Boxes stacked high, brushes, packing material, scissors...there is not much space to spare on a table in the library of the Natural History Museum on the city zoo and museum premises on Tuesday.
As the Napier Museum gears up for complete renovation of structure and collection, a workshop on collection management planning and practice was held.
The workshop is significant, as the detailed project report for the renovation is expected to be submitted soon. However, before the work can get under way, some of the display objects will have to be moved to a safe location. This will necessitate their transfer and storage in proper conditions. The workshop will guide the museum employees on the proper techniques for transfer and storage and the materials that are suitable. It is being led by Gabriela Krist, Johanna Wilk, and Tanushree Gupta of the Institute of Conservation, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria.
Packing materials
In the morning session, the staff are taken through the different packing materials that they could choose to pack the priceless museum exhibits in, the techniques, and the precautions to be taken. They tell the employees to decide what material to opt for on the basis of the type and nature of object, and the conditions here.
Bubble wrap, for instance, is suitable only for wrapping objects for the short-term. Care has to be taken to ensure it does not come into contact with the object directly, as it may contain residue from manufacturing and does not allow ventilation. Tubular bandages that are used for human beings provide good protection and could even be used to pack dainty objects such as chandeliers.
The staff are shown the various packing material up-close and how to pack the objects inside, depending on whether it is meant for interim or long-term storage. They are shown how to use material such as acid-free honeycomb board or polyethylene foam to make a base on which to place the objects and use cotton twill to make handles to lift the objects. Acid-free tissue paper, when used to cover objects, allows them to breathe without attracting moisture, unlike cotton, and is very useful in humid conditions prevalent in the State.
In the afternoon, a hands-on session is held in which the staff prepare and pack objects for storage. Zoo and Museum Director K. Gangadharan and Museum Superintendent Manjula Devi were present.
Earlier this year, a workshop on care and storage of the museum collection was held in which objects were cleaned and moved to an interim storage as part of storage reorganisation.