15505 aiccm newsletter#92

contents

National NewsletterAustralian Institute of the Conservation of Cultural Material (Inc.) ISSN 0727-0364

No.92 September 2004

Metals ConservationSummer Institute, Worcester,Massachusetts, USAVanessa Roth, Objects Conservator, Art Gallery of Western Australia

contents

Feature Article: Metals… 1

From the Editorial Committee 2

In Next Issue 4

Lab Profile 5

People & Places 7

Reviews 14

Special Interest Groups 21

It sounded like too good an opportunity for any metals conservator to miss. A two-week(7 – 18 June 2004) course in metals conservation for $250 USD, and that was includingmeals and accommodation. The Metals Conservation Summer Institute was organised bythe Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Metals Processing Institute and the Higgins ArmoryMuseum with funding provided by a grant from the Institute of Museum and LibraryServices. Twenty-two other students, from the United States, Canada, the UnitedKingdom, Belgium, Brazil, India, Kuwait, Greece, Spain and the Czech Republic,attended the course.

The program consisted of lectures, practical demonstrations and excursions to variousplaces of interest. Many of the lectures concentrated on metal structure and properties,ancient and modern metals production, and casting. I have been taught about metalsphase diagrams before, but I can say that I was finally able to understand theirsignificance after attending this program where they featured prominently in severallectures (and also now in my kitchen, having received a phase diagram magnet as afarewell gift). The practical demonstrations of analytical equipment included transmissionand scanning electron microscopes (TEM and SEM), metallographic microscopes and,my personal favourite, a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) unit which is capable ofqualitative and quantitative analysis in a unit the size of a hot air gun. The involvement ofthe Higgins Armory Museum resulted in the program being skewed towards arms andarmour, with several lecturers and participants coming from institutions specialising inthese collections.

After our coordinator, Yancy Riddle of the Metals Processing Institute, instructed us in thefiner points of New England culture such as how to pronounce ‘Worcester’ and thecorrect use of ‘wicked’, we were introduced to our keynote speaker, the renowned DavidScott of UCLA. David brought artefact samples with him for a practical metallographysession. Having attended a couple of less-than-successful metal polishing workshops in thepast I was a little sceptical. However, with a little assistance from David and the otherexperienced lecturers, we were able to view the samples quite quickly.

Matthias Pfaffenbichler, a curator from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, talkedabout traditional surface decoration and patination as well as the conservation of armourcollections. Maintenance is seen as the key to preserving armour, with all componentsinspected and coated with linseed oil at least every two years. Oil is preferred over wax

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AICCM National Newsletter No 92 September 2004

Firstly, apologies for the late arrival of thisedition of the Newsletter, due mainly to theoverseas travels of one half of the EditorialCommittee. We’d like to thank SamanthaShellard and Angeletta Leggio for assistingby organising reviews of the Tape andPhoton workshops respectively.

This issue our feature article is in fact adetailed review, provided by Vanessa Roth,of the Metals Conservation Summer Instituteheld in Massachusetts in June. Our labprofile comes from Anne Carter at theQueensland Art Gallery, which isexpanding with the development of the newQueensland Gallery of Modern Art.

Kim Barrett and Ruth Oliver have bothwritten reviews of the 4th Photon workshop,Duplication by Traditional Photographicand Digital Methods. Jodie Proud attendedthe workshop on Removal of PressureSensitive Tape and Tape Stains, held at theQueensland Art Gallery in early August.Jude Fraser participated in a Masterclasson Japanese Paper Conservation Techniquesat Northumbria University, UK.

The ever popular People and Places,Calendar and SIG reports are included as usual.

Helen Privett and Jude Fraser

from the editorial committee

NEW AICCM SECRETARIATAICCM is pleased to announce that we havemoved to a new secretariat provider,Secretariat Australia. All members should havereceived a letter outlining the details of thischange and the exciting new web basedmembership system we will be using. Please contact Jenny Dickens if you have any queries.

Contacts: Robert Diamond and Emma Dutton,Secretariat AustraliaPhone: 02 6295 9074 Fax: 02 6295 9277 Email: [email protected]: GPO Box 1638 Canberra ACT 2601(unchanged)Street: Suite 2, 11 Fitzroy St, Forest ACT

at this museum due to its higher gloss (though museums in the UStraditionally use ‘Bowling Alley’ wax and most of the participantsfavoured microcrystalline wax). In most cases rust is removed with ascalpel or citric acid gel, but an interesting example of laser cleaningwas also presented. A corroded steel crest with an intricate bluedpattern was laser cleaned after protecting the blued areas with amixture of titanium white and bohemian earth paint. Laser removal ofrust from the surrounding areas helped to highlight the bluing. Dustingof armoury collections has been found to be as important as RHcontrol in preventing corrosion – this is carried out three times a year.

Yancy Riddle started an interesting debate after Matthias’spresentation. Given the difficulties in preserving blueing, could themetal scientists present, come up with a way to re-blue artefacts?Suggestions included using lasers or induction heating. The debatestalled a little as the conservators explained some of the ethics ofconservation, and the need to be able to remove this layerseparately. The scientists countered with the idea of making the newlayer a different colour or applying it over a layer of another metal.While we didn’t have time to develop these ideas, these kinds ofdiscussions could really be productive as most conservators wouldnot be aware of the latest developments and possibilities in the worldof science.

Michael Notis of Lehigh University gave a talk on the making ofJapanese swords, illustrated with slides from his visit to Japan. Ialmost felt I had been there to witness this amazing process, steepedin traditions such as comparing the colour of the heated steel to theharvest moon. Using the ubiquitous phase diagram, Michael showedhow these traditions had developed to produce a high qualityproduct. One of Michael’s other interests is the classification of ‘ghoststructures’ in archaeological iron, which can reveal the phasespresent and thereby the manufacturing technology. As differentphases will corrode differently in different environments, themicrostructure of iron affects its corrosion as much as the burialenvironment. There was a warning that the corrosion of iron is notwell understood, as corrosion studies on iron have waned since theintroduction of galvanising in the 1950s.

MCSI participants

Aldo Reti of wTe Corporation discussed precious metalsmetallurgy. I was particularly interested in his use of aspectrophotometer to determine the colour of gold.Standard charts can then be used to determine the alloycomposition for colour matching replacement components.A possible drawback is that the technique can only be usedon a clean surface and would match this colour rather thanan aged patina.

Chemists seem to love discussing laboratory explosions andaccidents, but I can never forget Rick Sisson’s (WPI) hilarioustale of the exploding pressure bomb, which embedded itselfin the wall after an assistant cleaned it with Naval Jelly (Inever had much luck with phosphoric acid treatmentsmyself, now I’m just terrified!). Rick impressed on us the ideathat steels with identical compositions will have verydifferent working properties if cooled differently. This meansthat microscopy is far more useful than elemental analysis.

We were introduced to several advanced analytical tools.Brian Newbury from Lehigh University discussed the use ofsynchotron x-radiography and optical profilometry in hisresearch on brass astrolabes. The synchotron x-ray machineis not readily available to most conservators as it has an1104 metre circumference! (A synchotron is currently beingbuilt in Victoria). The technique is capable of penetratingmuch deeper into an object than traditional x-rays, but is stillmuch better for flatter artefacts. The synchotron can be usedto produce x-ray thickness profiles as well as diffractionpatterns and fluorescence spectra that provide informationon microstructure. Brian used optical profilometry to studyengraving, stamping and tool marks on the astrolabes. Thistechnique measures the height differences on the surface ofartefacts and creates a coloured digital map. Yancy Riddlediscussed focused ion beam milling (FIB), a technique thatcuts a 5 µm sample from an artefact which can then beviewed under a TEM. The brick-shaped sample is too small

to be seen with the naked eye, so this technique is virtuallynon-destructive. It is particularly good for viewing crumblycorroded structures that cannot be mounted and polished.

Ron Biederman’s (WPI) lecture on metallographic researchon steel from the New York World Trade Centre was a bitlike CSI with phase diagrams. Ron was part of the teaminvestigating the collapse of building 7, which did notsuffer a direct hit. The reason for the collapse was puzzlingas there has not been a previous case where fire caused asteel building to collapse; the temperatures reached are nothigh enough to melt steel under normal circumstances. Ronfound nothing wrong with the composition of the steel itself,however, hot corrosion occurred due to the presence ofsulphur and silicon. Ron showed how phase diagramscould be used to predict melting in the presence of theseelements. The source of the sulphur and silicon is not fullyunderstood but is probably due to pollution. Ron brought inthe last surviving piece of metal from the Trade Centre, therest has been shipped to China for re-processing, makingit difficult to do extensive research. As building safetyexperts are now focusing on improving fire-extinguishingsystems, it seems like no further work will be done as to thesources of pollution.

There were few lectures on conservation in practice, sothere was a lot of expectation placed on Robert van Langh’s(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) lectures on bronze and silverconservation and conservation ethics. I very muchappreciated Robert’s pragmatic approach to conservation.Robert challenged the assumption that bronze disease isalways active, as it is rarely the cause of disintegration ofartefacts. Affected artefacts are simply monitored andcompared with digital images to determine if treatment isnecessary (participant Aziz al-Duweesh from Kuwait alsosuggested painting the areas with acrylic paint to see if theareas are actively corroding). Robert also takes a very back-to-basics stance in the conservation of silver. Tarnish isgenerally removed by polishing with calcium carbonate.Chemicals are avoided where micro-cracks are present inthe surface as they are difficult to rinse out, thiourea causingparticular problems. Research is underway on the cause ofthese micro-cracks, which may be due to silver beingworked on a lead sheet. Robert recommends putting a lotof silver together in a showcase so that the effect of anyhydrogen sulphide in the atmosphere will be spreadaround. Silverware is spray coated with nitrocelluloselacquer prior to display, this is preferred over Paraloidbecause it is shinier and can be removed by pressurisedsteam. During the recent storage upgrade, silverware wasstored in sealed clear plastic bags (Archipress pouches) toprotect it from the less-than-ideal environment. Robert has abackground in metal smithing and urged us to trainourselves in the traditional skills. He brought up the question


3Metals Conservation Summer Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Workshop in metallographic microscopy. Yancy Riddle, third from left.

of whether artefacts should be annealed if reshaping isrequired. While most of the participants said that theywould not anneal, Robert asked us to question whether ourattitude was really an ethical one, or because we lackedthe necessary skills to decide on a case-by-case basis.

Martha Goodway, a metallurgical engineer who hasworked for many years with the Smithsonian joined us forthe last day. Martha was there to talk about modern metals,but could have been placed anywhere in the program, asshe displayed an excellent knowledge of metals throughouthistory and a great ability to bridge the gap between theconservation and scientific communities.

To prevent our brains becoming too full, we were taken onseveral excursions during the course including StrawberryBanke historic townsite where we spoke to an archaeologistand saw a cooper in action, the recreated SaugusIronworks, DeCordova Sculpture Garden, Higgins ArmoryMuseum and the conservation laboratories at the Fogg ArtMuseum and Worcester Art Museum. Our hosts kindlyarranged for fine weather throughout. We also had freetime in Boston where half the students took advantage ofexcellent cultural institutions such as the Museum of Fine Artsand the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, while the otherhalf carried out painstaking research into whether men orwomen are the better shoppers.

One of the highlights of the course was spending time withthe other participants. There were many interestingdiscussions held after hours in our makeshift ‘pub’, some ofwhich actually involved metals conservation. I had not metany of the participants before, but the conservationcommunity is very small and I found that many of us knewpeople in common.

Several participants brought in examples of their work andcurrent problems. David Starley of the Royal Armouries inthe UK showed us an unusual pattern of iron corrosion(having a pattern much like the banding on malachite) on apiece of scrap metal from his workshop. This type ofcorrosion has only been noticed recently and has spreadover several pieces of armour at an alarming rate. The ‘ironpox’ (as I have named it) has also recently appeared on

armour in Spain, according to participant Isabel DelgadoIglesias. David also brought in several posters of workcarried out at the Armouries including a XRF study of Indianarmours that revealed an early form of galvanizing from the17th century. Margarita Sofu from Greece is currentlyconserving and remounting a suit of completely mineralisedbronze armour, in fact the world’s oldest armour, whichsparked an interesting discussion over suitable consolidants.Molly O’Guinness Carlson, a conservator working privatelyin marine archaeological conservation, told us about hercannon which unexpectedly exploded in storage, andproduced a seemingly endless supply of small artefactsand articles.

On our last night, we were treated to a banquet dinner inthe cathedral-like gallery of the Higgins Armory Museum.Two duelling knights in armour entertained us, while curatorJeffrey Forgeng explained the technicalities of realswordplay compared with that shown in the movies.

Overall I really enjoyed my time at the MCSI and it hasreally improved my scientific knowledge of metals.However, I felt that there was an emphasis on advancedanalytical techniques at the expense of practicalconservation. For conservators such as myself, whose onlyanalytical tool is a compound microscope, it is difficult to apply this knowledge in daily work. There seemed to bea lack of conservation input in the course design, and toofew experienced conservators or conservation scientistsinvited as lecturers. Two more MCSI’s are planned, whichmay attempt to correct this imbalance in the light of thestudents’ recommendations. In addition, WPI areconsidering setting up a masters program in metalsconservation in the near future. More information on the Metals Conservation Summer Institute can be seen at:www.wpi.edu/Academics/Summer/MCSI/

I would like to thank the organisers of the MCSI for the hugeamount of work that went into organising this program. Inparticular, course assistants Karen and Jody who went out oftheir way to make us feel welcome at the WPI, and Yancywho always seemed to party harder than anyone else andstill had energy and enthusiasm for the next day of lectures.


Metals Conservation Summer Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA4

In the Next Issue of AICCM…Our Feature article in the December issue will be Caroline Fry’s report on her 3 month Asialink residency atThe Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi, Vietnam. AssistantProfessor Victoria Herrera from the College of Arts andLetters, the University of the Philippines will report on theICOM Conference in Seoul.

With the AICCM National AGM about to happen, we willprint the minutes of the meeting with the next Newsletter.

As usual, the editorial committee will be on the look-out fornews and reviews from members. Please contact us prior tothe deadline of 1st November if you wish to contribute.

Queensland Art GalleryAnne Carter, Head of Conservation

In 1982, the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) opened in anew building on the south bank of the Brisbane River. Thecollection had previously been displayed in the MIMbuilding in the city. The QAG building was designed byRobin Gibson as part of the Queensland Cultural Centre –which also included new buildings for the QueenslandMuseum, the State Library of Queensland and thePerforming Arts complex. Robin Gibson designed theconservation facility at QAG, with input from the (then)assistant director, Russell Kerrison, and Caroline O’Rorkewho was working as a conservator with the collection.There was also significant design input from Tom Dixon.

John Hook came to QAG in 1982 after an internship inBrussels. He remembers setting up the as-yet-unusedlaboratory with paintings conservator Judy Dunlop. PaperConservator, Lee Sturma joined the conservation staff forseveral years before leaving to join the State Library ofQueensland. Judy Dunlop sojourned to England and Gillian Osmond, who had worked as a student during herstudy at the University of Canberra, joined John as apaintings conservator in 1988. Paula Dredge worked withGillian for a year while John took a break in 1990. Jo Sheaand Carl Villis also filled in for extended periods whileGillian worked in London in the early 1990s. Numerousconservation students (too many to name here!) have made afantastic contribution to the lab over the years and as head ofthe lab, John had always been a supporter and willingsupervisor, inspiring many. Anne Carter first came to QAG asa paintings conservation student in 1995 and became Headof Conservation in 2002, following on from JacquelineMacnaughtan who worked for several years in the role. Johnnow works as Senior Paintings Conservator. Nicola Hall iscurrently working as an intern in paintings conservation,following on from Alyssa Aleksanian in 2003.

There have been a number of paper conservators workingwith QAG. Caroline O’Rorke worked with the collection inthe early 1980’s, before and during the transition to thecurrent building. Following Lee Sturma’s move, Lynda Blacktook the position, followed by Tamara Lavrencic, Tracey Golds, Diana Coop and Carolyn Murphy. We arenow lucky to have on board Samantha Shellard. Nick Cosgrove, who had previously worked as seniormountcutter at NGA, and registration assistant at QAG,moved into the section as conservation assistant in 1995.

Peter Maxwell has been involved with QAG projects in thearea of sculpture conservation for numerous years. In 2002,QAG employed their first permanent sculpture conservator,Amanda Pagliarino. Liz Wild has joined Amanda insculpture conservation. In the area of framing, Paul Cursonmoved to conservation from the workshop as Artisan Framer.Paul made a huge contribution to frame conservation untilhis retirement in 1996. Robert Zilli worked alongside Paulduring his final year at the Gallery before continuing in therole to this day. Merv Brehmer, a cabinet maker by trade,and with many years at the Gallery, has recently moved toconservation as co-coordinator of the conservationworkshop, and is responsible for in-house manufacture ofstretchers, aluminium H-frames, carry frames and anyspecial storage needs.

And of course we would be nowhere without technical andadministrative assistance. Mandy Smith came to work forconservation when we were preparing for the EmilyKngwarreye retrospective in 1996. Mandy has skills inmany areas, including imaging. We have other technicalhelp with Pandy Karavan and Lyn Streader whose job issplit between administration and technical assistance.

From an initial staff of two with expertise in paintingsconservation, the department has grown over the pasttwenty-two years to a staff of thirteen (not all full time). Staffnow strategically incorporate the wide ranging skillsrequired for the care of pre-twentieth century, as well asmodern, contemporary and new media art works.

Currently space is at a premium. This has a positive side inthat conservators with different specialities work closelytogether which makes it is easy to share ideas andsuccesses, as well as stresses. Overall, the facility hasundergone only minor structural modifications over the lasttwenty-two years, and has stood up well.


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Lee Sturma, Julia Greeson, John Hook and Gillian Osmond in 1987

QAG is situated on the flood plain of the Brisbane River,with most of conservation located on the top floor of thebuilding adjacent to collection storage (with fabulous sunsetviews). We are also able to look out over the diggersworking on the site of the soon-to-be-built QueenslandGallery of Modern Art which is due to open in 2006.

The development of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art(QGMA) provides the opportunity for the Conservationsection to expand its functions. The collecting focus at QAGis predominantly contemporary Indigenous and Asian-Pacific Art. It is a very exciting time for Conservation. TheGallery is supporting the development of a centre forresearch in the conservation of contemporary art. Alreadyas part of the QGMA conservation initiatives, QAG hashosted two professional development workshops forconservators in conjunction with the AICCM. Conservatorsare also developing research projects including Gillian’sZinc soap formation in paintings from the Queensland ArtGallery collection and Amanda and Liz’s Analysis ofstructural changes in contemporary indigenous woodensculpture during a two year travelling exhibition.

As part of the preparation for QGMA, we are currentlyworking on a conservation schedule for both contemporaryand ‘historic’ (ie pre 1975) art works which will be on

display post 2006. We are also involved in the design ofthe new facilities and in the preparation for movement ofartworks to the new site.

In 2006, QAG will become one institution divided acrosstwo sites (200 metres apart) with contemporary art storedand displayed in the new QGMA building. There will be aconservation lab in each building, predominantly servicingthe collection and exhibitions stored on each site. It remainsto be seen just exactly how conservation services andfacilities will expand with the new building.


Lab Profile6

QAG staff in 2004: Nick, Mandy, Sam, Merv, Gillian, John, Anne, Robert, Amanda, Lyn, Nicola and Liz

ATTENTION! ATTENTION!Kay Söderlund has established a new business, Preservation Australia, to service the conservation and heritage sector through a professional and comprehensiveconservation service.

Kay is no longer associated with Conservation Resources Pty Ltd.

Through Preservation Australia, Kay will continue to offer the consultancies, seminars and workshops she has developed in over 20 years working as a conservator throughout Australia.

Preservation Australia will also continue to supply conservation and archival products –combining service with professional expertise in order to provide practical solutions to conservation problems. We will focus on products and materials for conservation and the conservator.

Preservation Australia will specialise in the hand made production of polyester sleeves andenclosures – the standard sizes and styles, as well as custom made enclosures of any size.

Requests for specific products are most welcome!

www.preservationaustralia.com.au

Tel: 1300 651 408 Fax: 1300 651 406

PO Box 210 ENMORE NSW 2042 AUSTRALIA

People and Places

ACT

Australian War Memorial Megan Jordan-Jones, Alayne Alvis, Eileen Procter, DavidKeany and Gajendra Rawat are all working on material foran upcoming sculpture exhibition. Alayne is finding astorage solution for a dial sight with copious amounts ofradiation. Eileen continues to work on remedial treatmentson a Browning aircraft machine gun. Ainslie Greiner isdoing professional practice in the objects lab; he is helpingwith the sculpture exhibition and is about to embark on workon the balloon basket project. Cathy Challenor is workingon a small exhibition of Turkish textiles. Bridie Kirkpatrick issurveying the Lux collection of textiles, helmets and medals.After his time managing the two large Beaufort andLancaster aircraft projects, George Bailey is collating andfinalising the Lancaster treatment report. Andrew Pearce isorganising gallery cleaning procedures for the Lancaster,while treating an Australian WWII Anderson air raid shelterin preparation for exhibition. Lee Davies is finalising theBeaufort report and progressing with small equipmentinstallation in the aircraft. John Kemister has completed partof a Gallipoli lifeboat treatment from HMT Devanha; anElectrolux civilian car gas producer treatment; and ispreparing for the induction of a Japanese tank from MilneBay in PNG. Andrew Schroeder and Jamie Croker, alongwith a team of willing volunteers, are churning through thetreatment and maintenance of a number of military vehicles.In addition they have completely cleaned and reorganisedthe workshop area and are checking vehicles chosen fornew exhibitions. Professional Practice student, Daniel Wardrop assisted with the Devanha treatment;dismantled sundry aircraft guns prior to disposal andcommenced the induction report on a Russian T34 tank,before returning to UC to complete his studies.

Sunao Gazzard continues to work on books from theResearch Centre. Helen Butler recently attended the PhotonWorkshop and Bernard Kertesz is managing a project withthe Research Centre. Ian Fulton, Matthew Cramp and Paul Copping have finished treating almost 25,000 glassnegatives and are now looking at modifying processes totreat cellulose acetate negatives suffering from vinegarsyndrome and about 2500 nitrate negatives.

We are sad to announce the loss of our ConservationScientist position and say fond farewell and all the best toChris Adams. Eileen Skye Mitchell, Steve Jackson and Jo Francis have also left the AWM.

Herm Fine Art ServicesAdam Godijn has begun the consolidation treatment of alarge Mandy Martin painting Red Ochre Cove which hangsin the main Committee room in Parliament House. Followingconsolidation in situ, the three section painting will betemporarily removed for the first time in sixteen years. It willbe lowered, using the original winch points, into a speciallyconstructed easel frame which has been designed tosupport the large 7.5 metre long centre panel. Cleaning ofthe large centre panel will be undertaken in a public accessarea giving visitors a first hand view of the treatment. Eric Bray is occupied with in-gilding a moisture affected19th century French consul and mirror. He has beeninvolved with the installation in Parliament House of thelarge Robert Hannaford painting depicting the Centenary ofFederation in the Melbourne Exhibition Building - 100 yearson from the Tom Roberts painting recording the opening ofthe first Parliament in the same location.

National Archives of AustraliaPrue McKay and Karen Holloway have been appointedLab Manager and Exhibitions Conservator respectively. Prue is currently on secondment to NGA. Cheryl Jacksonhas returned to us, working part-time providing technicaladvice for the acetate duplication project as well ascarrying out treatment work. Following the discovery inrecords folders of an unidentified white powder, which wassubsequently identified as sodium hexafluorosilicate, Ian Batterham and Ellie McFadyen have been working onproviding client access to records that are affected byhazardous substances including mold. They are in theprocess of designing a purpose built room with airextraction and filtration and a digital copier so that recordsmay be cleaned then copied to provide access.

Carolyn Whitley presented an echo lecture and workshopbased on her attendance at the iron gall ink conference inItaly in April. It covered topics such as the history, chemistryand production of iron gall ink, visual examination methods,and an overview of aqueous treatments including a calciumphytate chelating treatment followed by a deacidificationprocess. Karen Holloway and Frances Cumming havebeen organizing the loan of the NAA moon rock to theParkes radio observatory and preparation of items for anexhibition at Old Parliament House for the 50 yearanniversary of the Petrov affair.

Alison McCrindle took part in the tape removal course inBrisbane and provided records handling training to NAAstaff in our Brisbane office. Sarah Gubby, Cheryl Jackson


7

and Caroline Whitley attended the Photon workshop onduplicating methods in July. Tania Riviere conducted aconservation clinic at an open day at the NAA Adelaideoffice. We welcome our new lab assistant Jess Wignell,who has discovered the delights of environmentalmonitoring and is proving invaluable to the workflow of thelab. Clair Murray is looking at specialized attachments tothe box making machine that will allow it to precisely cutethafoam for fitouts to house collection items and fortransportation boxes. Currently the box making team isproducing 250 custom made archival boxes every week,primarily for rehousing projects. Third year conservationstudent, Jucara Quinteros De Faria is working in the lab onher final year project, investigating the effects of bleachingpaper using tetra acetyl ehtylenediamine (TAED) with Rajani Rai providing technical advice.

NEW SOUTH WALES

International Conservation ServicesOur collection management capability has been recentlyenriched by the experience of Doug Rogan, who hasjoined ICS from the Canterbury Museum, NZ. Doug’sexpertise in digitization and integration of database systemsin collection management plans will enhance the preventiveconservation programmes already initiated for some of ourinstitutional clients. Doug is based in Canberra, but worksclosely with Fiona Tennant on Sydney based projects. Hehas just completed the documentation and data baserecording of the Parliament House art collection.

Miriam Wormleaton has returned from the UK where sheattended the Historical Textiles Conference at the TextilesConservation Centre at Winchester. It expanded herknowledge of the research that is being undertaken in thefield, and reminded her of her love of chemistry. She returned to the reality of conservation with the challengeof some smelly and holey historic rugby socks. Paper Conservation has had its usual run of watercolours,prints and drawings by Lindsay, Coburn, Long and Gouldand therefore welcomed a collection of Japanese artworkwhich included some beautiful kites. Lisa Stoddart hasreturned from Malaysia to keep her skills current and to keepwork flowing in the lab while Nicole Rowney is involvedwith projects such as the installation of a collection ofartifacts retrieved from a dig on the Quadrant Developmentsite on Broadway, Sydney. Stuart Fereday was involved inthe co-ordination of the small exhibition which was installedin the foyer of the apartment building. This positiveintervention in the recording and preservation ofarchaeological items from building sites is now written inlaw and is most welcome, but it does raise issues of theresponsibility of the custodians for on-going maintenanceand safekeeping of the collections that are exhibited orhoused in non-museum buildings. Nicole has also been

helping Fiona with the ABC Archives and will soon beengaged in the reinstallation of some anaglyptic wallpaperthat was removed from 31 Bligh Street, Sydney some yearsago. The Bligh Street project also involves Cathy Lillico-Thompson, Arek Werstak, Michelle Wassall,Maria Hromkova and Allyson Smith in the conservation oforiginal decorative painted finishes on ceilings and walls, andDavid West in the co-ordination of other contractors on the site.

A huge ornate gilt frame bearing a beautiful portrait byFrederick McCubbin is being treated by Anna Diakowska Czarnota and Arek Werstak. Strangeaccretions on the surface of the painting have beenalternately attributed to pigeons, wasps and most recently tobats. Historic weaponry and a helmet from Afghanistanhave been the subject of Anna Shepherd’s delicate care,culminating in the design of a support system for the displayof the helmet in a Perspex case. Julian Bickersteth will betravelling to London in September to present a paper at the6th European Commission Conference on SustainingCultural Heritage on the topic, "How research is dictatingpolicy for conservation of the historic Antarctic Huts of theRoss Sea region".

National Archives of Australia, Sydney OfficePreservation Services has been particularly busy in recenttimes with ongoing projects, training and conferenceattendance. Through audiovisual preservation we havecontinued to build links with other Commonwealth A/Vproducing agencies. At the end of June Robyn Gambleattended the AMIA JTS 2004, (Joint Technical Symposium)in Toronto and visited the Canadian Archives in Ottawa.During July several Sydney staff members attended the finalPhoton workshop. Digitisation of records has assumed amuch greater role in the Archives and we continue to buildour knowledge and expertise in this area. We areconducting comprehensive surveys of our audiovisualholdings. A new storage vault built to house up to 40,000film and audio components affected by vinegar syndromehas been commissioned and operates at 9ºC and 30%RH.The vault is already near capacity and has been constructedas a preservation strategy for at-risk materials until resourcesallow further treatment to be undertaken. Programs havebeen introduced over the past year of in-house training inphotographic identification and preservation, film handling,identification, repair and splicing in order to build up ourinstitutional expertise.

Alex Olson, Louise Curham and Janine Wangemann areundertaking major preservation work on Australia Today, a1946 Kodachrome film in very poor condition made by theDepartment of Information. Work continues to locate a printthat matches the original Kodachrome that will then enableus to preserve the audio. They are also supervising copying


People and Places8

of field recordings used in the Strehlow production NativeCat Ceremonies of Watarrka. These sound negatives hadvery bad vinegar syndrome and are the only copies of theoriginal field recordings. Caroline Ashworth and David Ezzy are working through the late 60's ABCchildren's television series, Adventure Island. Rahnee Alvarez and Tony Ravic are working throughCensorship Board Theatrical and TV cuts, such as One Million Years BC, showing a very young Raquel Welshabout to be fed by a Pterodactyl to her babies. TV seriesinclude the titles The Avengers, Adventures of Superman andBatman from the 1960s and 70s. Kirsty Johnson has beenworking on Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority filmssuch as Visit to the Snowy Mountains Scheme by Her RoyalHighness The Princess Anne, which shows interesting Royalfashion tastes. Geeta Jatania and Kelly Vickers have beencopying ABC Four Corners magnetic film soundtracks (FinalMixes) from the early 60's to the late 70's.

Belinda Andrews recently attended the pressure sensitivetape removal workshop and is currently working ondescriptive standards for photographic materials. Anita Gustavson, Tanya Bilsborough, Amy Russell, Brad Jarvis, Siobhan Murphy, Deborah Clair and Kathie John have been working on several repackagingprojects from such agencies as CSIRO, AustralianInformation Services and Australian Bicentennial Authority.They are also undertaking the flattening and repair of NSWPost Office files that date from the 19th century. Carmen Esplandiu and Esther Wijesinghe have beenduplicating negatives from an Australian Post series. Emma Scott has been producing digital copies from thesame series and also digitizing other photographic imagesfor Photosearch, our photograph database. AnitaGustavson and Siobhan Murphy have been carrying outplan copying on request for the Sydney office. Gerard Kleist and Nathan Andrews have undertaken thedigitization of sound recordings held by the NationalArchives from personal records, Royal Commissions andFilm Australia field recordings. Atanas Djonov has beencopying personal records videotape recordings to otherpreservation analogue and digital formats.

State Library of New South WalesNikki Ellis prepared two items for the exhibition, Transit ofVenus, including the original document of Captain Cook'sobservations on the transit on 3 June 1769. Trish Leen hasbeen working on a mixture of loans and projects from thecollection, in particular removing original historicalwatercolours from the theatre boards of the Newtown NewTheatre. Since Trish took on the project of Counter DisasterPreparation there has been one disaster after another and ithasn't even started to rain in Sydney yet! Jessica O’Donnell,Guy Caron, Nichola Parshall and Briony Pembertonprepared and treated objects for the Library exhibition Vive

la différence! The French in NSW. This exhibition highlightsthe activities of those French-born explorers, pioneers,tourists and entrepreneurs who stayed in New South Wales,and the on-going contribution of French migrants to ourmodern multicultural society. The Library recently acquired aBerlei mink bustier. The object had been stored flat, but thisdid not support the contours of the bust. Dana Kahabka,with the assistance of Lang Ngo and Cecilia Harvey,sculpted the central column with an in-built bra to fill out andsupport the curves of the bustier. Dana, Catherine Thomsonand Scott Wajon (Imaging Services) attended the Photonworkshop in July.

Sydney Artefacts ConservationThe Fort Denison lighthouse project was spectacularlycompleted at the end of May with a helicopter safelyreturning it to the Martello tower. The custom made curvedglass was also lifted to the island and installed on site. The media interest was overwhelming with all major newsstations running a story of the restoration, with A Current Affair delving into the intricacies of managing andexecuting a project using traditional techniques, byinterviewing Anne Cummins and our subcontractorblacksmith. MaryJo Lelyveld and Anne fielded manyquestions from the public while working on Tom Bass’sfountain on the former P & O building. The fountain wasimmortalised in an Oz magazine cartoon in the 1960’swhen its editors used it as a urinal! The beaten copper workhas suffered heavy corrosion from an inappropriate chlorinebased water treatment system and the metal had perforatedin areas. In July, MaryJo relocated to Melbourne toundertake post graduate cultural studies at Deakin University- we wish her success in her broadened conservationcareer. Meanwhile Anne is preparing to take up ascholarship at the International Centre for the Study of thePreservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)in Rome, Italy. The internship involves research into newrepair materials for stone monuments, which will be achange from working on metal items. There is also thepersonal agenda of researching the latest fashions in Italianscarpe (shoes!). SAC will be on hiatus until February 2005.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

State Library of South AustraliaEarlier this year the State Library's Preservation section wassuccessful in its application to the inaugural Premier'sIndustry Awards for Science and Mathematics Teachers. Theprogram was particularly attractive because the StateLibrary has not had an Education Officer on staff for manyyears. We hosted Kath Bridges, an upper-primaryschoolteacher, for two weeks at the end of June. Her projectbecame a welcome distraction from the countdown to theinstallation of the Mortlock Building exhibitions opening inAugust. The aims of the new program is to provide teachers


9People and Places

and organisations with the opportunity to improve theirunderstanding of the role of science and mathematics inschools and in the workplace, develop science andmathematics curriculum materials, and develop and sustainrelationships between local industry/organisations andschool communities. The Library was fortunate to beassigned Kath, an innovative and talented teacher fromAngle Vale Primary School. Kath's assignment was todevelop worksheets in line with the R-10 Science Teachingcurriculum to help students gain an understanding of thescientific knowledge and techniques behind thepreservation of objects and collections. Kath developed aseries of five worksheets under the title Sciencematters @SLSA, the Conservation Studio's capillary unit - its function inthe treatment of paper-based collections; brittle paper - thecauses, measurement and prevention of decay in cellulosefibre-based material, including three-fold and PH tests;reformatting as a preservation strategy - focussing onmicrofilming processes, including tests for identifyingacetate-based film stock and whether a camera isperforming to resolution standards; biological pests - threatsto collections and their control, including the concept ofintegrated pest management and designing blunder traps;environmental monitoring - key factors, standards and themeasurement and interpretation of data. The worksheetswere finalised through trials with Kath's Year 6/7 students.She also developed guidelines for teachers. The next stagewill be to develop a formal program for teachers andstudents to use the worksheets in their visits to thePreservation section of the State Library. You can find a briefreport of Kath's project under 'Project 4' atwww.scimas.sa.edu.au/scimas/pages/Projects

TASMANIA

Archives Office and State Library of TasmaniaStephanie McDonald attended the recent pressure sensitivetape and stains removal workshop at the Queensland ArtGallery. Stephanie has been involved in an up-date of theArchives and Library's disaster response plan and up-gradesto the air-conditioning monitoring and was involved insurveying sketchbooks from the Allport Library and Museumof Fine Arts. Archives Office has finished the first stage oftape and label removal from a large series of mid-twentiethcentury photographs and has begun the treatment of water-damaged and broken aerial glass-plate positives.Penny Carey Wells has continued boxing the ColonialSecretary Office volumes and the Convict Registers as wellas the repair and re-housing plans from Mount Lyell andinstalling exhibitions. The Heritage Collections of the StateLibrary have completed a survey of priorities andconservation needs.

Queen Victoria Museum and Art GalleryWe have been involved with the second stage of relocatingthe Community History Collections and Reference and RareBook Collections to the new purpose built facility atInveresk. Almost completed are the fit-out of the offices,public rooms, storage areas; the compactus shelving is inplace, the lift is awaiting installation and staff are at theready to move the collections.

Linda Clark is receiving artifacts from the archeologicalexcavation of the Chinese miner's hut in the North East ofTasmania. Linda has obtained funding to curate threeexhibitions of the conserved material in regional centres ofTasmania. She is also working with the Tasmanian PoliceForensic Department trying to authenticate convict clothingby determining if the dyes used are synthetic or natural. Lindawould like to hear from anyone who has had experience inanalysing analine dyes. Michael Smith is installing an x-raydetector in the soon to be opened Space Gallery. It is beingsuspended in the gallery in an interpretive setting. During itsworking life the detector was mounted below ameteorological balloon that was ascended to a height ofaround 40,000 feet where it collected data before beingjettisoned and parachuted to earth.

John Hay is working on the restoration of a gilded frame forThe Bay of Rio de Janeiro by Tom Robertson; which alsogives the opportunity to replicate ornamentation for futurereproduction frames. He is also making storage supports inpreparation for relocating a 3m2 Trade Union Banner. Mar Gomez is visiting her Spanish homeland and attendinga Paintings Symposium in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Lynda Black and her volunteer Melissa Smith have had avery successful week on Deal Island in the Bass Strait. Theisland is managed by Parks and Wildlife and is the site ofa decommissioned lighthouse station and precinct. Thevirtually unchanged Superintendant's Residence was built in1847 by convict labour. Most of its rooms had been pastedwith numerous layers of decorative wall papers and anarray of illustrated magazines, newspapers and journalsfrom mid 19th - early 20th Century. During the week theysurface cleaned and re-adhered the papers in half of theareas requiring treatments. At this stage, no exposing oflayers for interpretation has been authorised but issomething that will be recommended during the next phaseof the project. It was a gem of a project in a spectacularlocation with warm, sunny, still days without the high windsand foul weather we were anticipating. Meanwhile back atbase camp Tamara Hollister has been preparing collaged works andsmall paintings on paper by Denise Campbell for exhibition.


People and Places10

VICTORIA

Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation,The University of MelbourneIn July, the CCMC hosted the Getty Retreat for theAdvancement of Conservation Education, the second in anon-going series of meetings for international leaders inconservation education. More than 25 educators andconservators from across the Asia-Pacific regionparticipated in the retreat, which was sponsored by theGetty Conservation Institute. The focus of the retreat was onconservation education and training in the Asia- Pacificregion. The University of Melbourne officially launched theCCMC, a joint initiative between the University’s faculties ofArts and Science and the Ian Potter Museum of Art, at areception at NGV:Australia during the Retreat.

The CCMC is also hosting its first Visiting Scholar, AssistantProfessor Victoria Herrera from the College of Arts andLetters, the University of the Philippines, for three months.She is working on a number of research activities includingthe link between culture, aid and trade in South East Asiawith Robyn Sloggett; the ARC Linkage grant on canvaspaintings in the tropics with Nicole Tse; and models forconservation curriculum as a reference for future training inthe Philippines.

The treatment laboratories of the CCMC have relocateddue to the temporary closure of the Ian Potter Museum ofArt. The labs are now situated off-campus at the PublicRecord Office Victoria in North Melbourne. This hasstrengthened the relationship with the PROV with Alice Cannon delivering their conservation programmes.Recent activity has included supervision of the digitization ofthe Monster Petition (so called because of its size), the1891 Female Suffrage Petition to the Victorian Parliament.Over 30,000 Victorian women signed the Petition,however women were not granted the vote in Victoria until1908. A large wall map of Victoria was laid out forviewing by the Premier, Steve Bracks and his wife, and JohnThwaites, Deputy Premier, during their recent visit to thePROV. The hand-coloured map was "tabled" in Parliament inrelation to the Lands Act of 1862.

Cushla Hill visited Tasmania to oversee the take down andpacking of two paintings by convict artist William Dowlingfrom St Joseph’s Church in Hobart. The paintings are nowbeing treated in the lab. Cushla also carried out a treatmenton a painting for the Allport Collection at the State Libraryof Tasmania.

Caroline Fry and Jude Fraser delivered the VictorianAICCM Division’s August Conservation Conversations tolocal members. Caroline spoke about her Asialink ArtsManagement project at the Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi,Vietnam, where she treated a significant painting from the

collection, carried out a survey of the paintings collectionand delivered workshops to museum personnel. Jude spokeabout her participation in a Masterclass on Japanese PaperConservation Techniques held at the Northumbria University,UK. See Jude’s review in this Newsletter.

Second semester of the Masters course is well underwaywith students commencing treatments on a wide range ofobjects from the University collections. Renovated teachinglabs are situated on campus in the Old Commerce building.Most staff members have been involved to some extent inthe delivery of lectures, tutorials and practicals. Staff alsodelivered the Graduate Certificate in Art Conservation, anintensive course held between first and second semester inconjunction with the School of Art History, Cinema, Classicsand Archaeology.

Museum VictoriaMichelle Berry is preparing changeover objects forTreasures - a 150th Anniversary celebration exhibitiondistributed across Museum Victoria’s various venues. Therestoration and activation of a nineteenth centurysymphonion (mechanical musical instrument), which was aniconic object at the Museum’s original Swanston Street site,is now a highlight for Scienceworks Museum. This object isnow demonstrated by volunteers following strict guidelines.An interesting treatment, involving the commissioning ofwork from a private specialist in this field, the symphonionis an example of a clockwork technology which waserroneously converted to electric motor-driven operationdecades ago, and which has now been returned to itsoriginal operation mode. Michelle is researching fading offeathers in natural light in liaison with the OrnithologyDepartment, with relevance to display of scientificspecimens, indigenous and historical collection objects.

Patricia Stokes has been co-ordinatingpaper/book/photographic treatments and framing forseveral exhibitions and providing input to strategy initiativesaddressing the storage and preservation needs of theMuseum’s collections for the next 10 years. Trish attended therecent Photon workshop in Canberra. John Clarke, DavidCoxsedge and Veegan McMasters have been implementingnew initiatives in IPM, including the use of pheremones forclothes moth infestation. Veegan has also been updatinginformation in the disaster plans for our venues.

Penny Nolton has been organising preparation andpacking of bark paintings and fibrecrafts for loan to the ArtGallery of New South Wales. Other conservators andcontractor Janelle Borig will be assisting Penny with thesetreatments. Penny is also planning for the exhibition Station Pier, at the Immigration Museum; comprising ofinward loans from members of the public who passedthrough this immigration centre on arrival in Australia. Jenny Casey assisted Penny with the documentation and


11People and Places

treatment of some of these items during a short contract inJune. Ian Miles is preparing a collection of horologicalobjects for loan to the Australian National MaritimeMuseum. He presented a talk in August on the approachadopted to assemble, conserve and restore a large stainedglass window (c.1872), for display in the Treasuresexhibition. Ian also talked to conservation students from theUniversity of Melbourne in September about the transitionfrom study to employment as a trained conservator. In July,Catherine Lovelock (with Mary Gissing from thePowerhouse Museum) installed the exhibition, Our Place –Indigenous Australia Now, Australia’s gift to the CulturalOlympiad at a new Benaki Museum venue in Athens. This large co-production exhibition was a significant first forboth institutions. Helen Privett (ex NGV) commenced workwith us in early August.

National Archives Of Australia, MelbourneBranchLiam Ryan, Tha Iem and Detlev Lueth attended the Photonworkshop in Canberra and returned all fired up and wantingto digitize the entire Melbourne collection. Detlev Lueth isnow writing up the report for the series of workshops, whichwere funded by the Getty Foundation. He has also beenreorganizing the working areas to allow for optimal workingconditions for the current projects. We plan to set updedicated rooms for digitizing equipment, film winding,repackaging projects and conservation work. This has beentricky due to a lack of space in the building. He has alsobeen preparing the preservation budget for 04/05 anddesigning a preservation staff restructure to meet thedemands of the current and future preservation projects.

Sally Kneebone is continuing to manage preservationprojects. There has also been a lot of repackaging beingcarried out in preparation of the move of 5 km of records tothe PROV repository in North Melbourne, which is also thesite of our joint reading room with PROV. Many of our staffwere involved in putting together an exhibition as part of theofficial opening of the combined NAA/PROV reading roomand were present to discuss preservation/conservationissues with interested guests on the night. Libby Melzer isback with us three days a week and is working onrepackaging/reboxing for the North Melbourne move,CSIRO repackaging project and the preservation of somerecords considered to be of high exhibition value. Libby andSally, in conjunction with the PROV, ran a day course onconservation as part of the Victorian Archival SupportProgram. They also attended the pressure sensitive taperemoval workshop in Brisbane in August. They are intendingto hold an echo workshop for the local AICCM paperconservators in the near future.

Rosemary Reddick is currently project managing thepreservation needs of our audiovisual holdings inMelbourne. This project has seen over 40,000 film items

undergo a preservation wind and placed in new film cans.A number of items that were not originally identified as partof this project are also being inspected for vinegarsyndrome and rehoused. Tha Iem is assisting with this.Project. Rosemary is also responsible for the aerial filmduplication project, which included preservation copying ofitems at highest risk. It is hoped that in the future this projectwill employ a research officer who will investigate thepreservation needs of the NAA national aerial film holdings.

Chris Loretto has resigned from the National Archives ofAustralia due to illness. Our thoughts are with her and herpartner Michael.

National Gallery of VictoriaThe heads of all sections, have been working on updatingthe lighting policy and the quarantine and pest controlfacilities at the Gallery.

Michael Varcoe-Cocks cleaned two paintings for theImpressionists exhibition which opened in June – Monet’sRough weather at Etretat and Sisley’s Haystacks at Moret –Morning light. Carl Villis completed treatment of Portrait ofa Gentleman in a grey coat, which, since cleaning, hasbeen identified as being painted by Louis Tocqué. He hasalso begun a major treatment on a seventeenth-centuryNeapolitan painting The Repentance of St Peter. Linda Waters has commenced a thread-by-threadreconstruction of torn cotton canvas painting using skillslearned from her recent attendance at a canvas tear repairworkshop at the Getty in Los Angeles. John Payne hasbegun the cleaning of a small fifteenth-century Flemish panelThe Virgin and Child by Simon Marmion. During July thePaintings studio hosted three work-experience students fromUniversity of Melbourne – Liz Hinde, Ilaria Poli and Nick Selenitsch - who have helped with the preparation ofincoming works from the recent donation of over a hundredpaintings by Dr Joseph Brown.

Lisette Burgess is fixing the faces of pharaohs whileworking on an Egyptian-inspired c.1870's English frame forA Sheikh and his son entering Cairo by Robert Dowling;while Holly McGowan-Jackson has some large infillsahead in the repair of a c.1880's Central/EasternEuropean frame decorated with massive plaster ornamentfor The defenestration by Václav Brozik. Noel Turner isusing copper and brass foil to gild the surface of a newreproduction frame for a Charles Conder painting. Suzi Shaw has replaced a large section missing from thefoot of an Adolf Loos drawing room chair and is repairinglosses and damage to the finish of a 1950's musicallythemed Piero Fornasetti table.

Jan Begg, the new Senior Conservator of Paper, is currentlycoming to grips with the busy exhibition and changeoverschedule that is ahead of us. Ruth Shervington and Belinda Gourley have been preparing a number of Pop


People and Places12

works for an upcoming exhibition; and are looking towardssurveying and preparing the large collection of Indianminiatures that will be exhibited later this year. Angeletta Leggio organised and was involved in runningthe fourth and final Photon workshop held at the NationalLibrary of Australia. She has also been repairing tears andlosses in a number of albumen photographs for anupcoming exhibition.

Helen Privett has left the NGV and has re-emerged at Museum Victoria. We all wish her the best and hate to see her go. The exhibition schedule rolls on relentlesslymeanwhile with an acquisitive Footy prize, Man Rayphotographs and Mitelman works on paper. CatherineEarley number crunched for the annual report and found thatshe and Helen had done 6,068 condition reports last year!

The textile conservation department has been preparing forthe next exhibition at NGV:International; work has finishedon the Chanel component of the show and works byVivienne Westwood/Malcolm McLaren and Yves SaintLaurent are now being conserved. Bronwyn Cosgrove andKate Douglas have also been dressing mannequins forpublication photography. Sadly Annette Soumilas andCatherine Shannons contracts have finished; the work thatthey completed in the study storage area of the textile storehas been a great success. Parts of the Coptic textile, laceand fan collection are now stored in BAC units where theycan be easily viewed by visiting researchers. Skye Firth, aMasters student at the University of Melbourne has startedvolunteering in textile conservation one day a week.

State Library of VictoriaThe celebratory 150th year is full of events and exhibitionsthat place a challenging demand on the services providedby Conservation. The large number of works requiringframing has put an unprecedented demand on our reservesof standard blackwood frames, to the point were old stocksof brushed aluminium frames have been redeployed.Despite difficulty sourcing pre-cut UV coated Perspex for theframes, the ‘new look’ worked well with the 110 cartoonsselected for the exhibition, Age of Cartooning. The newpermanent Gallery in one level of the Domed ReadingRoom is on schedule to open in November, showcasingtreasures from the collection of the Library and illustrating ahistory of Victoria.

Virginia Dahlenburg is currently working on a scale modelreplica of a PSF 3 Cable Tram from 1897 that is made ofpainted and varnished wood and brass. This has given herthe opportunity to take up whittling new pieces of wood andthis aspect is keeping her relatively calm. All staff have beenworking on an exhibition due to open in October, illustratinga history of gardening in Victoria and drawn from the Library’sGarden History Archives and private collections, comprisingof over 40 books and 45 framed works on paper.

Peter McGrath, our Digital Preservation Specialist attendedthe recent Photon workshop. A recent project undertaken byPeter was to reformat a 5.25" floppy disk from thecollection, to retrieve the information contained on the disc.The conversion to a new readable format was successfuland it is intended that the procedure will be included on theNLA PADI web site. Alan Howell will be presenting a paperat the UK Society of Archivists Conference on DigitalPreservation in Glasgow in September. In August the Libraryhosted a UNESCO Australian Memory of the Worldpresentation ceremony to celebrate the inclusion of ninenew institutions, including the Library, onto the Register. Fulldetails can be found at www.awm.org.au. A prerequisitefor inclusion on the register is a conservation plan for theitem nominated.

Jane Hinwood was involved in an upgrade of the storage ofour small collection of nitrate still negatives. A new 2 doorupright freezer with a 1300L capacity is being trialled. Jane has been researching the Victorian pictorial photographerJohn Eaton and contributing to a late night radio interview onthe ABC discussing archival storage of photographs. Ian Coxhas been perfecting a new cradle system using Coreflute andCanson black photo paper. Ian also prepared a group ofbooks, on or about Charles Dickens, for a display celebratingthe 200th anniversary of Dickens birth.

Conservation staff recently contributed to a freeConservation Clinic held at the Library, which was popular,judging by the number of people who availed themselves ofthe service. More are planned due to the positive response.A Library initiative this year has been the Travelling Treasuresprogram, which has involved three tours to regional Victoriaof collection treasures specific to the area. Conservation hasbeen involved in training staff to safely handle and transportcollection material. The final tour will see the BendigoPetition, a 13 metre long petition made up of compositepapers collected by the diggers in the Bendigo gold fieldsin 1853, return to Bendigo Art Gallery. The assemblage isbacked onto a cotton lining and bound with a silk edging.Fiona Wilson successfully designed a custom-made displaycase for the Bendigo Petition. The case will travel with thePetition to Bendigo Art Gallery. Minor repairs, to re-adherelifting pieces, were carried out by David Harris. The fullpetition has also been digitised section by section.

Peter Block has joined the team on a contract basis to assistin the mounting and framing program. Alice Cannon andPenny Edmonds have also been contracted to assist inpreparing works on paper and objects for exhibition.Amanda Wild continues co-ordinate the Exhibitions andLoans Program, a job until recently shared with Fiona Wilson.


13People and Places

AICCM Photon Workshop 4:Duplication by Traditional Photographicand Digital Methods12 - 17 July 2004, National Library ofAustralia, CanberraReview by Kim Barrett, Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory

The fourth and final Photon Workshop in the series was asgreat a success as the previous three. The topic, Duplicationby Traditional Photographic and Digital Methods, nicelyrounded off this comprehensive series of workshops aimed atmid-career training in the area of photographic conservation.The presenters, Franziska Frey (Associate Professor atRochester Institute of Technology – School of Print Media)and Doug Munson (Director of Chicago Albumen Works),were of a high calibre, and to anyone attending it wasevident why they are respected experts in their fields.

This course was held over six information-packed days(again in the depths of a Canberra winter!). 72 participantsattended with the topic attracting a diverse range of people(conservators, curators, photographers, imaging specialists)from institutions and private practices in Australia, NewZealand and Malaysia.

After the introduction of the lecturers and a brief introductionof the participants, it was straight down to business withDoug’s comprehensive introduction to conventional archivalcopying. Franziska then took the floor, easing us into theworld of digital duplication before introducing us to the vastfield of digital imaging. Doug and Franziska used this tagteam approach very well throughout the course, givingparticipants the opportunity to directly compare the similaritiesand differences between traditional photographic and digitalduplication methods (and it had the added advantage of notwearing out the vocal chords of the presenters!).

Throughout the week a huge range of topics andinformation was covered, including image quality:definitions, measuring, guidelines and standards; models forduplication projects; file formats and naming; selectingequipment in the digital and analogue world; integratingconservation activities into the duplication workflow;guidelines for digitisation projects; obsolescence issues;calibration of analogue and digital systems; introduction to

colour management; calibration and colour managementissues; workflow and quality control; ethics of reconstructingdamaged photographs; examples of duplicationtechniques; storage strategies for conventional and digitalmaterials; access, metadata and rights management issues;and issues and strategies for digital preservation.Participants were also forthcoming with questions andexamples of what was happening in their institutions.

In addition to all this information (much of it new to some ofus – myself included) there were some guest speakers. A number of participants also gave brief presentationsthroughout the week about duplication programs that havebeen, and are currently being, undertaken in theirinstitutions. It was great to hear what is going on in otherinstitutions and know who has already assessed some of theissues with duplication projects, especially in the ever-evolving area of digital duplication.

Scott Majner, Photographic Co-ordinator at the State Libraryof NSW talked about some of the projects that they havebeen working on, primarily providing access to parts of thecollection via the web, and copying techniques used inreproducing images for exhibition.

Douglas Elford, Digital Asset Services Co-ordinator at theNational Museum of Australia discussed a program calledCapture your Collections, a digitisation course developedfor remote and regional museums and galleries to assistthem in their digitisation projects. Details of this areavailable at http://amol.org.au/capture.

Luke Brown from the National Archives of Australia talkedabout digitising a collection of negatives affected byvinegar syndrome. Cornel Platzer, Assistant Director ofDigital Preservation at the NAA discussed XENA, a digitalpreservation project which deals with preserving borndigital material.


14

Mohd Maidin Hussin, Head of Conservation andReprography at the National Archives of Malaysia reviewedthe duplication programs that are undertaken at NAM.

Peter McGrath, Digital Preservation Specialist at the StateLibrary of Victoria talked about the past and currentpractices that have been used for digital duplication foraccess and preservation and the development of policiesand strategic approaches.

Colin Webb, Director of Preservation Services at theNational Library of Australia gave an overview of theguiding principles of digital preservation for the NLA andthe extensive digital material that the library manages.Andrew Long, Manager of the Imaging Services Branch atthe NLA related how this branch captures digital imagesand the procedures that have been implemented. He alsotalked about the various file formats and their uses. Andrewvery generously gave up his lunch breaks throughout theweek to conduct tours of the Imaging Services Branchfacilities, giving participants a great opportunity to seedigital imaging being applied in various ways.

Steve Burton, Senior Photographer at the Australian WarMemorial gave a talk on a project undertaken at the AWMwhere images were digitally reproduced from WWI PagetPlates for the AWM exhibition Captured in Colour.

Angeletta Leggio, Conservator of Photographs at the NationalGallery of Victoria, talked about how digital photographs arebeing used for condition reporting at the NGV.

A panel discussion gave further opportunity for looking atthe various issues surrounding digital duplication andpreservation from the perspective of Australian institutions.Gerald Preiss, Pictorial Digitisation Officer at AIATSIS; EmilyO’Reilly, Senior Conservator at State Records, NSW; ColinWebb and Scott Majner made up the panel chaired byAngeletta Leggio. One of the issues brought up by all panelmembers was training, specifically the lack of availabletraining for the digitisation of cultural materials. This is justone of the many challenges that institutions face whenembarking on a digitisation project.

By the end of the week everyone’s download capacity wasat a maximum but all were happy to have had theopportunity to attend and gain this wealth of knowledge.This week reinforced the need to stay abreast of evolvingtechnologies and their preservation issues and just how vastand rapidly evolving the area of digitisation is.

A big thank-you goes to Angeletta Leggio, Detlev Lueth andMick Newnham, not only for organising this workshop, butfor seeing through the whole series of Photon workshops

from conception, something which has taken up a greatdeal of their time over the last 3+ years. What will they dowith all their spare time now? Thank-you is also extended tothe National Library of Australia staff for all their help withthis workshop.

Reviewed by Ruth Oliver, National Libraryof New ZealandApproximately 70 people attended this Photon SIGworkshop presented by Doug Munson from ChicagoAlbumen Works and Franziska Frey, Associate Professor,School of Imaging Sciences, RIT. Participants were mostlyfrom Australia, with four attendees from New Zealand, andone from Malaysia. Approximately half the group werephotographers or imaging professionals, with conservatorsand a handful of people from other related backgroundsmaking up the remaining numbers.

Throughout the six days there was a high level ofparticipation by attendees. During the lectures and breaks,there was constant informal discussion and sharing ofexperiences and information. There was also theopportunity during the week for participants to make shortformal presentations to the group detailing issues, decision-making processes, and/or information or programmes fromtheir institutions. The topics covered during thesepresentations mainly related to digitisation projects andgenerated some interesting questions and debates.

During the main lectures, Doug Munson presentedinformation relating to traditional duplication methodsincluding: conventional archival copying, duplication andbasic densitometry, and business issues. Franziska Freylectured on digital methods and covered topics such as:project planning and management, file formats and filenaming, guidelines for digital projects, access, metadataand rights management issues. The two presenters alsoshared sessions relating to both analogue and digitalconcerns, such as image quality, business models for digital


15Reviews

Workshop participants in front of the Library

East Meets West

projects, selecting equipment, obsolescence issues,integrating conservation activities into a digital workflow,ethics of re-constructing damaged photographs, andstorage strategies.

Both lecturers worked well together by supporting andquestioning each other. The information appeared to bepitched at an appropriate level for the group, as theattention of participants was focussed on speakers whilelively discussions and the occasional joke broughtimmediate responses. The presenters were flexible enoughto run with these discussions by rearranging the timetablesslightly to ensure all topics were covered.

I was especially interested in the step-by-step procedureused at the Chicago Albumen Works to strip acetatenegatives suffering base shrinkage and channelling. Doug briefly discussed other methods and this led to someuseful debate about methodology. He explained that heprefers to use the solvent method because the introduction ofwater tends to swell and soften the gelatin resulting indamage to the pellicle. One of the Workshop participantshad recently carried out preliminary research triallingseveral methods (including Doug's), in which sheencountered problems in these trials from swelling of thegelatin. Doug suggested that the solvents used in this casemight have taken on moisture over time.

The session I enjoyed most by Franziska was an informativeand interesting series of exercises demonstrating humanperception of colour. Though the timing of these tests(carried out in a darkened room with intense projectedcolours) was a little unfortunate, as some participants hadenjoyed a merry time the previous night at the Workshopdinner. However the exercises and following informationwere an excellent refresher and background to the in-depthlecture that followed.

In terms of related resources, the Workshop folder heldlectures, articles, websites and technical information. Thisinformation has since been supplemented by an updated listof participants and their contact details, a list of the websitesrecommended by various attendees, and a compilation ofphotographic images taken during the course. In closing itis interesting to note that there were far more images takenat the Workshop dinner than at any other time – this nodoubt bodes well for future networking and professionalinformation sharing from Workshop participants.

Thanks and congratulations to Angeletta Leggio, Mick Newnham and Detlev Lueth for an informative andsuccessful Photon Workshop series.


Reviews16

Jessica Baldwin, Oryu-san, Graeme Gollan. Lining an over-sized object

Group photo of participants at workshop


17

East Meets West: Masterclass OnJapanese Paper ConservationTechniques26 July – 9 August 2004, NorthumbriaUniversity, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UKJude Fraser, Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, The University of Melbourne

To quote our teacher, Oryu-san, "trust the fibres". This issomething that all 14 participants in the masterclass learntto do over the 10 days in Newcastle.

The course was organised by Jane Colbourne, Senior PaperLecturer at the Conservation Unit in the School of Arts andSciences at Northumbria University, in conjunction with theUniversity of Paris. Our teacher was Kazunori Oryu,Oriental Paintings Conservator and Associate Professor,Kyoto University of Art and Design, with support fromClaude Laroque, Director of the Paper ConservationProgramme at the University of Paris. Additional technicalsupport was provided by Shinichi Nara, a student of Oryu-san’s, and Megumi Mizumura and Kirsten Elliot, recentgraduates of the MA Conservation of Fine Art atNorthumbria University.

East meets West meets North meets South. Participants in thecourse, all mid-career conservators with broad and variedexperience, came from UK (England and Scotland), Ireland,Europe (Spain, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland andThe Netherlands), USA and Australia; Andrea Wise from theNGA being the other Australian. We all came to the coursewishing to extend our practical knowledge of Japanesematerials and techniques and how they can be applied tothe conservation of Western paper objects.

Oryu-san trained as a scroll mounter, after an earlier careeras a professional American football player in Japan - whichno doubt helped him "tackle" difficult conservationtreatments. So the course was teaching us scroll mountingtechniques – but wasn’t really a scroll mounting workshop –if that makes any sense.

"Trust the fibres" became the catch cry of the workshop. Afterspending a session joining sheets of Japanese tissue by onlyoverlapping the fibres of the water-cut edges of the sheets,Oryu-san needed to convince us that this was sufficientlystrong. While we were having coffee downstairs, he

attached the fibres of a small, water-cut piece of Japanesetissue to a large, dense sheet of cardboard using thin starchpaste. When we returned from our coffee break, Oryu-sanproudly held up the sheet of cardboard by the tab of tissueand said "Trust the fibres". We were suitably impressed bythis show of strength by the fibres and felt more confidentthat our attempts at joining sheets would hold up.

One of our first tasks was preparing starch paste. We hadall developed variations on the theme of starch pastepreparation after years of soaking, cooking, sieving andthinning down the starch. The hard-working Nara-sancooked up a fresh batch of starch every evening after theclass, in readiness for the next day. Oryu-san described therequired thickness of paste as either "lining" or ‘karibari"thickness, depending on the final use of the starch. Anotherstarch related exercise was to separate out the starch andthe gluten in plain white flour by kneading a dough in yourhands whilst dribbling water through it. The starch washesout leaving a ball of gluten.

Another talent of Oryu-san’s was his skill and control ofwetting out a sheet of paper using the water brush. It soundslike an easy thing to do but his control of the amount ofmoisture on the brush and on the paper was indeed a thingof beauty. Only a paper conservator would say that! Apractical task set was to evenly wet out a sheet ofcardboard. We could easily see how evenly – or unevenly- our sheet was wet out. And we could see how quicklyareas dried out. The final pattern on the cardboard was aparticularly attractive Scottish tartan look.

We carried out a number of practical exercises, sometimesworking individually and at other times working in pairs.Usually our "object" was a piece of Japanese newspaper –and later in the course we moved on to local newspapersand Graeme Gollan’s favourite, "The Scotsman". Theexercises we carried out included crease reinforcing, tearrepair, full linings, false margins (strip lining), inlaying and


Reviews18

lining of over-sized (long) objects. Newspaper proved to beparticularly difficult to work with, especially on our firstattempt at lining an over-sized object. But we all learnt fromour mistakes! The finer details of evenly pasting out liningsheets so that they are not too wet and handling largepieces of wet paper using wooden rods is something thatcan only improve with practice – we hope.

One of the highlights for many participants was theconstruction of a karibari, a Japanese drying screen. Oryu-san brought a ready-made frame with him from Japan andwe proceeded to cover it with layer upon layer of Japanesetissue, each layer applied by pasting out in varying ways.The finishing touch involves coating it with fermentedpersimmon juice, a task that was guaranteed to clear theroom due to the pungent smell of the juice.

We learnt how to make a bamboo spatula. The techniqueof holding the knife steady on our thighs and pulling thepiece of bamboo across the blade, initially un-nerved us aswe had visions of slicing our thighs. Once we mastered thetechnique, it was actually quite easy and we had amazingcontrol over the shaping of the spatula. Oryu-san taught usabout the finer points of knife making – the blades ofJapanese knives consist of two layers, one layer is of hardersteel which actually forms the cutting edge of the knife.Because of this, the technique of sharpening knives is criticalor you loose the cutting edge. Cutting paper using thecurved Japanese knife and a wooden straight edge,curiously presented problems. The knife was so sharp thatwe had to be careful that we didn’t take a slice off thestraight edge, making sure the knife was held flat againstthe straight edge.

On the final day we visited the Oriental Museum at theUniversity of Durham, which is just south of Newcastle.The Museum is devoted solely to Oriental art andarchaeology from cultures that range from Ancient Egyptto Imperial China and modern Japan. We were able toclosely examine a range of Japanese and Chinese scrollsand other works on paper from the collection. TheMuseum is well worth a visit for its extensive andfascinating displays. We also toured the conservationstudio attached to the University library where one of theparticipants worked. During the workshop we viewedvideos on making Mino paper and calligraphy brushes.Claude Laroque also showed us a selection of slides fromher time working with Oryu-san in Japan. Jane Colbournediscussed the research being undertaken at the Universityon dyes used for Japanese papers.

Where would a workshop or conference be without theassociated social activities? Jane set the pace by organisinga reception for the first night, which allowed participants to

get to know each other in a more relaxed atmosphere overa glass of wine. Many of us were staying on campus sowould meet over the breakfast table at Claude Gibb Hall.We found Luckies around the corner from the studio at BurtHall, which became our "local" where we could wind downin the evenings before foraging for food. Marks andSpencer’s provided many of us with prepared meals onthose nights when we needed some quiet time to ourselves.The workshop dinner was held at the restaurant on the topfloor of The Baltic, Newcastle’s contemporary art gallery onthe Tyne River. The Baltic had been splendidly convertedfrom the old Baltic Flour Mill – starch anyone? Spectacularviews were to be had from the ladies restroom where floorto ceiling glass afforded a view eastward down the river.Another night, our friendly Scotsman, Graeme Gollan, whowas residing in a flash apartment for the duration of thecourse, invited everyone over for a night of internationalcuisine. Graeme provide a Scottish/French entrée, haggisvol-au-vents, which became known as hagg-au-vents. OurJapanese contingent of Nara-san and Megumi produced anamazing selection of delicacies – sushi, sashimi, tempuraand miso soup. Claude put her starch paste making skills togood use and produced a delicious French dessert.

All in all a very successful workshop – we learnt newtechniques and skills, refined old ones that were perhaps abit rusty, made valuable contacts with colleagues from allover the world, made new friends – and had a great timedoing it all. Thanks to Oryu-san and Claude for sharing theirvast knowledge and experience; to Jane for all herorganisational work; to Nara-san, Megumi and Kirsten fortheir invaluable assistance; and to the other 13 participantsfor making the fortnight an experience to remember.

After Nicole Tse met Oryu-san at a conference inWashington last year, Louise Wilson commenceddiscussions with him about coming to Australia to do asimilar workshop. We hope that we can bring Oryu-san toAustralia in 2006. If you are interested in being involved,please contact me at [email protected], 03 9348 5700


19

Workshop on Removal of PressureSensitive Tape and Tape Stains 2 - 6 August 2004, Queensland Art Gallery,BrisbaneJodie Proud, Artlab Australia

It was a warm sunny August morning when twelveenthusiastic paper conservators arrived at the QueenslandArt Gallery. We were assembled for the technical workshopRemoval of Pressure-Sensitive Tape and Tape Stainspresented by the self-confessed tape divas Linda StiberMorenus and Elissa O’Loughlin.

The workshop was conducted over five full days. Many non-conservators and conservators alike may indeed questionthe sanity of willing participants to such an event. Howeverthe importance of understanding tapes and the skill andtechniques required to identify and treat them wasreinforced as the week flew by.

The workshop discussions consisted of the issues andpractical methods involved with removing tapes. We werereminded to stay flexible when preparing a treatmentproposal for removing tapes and of the importance ofaddressing ethical issues and exhibition guidelines. It isimportant to always question the practice of tape removalwhen selecting either a solvent or a technique suitable foreach individual object.

The week started with an introduction into the identification,properties, and degradation of rubber-based and acrylicbased pressure sensitive tapes. The practical sessions thatfollowed allowed participants to reinforce their learning withdiscussions of issues raised in the lectures and applicationof removal techniques suitable for each tape type.

Linda Stiber Morenus, from the Library of Congress, was ourguide to information on rubber-based tapes. The initiallectures focused on components and materials in rubber-based tapes including carriers, elastomers, tackifiers,plasticisers, antioxidants and fillers. The properties of materialsfound in these types of tapes can be damaging to paper andit is important to identify components as best as possible toformulate a safe and effective removal procedure.

There is a high potential for rubber-based adhesives tocause damage on paper such as staining and

embrittlement. These tapes have a three-stage deteriorationprocess that initiates with high adhesion, known as theoxidative induction stage, and ends with the cross-linkedstage when the adhesive bond fails and becomes brittleand discoloured. Often the carrier is missing or lifting andthe paper has become translucent at this stage.

Elissa O’Loughlin, who is currently working for the WaltersArt Museum in Baltimore, spoke to us about acrylic basedtapes. Acrylic pressure sensitive tapes also damage paper,but in a different way compared to rubber-based tapes.They do not degrade with oxidation but can changeproperties in relation to the paper support. Some tapes havea UV filter that have a selective protection of paper and canmask it from light damage and discolouration. Acrylicadhesives have the ability to flow, or ‘creep’, at roomtemperature and can seep from beneath the tape carrierand into the paper, making it translucent. Some media candissolve and pigments can migrate in the adhesive.

The group practiced identifying tapes by smell and sight(rubber-based tapes often smell resinous and commonlyacrylic tapes are crystal clear). We looked at samples underultra-violet light to assist in the identification of the carrierused for both kinds of tapes. Tests of pH using A-D Stripsand experiments with off-gassing of small heated samplesindicated the kind of carrier used.

Every participant was given aged samples of unknowntapes on a lignin-based paper, rag-paper and colouredcard. The samples had a variety of mixed media on them.We began our practical sessions with mechanical carrierremoval, with the strong advice not to remove more of thecarrier than adhesive in one day, to avoid changing thetape’s properties to the next degradation stage. We usedmicro spatulas (available from Talas, USA) to gentlyseparate the carrier from the paper. It was observed thatcontrolled heating of the spatula and paper support madethe process a lot easier and quicker. For mechanicalremoval of the adhesive mass a range of erasers were usedincluding crepe erasers and Sanford Magic Rub pencil


Reviews20

erasers, as well as cellulose powder to assist with therounding up of the adhesive.

The removal of excess tape adhesive and stains from papersupports was demonstrated in several ways. We usedvapour chambers and found solvent baths effective inremoving the carrier and adhesive. However, Elissa wasquick to point out that it is vital to identify the type of tapebefore applying any solvents. For instance, acetone reactsdetrimentally with a cellulose acetate carrier causing it to geland stain the paper.

Linda showed us a range of techniques when usingpoultices for rubber-based tape stains. In the workshop weused diatomaceous earth and Fuller’s earth poultices, withthe majority of us finding the latter material much easier tomanipulate. During Linda’s demonstration and followingexperiments most of us put our poulticing fears aside andfound it to have very strong extraction properties. Lindaadvised us that the poultice does the greatest amount ofwork towards the end of the drying stage. We found thatthe adhesive in the paper had reduced dramatically, buttide lines were evident in most cases.

Linda tackled tide line problems with a demonstration inadvanced stain removal. This session revolved around thesuction table. We used several different capillary tubes forthe pinpoint application of solvents, including MicroCap(a very thin pipette). This proved particularly useful both forstains around sensitive media and tide lines. We alsoobserved that tide lines were reduced using an air brush.

Both presenters emphasized that any solvent use was a finaloption in both tape and stain removal. Solvents and the TeasChart were beneficially revised. The conventional use of theTeas chart aided us in selecting most appropriate solvents.Attention was paid to the mixing of solvents to customizedparameters for each particular tape. Using mixtures of solventsis useful to control evaporation rates, to suit media and tomanage toxicity and health issues. Elissa demonstrated theelectronic Solvent-Solver Program, which can be utilised tomake less toxic solvent substitutions. This database can bedownloaded by conservators from the AIC website.

The week ended with discussions on past experiences, casestudies and problems faced with pressure sensitive tape inparticipants institutions. One case that was brought upagain and again was the discovery of degrading tape onphotographs particularly on silver gelatine prints. Elissa andLinda have both found a knowledge gap with thedegradation properties of pressure tapes on photographsand the best techniques to remove stains, and were keen toput the call out there for anyone eager to begin researchinto this area.

Our week not only involved tape and basking in Brisbane’sglorious weather, but also gave us an opportunity toexperience the social, culinary and cocktail delights of WestEnd. Our American guests were eager to sample Australianbeer and quiz us on local wildlife.

We would like to acknowledge the financial assistance ofAICCM, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Ian PotterFoundation. Thanks to Samantha Shellard and her hardworking team of Nicholas Cosgrove and Lyn Streader. Theirefforts ensured the workshop was well organized andparticipants were able to capitalize on the knowledge ofour expert presenters.

The week in Brisbane certainly prepared us with a solidstarting block to begin tackling tape in our institutions. Allparticipants will be holding small workshops in the nearfuture for conservators on the identification and removal ofpressure sensitive tapes from paper. Stay tuned for furtherdetails on a workshop in a capital city near you.

Linda Stiber demonstrating the use of a micro cap on the suction tableImage: Rowena Jameson

Book and Paper SIGOur New Zealand colleagues have established a SIG committee to organise and host the 4th AICCMSymposium for the Conservation of Paper, Books andPhotographic Materials in 2006.

They are a Wellington based group, which includes:Vicki-Anne Heikell, Conservator Works on Paper, Tepapa: [email protected] Cuming, National Preservation Officer, National Library: [email protected] Bloomfield, National Preservation Officer, National Library: [email protected]. Mark Strange, Photographic Conservator, National Library:[email protected]. Marion Mertens, Paper Conservator in Private Practice:[email protected].

Conservation Picture Framers SIGThe Framing Show held in Melbourne from the 18 - 22August had a new emphasis on education. There wereseveral workshops by international educators. Four of theworkshops were conducted by June Andersen and arededicated to conservation practices and techniques. A review of the show will be in the next newsletter.

The Framers Networking Group was treated to an eveningwith Prue McKay in Canberra back in May. The workshopPrue conducted was on Identification of Photographs; thisalso included recommendations for mounting and framing ofphotographs. The group thoroughly enjoyed themselves andas always found the opportunity to interact with aprofessional conservator worthwhile. The next meeting of thegroup was held at The Framing School in Sydney in July. Thetopic was Hinging works on paper. June demonstrated howto use Japanese paper and wheat starch paste and how toavoid the most common problems associated with hinging.

For those interested in taking part either as a participant orin conducting a workshop please contact the SIG convenor,June Anderson.

Paintings SIGPaintings Symposium 2006 - Preliminary announcementThe 10th AICCM Paintings Symposium is being planned forBrisbane, 4-6 May 2006. Possible themes for the event willbe discussed at the National AICCM Annual Meeting inCanberra, 28 September 2004. Comments or suggestionson this, or any other aspect of the symposium are welcome.For members unable to make the Canberra meeting, pleasefeel free to contact the SIG convenor, Gillian Osmond.


21

Special Interest Group Co-ordinators

Antarctic HeritageJanet HughesPh: 02 6240 6657Fax: 02 6240 [email protected]

Book and PaperSee below

Conservation Picture FramersJune AndersonPh: 02 9564 5576Fax: 02 9564 [email protected]

Conservation ScienceDeborah LauPh: 03 9252 6403Fax: 03 9252 [email protected]

Gilded Objects ConservationHolly McGowan-JacksonPh: 03 8620 [email protected]

ObjectsAmanda PagliarinoPh: 07 3842 9296Fax: 07 3844 [email protected]

PaintingsGillian Osmond Tel: 07 3840 [email protected]

PhotonDetlev LuethPh: 03 9881 [email protected]

Preventive ConservationSarah SladePh: 02 9976 [email protected]

TextilesBronwyn Cosgrove Ph: 03 8620 [email protected]

FTIR One-Day Workshop, Art Gallery of NSW10, 11 or 12 November 2004The Art Gallery of NSW is holding a one day FTIRworkshop which will be held in the Conservationdepartment at the Art Gallery of NSW. The course will bepresented by Deborah Lau (CSIRO) and David Wise(University of Canberra) and will include some basic theory,sample collection and preparation, infra-red analysismethods and spectral interpretation. It will afford anopportunity for participants to analyse their own samples.

The numbers will necessarily be kept low so there will bethree separate workshops on Wednesday 10, Thursday11, Friday 12 November, 2004.The cost is $250 + GST per person.

If you are interested in participating in this course pleasesend a cheque (made payable to AGNSW) or credit carddetails to Stewart Laidler, [email protected], 029225 1666; Fax: 02 9221 6226).Please remember that places are limited (15 total), so it isstrictly on a first in basis.

Preventive Conservation SIGThe Preventive Conservation SIG is planning to start anelectronic discussion board for members in 2005. We arecurrently considering different ways of creating this andwould be interested in comments from members about whatsort of information they would want it to contain and anyother thoughts about making it as helpful to members aspossible. Please forward any thoughts/comments to SIGconvenor, Sarah Slade.

The 2005 annual Preventive Conservation SIG Seminar,held in conjunction with the AICCM (NSW), the HistoricHouses Trust of NSW, and Museums and GalleriesFoundation of NSW will be held in September 2005 inSydney. The topic will be Storage – the open and closedcase. This will examine a range of issues about currentapproaches to storage, including Storage and RiskAssessment, Storage and Environmental Conditions and theissue of the moment, Storage and Visitors. The speakers’sessions will be followed by a humorous debate about openversus closed storage

This one day seminar is designed for heritage advisors,conservators, registrars, collection managers, curators,museum & gallery workers and allied professionals. It is thefifth in an on-going series of Preventive ConservationSeminars. Further information will be sent to members inupcoming newsletters and by email. If you would like furtherinformation before then please contact the SIG convenor,Sarah Slade.

PhotonWorkshop number four; Duplication by TraditionalPhotographic and Digital Methods, as with the previousthree workshops, was a great success. We had over 70participants from each state of Australia, New Zealand,Malaysia and England. The participants had a variety ofbackgrounds ranging from conservators, photographers,curators, registrars, archivists, administrators, volunteers andstudents. This mix ensured that the discussion was informed,broad and lively.

Staff at the National Library helped make the event runsmoothly. This was mainly due to Colin Webb and hispreservation staff, without whom, an event over six daysand of this size, could not have been possible. I would also like to thank Andrew Long (NLA seniorphotographer) for arranging daily tours through hisdepartment and making his staff available to document thevarious highlights of the workshop. If you like to see some of the workshop photographs taken by theparticipants and the NLA photographers go tohttp://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/ant\Photon\index.htm.Photon hopes that this link along with other reports, reviews,and photos about the series of workshops will eventually beplaced on the new AICCM Photon WebPages.

A number of people made this workshop fantastic. As always Angeletta Leggio’s and Mick Newnham’sinvolvement was critical and I thank them very much for theirtireless energy and good humour. I think our team effort onthese workshops has worked especially well. As withprevious workshops unexpected things happened that theteam was able to quickly address. In the final workshop, itwas the unfortunate cancellation by Michael Hager at the11th hour. This was however quickly resolved by jetting inDoug Munson. Furthermore, Angeletta, Mick and myselfreceived tremendous advice and support from the otherteam members Franziska Frey and Doug Munson. Theirfriendliness and ability to adapted to our and theparticipants needs ensured this workshop was at all timesrelevant, up to date and accessible.

It’s hard to believe that after four years these workshops arenow finally complete. I’m under no illusion that it was not justthe ‘gang of three’ that made these workshops happen andacknowledge the support given behind the scenes by theAICCM National Council and Secretariat. They had it toughas no SIG had previously embarked on this type of project,and thus guidelines had to be amended and proceduresredesigned and tested to assist us in making the workshopsaccountable and transparent as per funding requirements.

It’s also worth mentioning that the workshop participants hadassisted and encouraged us before, during, and after each


Special Interest Group22

workshop. This fired up their and our imagination about thefuture of photographic conservation in this region. Thisinterest goes against the trend before the workshops startedand which Photon was keen to turn around. We believedthere was no point in just skilling people up if they weren’twilling to apply this knowledge and change the way weinteract with our colleagues.

This series of workshops have dramatically changed myattitude to this specialisation. I’ve learned much over thecourse of the workshops and can't wait to apply these newconservation skills. I encourage the members of Photon toactively make our specialty bigger and better. I encourageyou to not just be a paid up member of Photon, but to getout there and start networking and assisting each other.Advance the profession by attending conferences andmeetings, writing papers or articles for the AICCMNewsletter and Bulletin or contributing a posting on thePhoton Distlist.

Unfortunately the workshops are not quite finished forAngeletta, Mick and myself. It is a funding requirement thatat the completion of each workshop a report be written andsubmitted to the Getty Grant Program. Although we havealready started writing the final report for the series ofworkshops, we will be busy writing this for a while yet. Wehave however, already discussed the kind of jobs Photonshould address post the workshops. In no particular orderthese include: • Conduct an Election of the Photon Convener and the

committee • Redesign and develop content for the Photon

WebPages. Perhaps list results and information aboutthe workshops on the website

• Make Photon Distlist more user friendly by moving it tothe new AICCM website

• Conduct another ‘Needs Analysis’ survey of thephotographic conservation profession in this region todetermine future needs now that we have completed thefour workshops selected previously as a priority trainingneed

• Assist in developing the Photon session of theSymposium for the Conservation of Paper, Books andPhotographic Materials to be held in Wellington, NewZealand in 2006

To begin discussions on some of these issues and harnessthe energy and enthusiasm from the workshops, Angeletta,Mick and I will be attending the AICCM Annual Meeting inCanberra on the 28th of September. This day meeting istimely and will discuss, apart from a number of other issues,the role of the conservator in the future and how to preparethe foundation for the future development of the profession.We hope you can join us for the day and if there is enough

interest we will hold a Special Interest Group Meeting at5.30pm in the same venue. This Photon meeting will aim torepeat the friendliness and humor at previous workshops toensure that both interesting and thought provokingdiscussion could be guaranteed. There might even be moreprime number games, rhymes and Mexican waves.

AICCM TextileSymposiumNational Gallery ofVictoriaMelbourne, Australia22-23 November 2004

The AICCM Textile Special Interest Group is hosting itssecond biennial symposium over two days in Melbourne,Victoria. The symposium aims to promote a broaderawareness of the variety of work carried out by textileconservators and is aimed at the textile conservationcommunity in Australasia. For more information and registration forms, please visithttp://www.aiccm.org.au


23Special Interest Group

The AICCM National Newsletter is thequarterly newsletter of the AustralianInstitute for the Conservation of Materials(Inc.)

It is issued to all members as part of amembership entitlement in March, June,September and December.

Deadlines for copy are:1 February1 May1 August1 November

Contributions are welcomed and should besent to:Jude Fraser, EditorCentre for Cultural Materials ConservationUniversity of MelbourneMelbourne VIC 3010AustraliaTel: (03) 9348 5700Fax: (03) 9348 [email protected]

Advertising is accepted.

Positions Vacanthalf column $55.00 incl. GSTfull column $110.00 incl. GSTCommercialhalf column $110.00 incl. GSTfull column $220.00 incl. GSTfull page $300.00 incl. GSTDiscounts10% for 2 issues, 15% for 3 issues, 20%for 4 issues.InsertsPositions Vacant $110.00 incl. GSTCommercial $220.00 incl. GSTAdvertisers must supply their own inserts. Classifieds$0.88 per word including GST.Notices pertaining to AICCM activities arefree of charge.Advertising for inclusion in body ofNewsletter accepted until the 1st day ofthe month in which the Newsletter is due.Early booking preferable.Disclaimer: Publication of technical notesor articles with reference to techniques andmaterials does not necessarily represent anendorsement by AICCM. Whilst everyeffort is made to ensure the accuracy ofcontent, the Editor and the AICCMNational Council accept no responsibilityfor the content or opinions expressed in theAICCM National Newsletter which aresolely those of individual contributors.The AICCM National Newsletter ispublished with the assistance of a grantfrom the Commonwealth Department ofCommunications, Information Technologyand the Arts.

AICCM NATIONAL COUNCIL2003 – 2004

PresidentEric ArcherPh: 02 6208 5036Fax: 02 6208 [email protected]

Vice-PresidentAnne CarterPh: 07 3840 7742Fax: 07 3844 [email protected]

SecretaryJenny DickensPh: 0403 978 440Fax: 03 9419 [email protected]

TreasurerKim BrunoroPh: 02 6240 6463Fax: 02 6240 [email protected]

Membership OfficerKay SöderlundPh: 02 9550 0532Fax: 02 9550 [email protected]

Publications OfficerVinod DanielPh: 02 9320 6115Fax: 02 9320 [email protected]

SIG ConvenorBronwyn Cosgrove Ph: 03 8620 2106Fax: 03 8620 [email protected]

Training and Accreditation OfficerJanet HughesPh: 02 6240 6657Fax: 02 6240 [email protected]

Public OfficerRowena Jameson

State RepresentativesACT – Rowena JamesonPh: 02 6262 1597Fax: 02 6273 [email protected]

NSW – Sarah-Jane RenniePh: 02 9339 9908Fax: 02 9358 [email protected]

QLD – Liz WildPh: 07 3840 7294Fax: 07 3844 [email protected]

SA – Ph: 08 8207 7520Fax: 08 8207 7529

TAS – Linda ClarkPh: 03 6323 3751Fax: 03 6323 [email protected]

VIC – Helen PrivettPh: 8341 [email protected]

WA – Stephanie BailyPh: 08 9427 3315Fax: 08 9427 [email protected]

Bulletin EditorMarcelle ScottPh: 03 8344 [email protected]

Web EditorKarina [email protected]

AICCM SecretariatPh: 02 6295 9074Fax: 02 6295 [email protected]

AICCM Home Pagewww.aiccm.org.au

All correspondence should be addressed to:AICCM Inc.GPO Box 1638Canberra ACT 2601Australia

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