, virtual archaeology). Conservators just try to do the best that they can for each object, and roll with the punches!

The next time you think about conservation at the museum or archaeological site (check out my first and second articles), consider the above criteria and don’t be afraid to ask the tougher questions! Discussions have the potential to spark new ideas. *sips more wine* 

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What do you think? Comment below! 

Further Reading:
https://www.nedcc.org/preservation101/session-9/9selection-for-preservation.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-berry/why-preserving-history-matters_b_1446631.html.
 

MAKING YOUR OWN CONSERVATION SPACE

CONSERVATION TIPS & TRICKS

BY KRISTEN MCLAUGHLIN 

If you work in a small museum or small heritage organization (or even medium-sized) you might be a little strapped for space. Maybe desks serve 2 or 3 different purposes; maybe a meeting space is also an exhibit building workshop, or an office is also a lab.

Maybe you're wondering how you can utilize your space to create an organized and efficient conservation "lab"? (I use quotation marks because, let's be real, a full on heavy duty lab is sometimes a far off dream!). Based on my past experience, I hope I can give you a few tips on what you'll need and what you should aim to do to create this space!

NOTE: the best thing about creating your own conservation lab area is that it has to be what works best for you. Not everything I'll talk about is necessary for you and maybe I miss some items you think are super important. There's the beauty. Make it work for you! I just hope to give you a few guidelines to ease the overwhelming feeling of having to try and buy/find conservation tools, products, etc. that can come with the early research.

ANOTHER NOTE: It's totally fine to use a space for more than one purpose; I understand the issue of space! However, I recommend that over time whatever becomes your conservation space slowly turns into just that in order to limit contamination and increase organization and familiarity.

1. Furniture

-table -- big enough not only for what you're working on but your tools and possibly paperwork

chair
-outlets! (not really furniture but close enough)
-lamp, preferably one meant for conservation like these. If that is not possible, any kind of high powered lamp that helps you see fine detail works.
-be near a sink, if possible.

2. Tools

-HEPA vacuum
-microscope or those cool head mounted ones like the first one on this list
-small brushes/fine-tipped brushes
-weights
-syringes with specialty tips
-fine trim tweezers
-stainless steel micro spatula
-small sharp scissors
-bone folder or something equivalent to help scoring to make boxes, etc.
-bamboo skewer (to make cotton swabs)
-consolidants: this can vary incredibly depending on the objects you have in your collection. I'll leave that information up to you (there are a ton of great resources out there!), but just know you should -have some (and a beaker to mix it in) just in case!
-your own tools: sometimes you will have to make your own quirky tools and that's totally fine. In fact, it's awesome and should be shared with the rest of us for inspiration!

A cool tool of note is a porcupine quill, known to give the right pressure for cleaning off buildup on artifacts! Who would have known...

PS: and some kind of shelving or organizational box to hold it all!

3. Documentation Procedures

-lab safety documents (should be read by ALL people using the space)
-condition reports (should be filled out everytime an item is worked on)
-conservation policy (should be read by all staff and volunteers)
-conservation procedures (it is vitally important to make a how-to document for each type of material, artifact, etc. so that if someone is working on an artifact that is new, they know the general protocol of the institution and won't rely on Google for a method that perhaps the museum does not approve of).

4. Photography Space

Whenever an artifact is cleaned, conserved, glued together, or worked on, it should be photographed! In this way, you keep the work visually up to date and create an archive of sorts of the progression of conservation done on the object. This doesn't have to necessarily be in the same space but should be nearby.

5. Storage

This is the organizational box or shelving I mentioned earlier. It is super important to have all of your tools organized but also (most likely) able to move out of the way in case the space needs to be used for other things. I have seen different methods, but here are some general ideas:

-rolling set of drawers (usually those plastic ones) that can be tucked discreetly into corners
-plastic clip boxes that can be labeled and piled on top of each other on the corner of the desk; think giant pencil boxes from our youth
-if you have the space, put a shelf up above the table and store your items there!
-However you choose, an important thing to remember is to label and keep it organized.

That's it! Those are some easy beginning steps to a conservation space. Some last minute tips:

• Make sure it is clean!
• Make sure it is large enough for majority of artifacts!
• Put down some kind of base so that artifacts and your table top don't interact directly/add some cushioning. It's easy to buy a roll of ethafoam and then cut a piece that fits your table perfectly!

Sources

Conservation Wiki: Archaeological Conservation

Conservation Wiki: Setting Up a Conservation Lab

Penn Museum: Artifact Lab Toolkit