About conservation

Conservation is about preventing damage and loss to our cultural heritage. Conservation aims to minimise change to collection material, to protect items from the adverse effects of climate and chemical deterioration, and to safeguard our heritage not only for ourselves but for future generations.

Conservation activities may include preservation, restoration, examination, documentation, research, advice, treatment, preventive conservation, training and education.

The term ‘preservation’ refers to the protection of cultural property through activities that minimise chemical and physical deterioration, such as improved storage conditions and environmental control. The primary goal of preservation is to prolong the existence of cultural material.

‘Restoration’ involves treatments that enhance the interpretation of cultural heritage – e.g. inpainting losses in an oil painting so that the original appearance of the image is maintained. Restoration may also involve the reassembly of displaced components, removal of extraneous matter or integrating new materials or components in order to stabilise and strengthen the original artefact.

Even when performing restoration work, conservators choose methods of ‘minimal intervention’, focusing on stabilisation and retaining original material. Conservators also use materials with good ageing characteristics and, where possible, treatment methods that are reversible. Conservators also document the condition of an object through written reports and photographs, both before and after treatment, in order to retain records of what has been changed, for future owners and caretakers.

• Interested in becoming a conservator?
• See pictures of conservators at work
• Find out about what not to do in Remedies Gone Wrong
• Learn about different types of damage in our Visual Glossary
• Follow links to see conservators in the media
  
• Find information sheets about caring for collections
• Learn about grants and funding available for conservators and conservation activities