People and Places – April 2023

Art Gallery of NSW

The AGNSW team has been enjoying the fruits of the new North Building (SMP—Sydney Modern Project), which opened to the public in early December 2022. After several years of planning and preparation, the new building welcomed thousands of visitors in its first few weeks who came to enjoy the extraordinary SANAA-designed building, which offers spectacular views of the city and harbour. With seven new galleries, including a subterranean space (formerly a World War II oil tank supplying the naval fleet at Garden Island), the team is absolutely delighted to be able to support the display of art in these unique new spaces.

Paper Conservation

The team recently welcomed Kate Hughes to the position of Senior Paper Conservator. Kate has been thrown straight into life at the Gallery working on The National 4: Australian Art Now, which includes several complex multi-part works on paper by artists including Brenda Croft, David Sequeira, Glen Mackie and Heather B Swann. Lois Waters has been busy preparing works for inclusion in World Pride displays across the Gallery in addition to working on several fascinating works from the Asian Collection for changeovers in the Asian Lantern Galleries. Keyeele (Kiki) Lawler Dormer has been working closely with the photography team on a significant project to digitise the work of women artists in the collection. To date, Kiki has prepared over 500 works for photography, allowing these works to be made available on the AGNSW website, and in turn increase their potential for display, loan and research. Grant Hawkes and Ju Bavyka have been working on a range of projects including the mounting of works for the Young Archies, which will hang as a sister display to the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. Analiese Treacy has been working through a number of new acquisitions including a large gift from author and researcher Jim Masselos. The gift of over 300 works includes Indian miniatures form the 16^th century through to Company School paintings and Indian folk art paintings of extraordinary colour and craftsmanship. The loans program is back up and running after a period of moratorium, and works are being prepared for loan to the Jewish Museum of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and others.

Frames Conservation

The Frames team welcomes Emma Northwood, who is completing a three-month internship at the AGNSW from the University of Canberra. Emma has been working with the team on a number of projects including a frame treatment of an early acquisition watercolour. Emma has also had the opportunity to do a site visit to the ANMM. Barbara (Basia) Dabrowa has recently completed two major frame treatments on watercolour paintings by Australian artist BE Minns. These works are amongst the Gallery’s earliest acquisitions and are due to go on display in the Grand Courts in May. Genevieve Tobin has been working on a major frame treatment on Thomas Francis Dicksee Hermione (c. 1875) painting, which has had extensive filling and reconstruction and is progressing to ornament loss compensation stage.

Reproduction Framing

Tom Langlands has been busy completing a large ornate frame on a Louise Hersent painting in time to be displayed in the Grand Courts on International Women’s Day. The frame involved significant research in consultation with the Curatorial Team and fellow frames conservators, to ensure the most suitable style of frame was chosen. Other frame projects include reproductions for three Conrad Martens watercolours, a contemporary frame for a work by Anne Montgomery, and black box frames for a group of large-format photographs by Christian Thompson.

Paintings Conservation

Celine de Courlon has been working on the standardisation of documentation and photography across the conservation department. She has been working with other departments on building works in the North and South gallery building. Celine is working in close liaison with the curators on the exhibition changeovers for both gallery buildings. Selina Halim has joined the team as Senior Paintings Conservator. She has been thrown into the deep end from the get-go, with a thread-by-thread treatment on a torn painting, treatment of Joseph Backler portraits and the preparation for the World Pride exhibition. Selina has been working in close collaboration with Genevieve Tobin from Frames to apply her xPVOH solvent gel technique on paintings. The collaboration is highly successful, and they are both looking forward to sharing their findings with the rest of the conservation team. Madeline Ewing has been busy assisting with the Daniel Boyd artwork deinstallation, World Pride exhibition preparation and The Nationals 4: Australian Art Now installation. She has also been treating and preparing nine William Turnbull paintings, which are being returned to the artist’s estate. Andrea Nottage has been working tirelessly on the Willem Key portrait, as the benefactors-funded project for the rehang in the Old Court. Simon Ives has completed the treatment of a new acquisition by Louise Hersent, which has had a new reproduction frame, and a painting by Clarice Beckett. He is currently working on the returned Furnishing Loans with the recent change of government. The team has recently had a group training with a Thermo Fischer representative on the FTIR and FTIR-ATR equipment and software.

Objects Conservation

Kasi Albert has rejoined the team at the Gallery as Senior Objects Conservator after five years at the Museum of Contemporary Art. She has hit the ground running, working on new acquisitions and complex multicomponent works for The National 4: Australian Art Now, including works by Heather B Swann, Madeleine Kelly and Nabilah Norden. Objects conservators have been involved with preparation and installation of AGNSW collections artworks for the Upper and Lower Asian Galleries, and for the World Pride changeover in the LL1 Australian galleries. Sofia Lo Bianco undertook conservation treatment of the Dennis Golding commission in the vestibule for World Pride and other World Pride collection displays, including a major treatment on a collection artwork by Jim Hodges. She is also undertaking major structural works on a number of artworks by artists Phyllida Barlow and Pascale Marthine Tayou in addition to recently acquired collection works by Adrian Villar Rojas. Ash Gilmore has been working on the changeovers in the Asian Lantern Galleries, preparing a wide range of works including textiles, sculpture and contemporary artwork. She has also been consulting with stakeholders on the care and maintenance of interactive works by Jeffrey Gibson in the exhibition Dreamhome. Bronwyn Tulloch has been working on the care and maintenance of all things large and challenging, including the outdoor sculptures in the new North Building such as the works of Yayoi Kusama and Francis Upritchard. Objects Conservation is currently joined by student Aourelle Cohadon, who has come to Sydney from the Institut national du patrimoine in Paris as an intern with us for five months. She has already assisted with a great variety of tasks and has visited several other conservation labs in the city.

Time-based Art (TBA) Conservation

Carolyn Murphy, Lisa Mansfield, Rebecca Barnott-Clement and Juanita Kelly-Mundine are all working on the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum. Bringing together academics, curators, conservators and artists from diverse institutions, this project aims to interrogate the relationship between dance and visual art practices and institutions since the turn of the 21st century, developing solutions for emerging and associated challenges for artists and art workers. For the collection work Sonix, circa 1969, by Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski, TBA Technician Jonathan Dennis has been researching and testing legacy equipment to determine future functionality, and to update the artwork preservation plan. This work is in collaboration with Objects Conservation and Charles Lawler, AV Exhibitions Technician, as part of the AGNSW Obsolete Technology Project. Our team is thrilled to be welcoming recent Grimwade Centre masters graduate Emma Ward and Grimwade Centre masters student Asli Gunel to work with us on all things TBA for the next six months.

Digital Preservation

Carolyn Murphy, Joanna Fleming and Rebecca Barnott-Clement participated in a two-day workshop in February 2023 as part of the current ARC Linkage Project Archiving Australian Media Arts: Towards a method and national collection. Led by Associate Professor Melanie Swalwell (Swinburne University), this project seeks to develop a best practice method for stabilising and preserving Australian media arts heritage and to investigate approaches to access and exhibition of this heritage. This project represents a major achievement for Australian digital arts conservation with 11 organisations (universities, national art institutions, and leading cultural and media organisations) collaborating to research and develop best practice for digital media arts heritage through key case studies.

Exhibition and Loans Conservation

Sarah Bunn has been busy touring regionally with the Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize exhibition, which is currently being deinstalled at Bathurst Regional Gallery before heading to the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT. Sarah has also been working on a number of upcoming inward loan exhibitions that the Gallery will be hosting towards the end of the year including Hoda Afshar, Kandinsky and Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day?

Preventive Conservation

Newly appointed Preventive Conservator Jessica Gray-Hart has been expanding the Gallery’s analytical equipment with the procurement of a FLIR MR176 Imaging Moisture Meter and a Wintact IC-WT63B Vibration Meter. These will assist in ongoing monitoring and investigation of buildings and exhibitions. The IPM program will be rolling out hardcover insect traps to all non-public collection areas in line with the Gallery’s sustainability plan to reduce waste production.

Australian Museum

Collection Care and Conservation

Staff news

Congratulations to our Conservation Manager, Heather Bleechmore, for being awarded the IIC Fellowship recognising her achievements and great contribution to the field!

Sydney World Pride

The Australian Museum put on many events to coincide with Sydney World Pride. It feels good to know your institution supports and empowers visitors and staff, and we hope to see that this visibility leads to actual outcomes for LGBTQ+ staff in the GLAM sector and beyond.

World Pride saw the public reveal and instant iconisation of Progress Shark, a work by Sydney artist George Buchanan. The shark was immortalised across Sydney in many ways, including in a drone light display. Here it is (below right) depicted in the Museum by artist Leon Fernandes. Progress Shark stole hearts and decorated social media pages for weeks and can still be spotted today on the corner of Park and William streets.

Collection Enhancement Project

Clare, our Collection Enhancement Project Natural Sciences Conservator, continues her  outstanding  work! Another week of careful and considered work in the entomology department has seen her developing new approaches to specimen conservation of particularly fragile and significant type specimens, this week focusing on the stabilisation and repair of weevils and termites. (See her work below.) We think Clare deserves an induction into the conservator hall of fame for her amazing work.

Exhibitions

Kyra Kim, Lizzie Reed and Melissa Holt have been busy getting ready for the upcoming Bilas: Living Culture exhibition due to open in June. This exhibition will showcase photographs from Wylda Bayron alongside cultural material from the Australian Museum’s Papua New Guinea collection. Bilas encapsulates all types of body adornment and decoration, ranging from masks, body ornaments and bilums, to feathered headwear. The team has been busy treating and packing this family of fragile body masks from Kagua, Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea.

Historic Cases and Historic Crocodiles

Sophie has been snapped up by our crocodile, who decided to get closer to the public action and will now be keeping a keen eye on our visitors’ bags and belongings while they are enjoying the Museum. The large historic case, which houses three taxidermied crocodiles (including a saltwater specimen over four metres long) and several snake casts, is being moved from the Surviving Australia gallery to the cloaking foyer in preparation for the gallery redevelopment in a few months. Wrestling and moving the enormous croc has not been an easy task, but Sophie, with lots of help from the amazing preparatory and exhibitions teams, has maintained her prowess and delivered the beautiful beast safely to its new home with no (crocodile) tears shed. The croc enjoyed a conservation pedicure (minor stabilising treatments) before going back into the case. A round of aCLAWS for our Sophie!

Collection Care

Collection Care has been able to fill its calendar with a variety of great, interesting, and satisfyingly bizarre projects. The beginning of the year is always an exciting time for the IPM-inclined, with the slowing down of the pest season. But while the bugs slow, other challenges arise. The nitrogen chamber has been busy, and unfortunately will no longer be available for other users this year due to the Australian Museum’s workload.

Collection Care has started to engage an external indoor air quality contractor and will hopefully be able to discuss the results this year with interested colleagues. Reach out if this sparks your interest!

There has been a renewed interest in starting to better understand the crushing amount of data that a collection care program can generate. Initial investigations are illuminating and hopefully will lead to the development of a streamlined approach to data analytics, and hopefully some developments in database management. Now that all the treatment conservators have stopped reading, just amongst us preventive conservators, who wants to start looking at data on a holistic regional/national level? Reach out to the team and we can start collaborating!

Conservation Dreams of Decomposers   

Conservation Dreams of Decomposers is a composite artwork—we do a lot of skeletonisation and preparation of large mammals out in the field, and in areas we want to keep quite secret. This was an artistic response to wanting to share that work but not being able to share actual images of what we are doing. The result is quite ethereal and beautiful, so we decided to turn it into a full artwork with title and year.

Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM)

Collection Care

When conservator Jeff Fox selected a number of barks from the Saltwater Collection to assess and condition check, curators Matt Poll (Manager Indigenous Programs) and Tyson Frigo (Indigenous Program Curator) jumped on the chance to invite ArtSpace, Australia’s leading interdisciplinary space for the production and presentation of contemporary art, to have a look. These barks are representative of the people of the Yirritja moiety of the Gumatj clan in the homeland of Biranybirany. They form part of a series of 80 bark paintings produced by Yolngu traditional owners of East Arnhem Land in an effort to educate outsiders of their stories, land and sea rights, and laws, and are an incredibly significant collection held at the Museum.

Large projects

Nick Flood travelled on HMAS Vampire to Garden Island to help with its maintenance works, and Dr Ian MacLeod was also invited by the Museum to help with the internal assessment of the vessel. Whilst mostly working at Garden Island, Ian popped into the Museum for a few days once Vampire was back.

Exhibitions

Jeff took the lead on the deinstallation of Mariw Minaral. The task was broken down into two parts: removal of the large objects from the space – like the 200 kg bronze dugong sculpture – and deframing and reframing the large 2D works. The exhibition has been flagged for travel, and the conservation team found it necessary for the oversized prints to be reframed into far less heavy frames. We were lucky enough to have Sophie Brown (from Sophie Brown Conservation Framing) and her team of Jane and Frederique supply the lightweight but durable aluminium frames and float mount the prints. As the prints were so large, the work had to be undertaken within the gallery space. Jeff is currently finishing the frames off with Marvelseal so the works will be protected during their five-year travels.

After installation of Brickwrecks in December, Alayne Alvis has moved on to working on several new exhibitions, changeovers and installations. She is preparing the ningher for pest treatment so that is can eventually be installed in Deep Time. After being condition reported by the interns last year, Alayne will clean and install the lenticular lens for Serving Country in April. She is also preparing objects for a small installation on the America’s Cup in the Wharf 7 exhibition space, and cleaning and preparing the remaining painted wooden fish for Guykuda’s aquarium, all of which are being hung within the exhibition space.

On 22 March, Parliament House held  a one-day showcase of objects from all the national institutions. Preparing the items for travel and exhibition has been Emma Hayles’ most recent job. Chosen as a way to highlight the key areas of the Museum’s acquisition policy and interest, the items are varied and proved challenging to pack.

Emma treated, made mounts for and, along with registrars Judy Kim and Cameron McLean, travelled to Old Government House in Paramatta to install a collection of works as part of ANMM’s Outgoing Loans Program. The objects, which relate to the Parramatta River, will form part of an exhibition entitled The River: Burramatta to Cockatoo, opening 4 March until 26 November, with the aim of encouraging visitors to explore the history of the Parramatta River, hear stories of centuries of use and learn of the current clean-up campaign to restore recreational swimming.

Events

The Museum held a Women in STEM event on 9 March. Agata Rostek-Robak, along with 14 other speakers, presented to over 400 years 9, 10 and 11 students in the theatre, and the team was involved in behind-the-scenes tours through the laboratory. It was great to see so many young women  interested in what was happening.

In December of 2022, the conservation team was lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour – and then drinks at the bar – of the State Library of NSW. It was fascinating to see the work being undertaken, the lab and the equipment used, and we thank the team for accommodating us!

International Conservation Services (ICS) New South Wales 

Paintings

This last month saw the final 70 paintings from the Lismore Regional Gallery packed up from the Registrar-General’s Building in Sydney where they underwent treatment by the ICS team, and prepared for their shipment back to Lismore. It was an emotional affair as 11 months working in the building, led by conservator Suati Rojas, came to an end. The remaining challenging artworks are now being treated in the lab. The whole of the ICS team feels honoured to be part of ensuring the Lismore collection will continue for future generations.

Textiles

The ICS Textiles Team started the year by hanging a vast tapestry at the new Walker Building in Parramatta Square. Woven at the Australian Tapestry Workshops (ATW) in Melbourne and measuring 6m by 11m, it took two spider cranes, two conservators – Christina Ritschel and Alis Jitarescu – three helpers and the watchful eye of Julian Bickersteth CEO, together with Antonia Syme, Director of the ATW, and the original artist, Chris Kenyon, to get the two sections hanging. The installation took years of planning but the result is absolutely stunning.

Yolanda El Khouri, Bella Taylor and Shima Gholami also worked to complete the stabilisation of a large World War I flag with embroidered inscription and mounted it in preparation for framing.

Objects and Outdoor Heritage

Padded cell at the ‘The Lock-up’

ICS has been engaged in some very interesting projects so far this year, including restoring a padded cell for the Newcastle Historic Reserve Trust. This cell is in an 1800s police station that has been repurposed into a contemporary art space, called The Lock-up. ICS conservators Amy Walsh and Isabelle Legg undertook a treatment on the cell, which involved cleaning and mould remediation, and brushing a consolidant over the surface of the original brown leather panels.

Chinese figures

ICS was engaged by a client to work on two Chinese figures, both of which had suffered breakages. The conservation treatment included cleaning and consolidating broken edges, adhering fragments into place, filling areas of loss with an acrylic spackle filler tinted to match the colour of the original clay, and retouching fills to match the surrounding surface to create a cohesive repair.

Archaeological mortar

ICS was asked to assist with stabilising archaeological brickwork on a colonial site in Parramatta. Small wasp burrows, holes of 3–6mm in diameter, were evident in several areas of soft mortar, leaving the mortar weak and at risk of crumbling or falling away from the brickwork entirely. Our conservators helped to stabilise the brickwork by infilling these holes.

Paper

The Paper Team in Sydney has been hard at work over the last few months helping with the many paper items damaged in the Lismore floods. This has entailed lots of washing and stain reduction.

The team has also been onsite assessing many artworks at Macquarie University, helping to prevent mould and water damage.

And creating lots of excitement in the Paper Lab is a recent studio upgrade with the addition of new large tables, with a big increase in storage capacity provided by pull-out drawer storage. Result is lots of happy conservators.

 Frames and Furniture

Over the last few months, the Frames and Furniture Team has been busy on projects ranging from cleaning fire-damaged gilding to frame replacements for large, flood-damaged artworks. Mark Searle undertook a major treatment in early 2023 on the structural and surface stabilisation of a 17^th century Italian Baroque bookcase. This was suffering from severe historic insect damage and widespread flaking of gilding.

Meanwhile, Elric Ringstad has worked on the mounting and construction of a frame for a monumental 3.5m by 1.5m World War I flag. This required the addition of a subframe and carefully engineered considerations given the flag was to be displayed in portrait format behind a heavy piece of acrylic.

Museums of History NSW

The Museums of History NSW came into being on 1 January 2023. This new institution brings together Sydney Living Museums and the NSW State Archives. Collections Care now covers a broad gamut of activity, from the conservation treatment of large paper and photographic collections to mould remediation in house museums, to emptying entire historic terrace houses of their collections to enable crucial capital works to be undertaken. In this issue, we bring a more detailed update on activities at the Western Sydney Record Centre.

State Archives Collection

Tristan Congreve has been working on a pilot project, assessing and treating the R301 series of State Rail Authority plans. The series comprises various material types and formats depicting railway buildings such as station platforms with elevations, sections, and details. In the early 2000s, there was a staged transfer of State Rail Authority Archives to the State Archives collection within Museums of History NSW and, unfortunately, prior to transfer the plans were rolled in batches, with each roll containing plans of varying physical condition. Due to the high interest and request rate from the public, the pilot project was developed to flatten and rehouse for ease of access and retrieval. The pilot is focusing on the first consignment, consisting of around 3200 individual plans. The rolls are processed by identifying stability, material type, and format. Due to the limited scope of the pilot, passive flattening is being trialled with the plans being rehoused in their appropriate drawers. Those considered too unstable for immediate rehousing are treated with conventional methodology before being rehoused. Part of this project is the administrative aspect, which involves barcoding each individual plan and updating details such as titles, numbers and dates to further help the identification processes.

Karina Lavings has been leading a team of five conservators (Jacinta Sanders, Felise Reakes, Bindiya Kumar, Wajeeda Tabassum and Simone Dowd) working on a large-scale preservation project treating Deposited Plans from Land and Property Information. In order to maintain a high treatment output, the team has been utilising various repair tissues. They are currently preparing nanocellulose films with 5% Klucel G in ethanol for a fast and reversible repair method for tracing paper plans. Although the films are slow drying, they’ve found that once the films are prepared it is a very efficient material for repairs on transparent supports. For starched linen plans, photostats and other plans where minimal introduction of moisture is preferable, the team has been preparing re-moistenable tissue made of methyl cellulose and starch paste applied onto 5gsm Tengucho. When plans contain iron gall ink, gelatine re-moistenable tissue, prepared during a workshop Cecilia Harvey from SLNSW conducted whilst on secondment at the archives, is being used.

One Conservation (NSW/VIC)

The year 2023 has kicked off with lots of work and lots of travel for the folks at One Conservation. It’s a good thing we love to do both!

In early February, we spent time on site at the Herberton Mining Centre and Great Northern Mine site in Herberton in the Tablelands Region of Far North Queensland. This former tin mine is recognised for its role in the development of the mining industry in the Atherton Tableland and its significant collection of mining machinery. The centre is a recipient of an NLA Community Heritage Grant and we are preparing a PNA focusing on its rare and significant outdoor collection.

Another recent highlight was working at the Norman Lindsay Gallery in the Blue Mountains to clean and carry out some repairs on several ship models from the display. We had a great day working in the gallery with a lovely group of skilled and dedicated National Trust volunteers—many hands made light work! This project was also funded by an NLA Community Heritage Grant. Karina Acton was also at the Mawson’s Hut Replica Museum in Hobart last month for the final wrap up of the 2021–22 Antarctic expedition in which she was involved for the Mawson’s Hut Foundation.

Meanwhile, in Sydney, we’ve had the pleasure of doing the conservation and installation for the new Sydney Roosters museum, the Foundation Room in the club’s home, the Nick Politis Centre of Excellence. This involved the preparation and dressing of mannequins (including bespoke Dacron deltoid and pectoral muscles!), custom hat mounts plus a mount for the Roosters’ mascot head. This was a fabulous project and a really unique collection that we are proud to be associated with.

In Melbourne, we’ve recently done some work for a private school in Toorak, including cleaning and waxing a number of bronze plaques and statues. We’re also continuing with a new project for Monash University Library and are underway with the conservation of another significant archaeological assemblage from Victoria.

O’Sullivan Conservation

What a change four months can bring. We have had two additional assistant objects conservators, Emma and Camilla, and two conservation technicians, Thomas and Anna, join the team for a 10-week conservation cleaning project, and hopefully other projects in the future. Additionally, we welcomed Katherine Rosenthal into a senior conservator and administrator role, primarily assisting Hannah with contract and project management and supporting the conservators in the workshop as required. Despite showing great talent, Nix decided that conservation was not for them and resigned in January to seek other opportunities. This takes the team to a total of eight staff and solidifies O’Sullivan Conservation’s position in the industry as a growth firm, and one that is here to stay.

Professional news

O’Sullivan Conservation would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Emily on completing her Master of Cultural Materials Conservation degree at Melbourne University and receiving her final marks, seeing her graduate with first-class honours. She is looking forward to her graduation ceremony in August this year.

Treatment projects

It was a great privilege for the team to be invited to attend the official opening of the Archibald Fountain by the City of Sydney in March, alongside other principal contractors, with Clover Moore posting about the project the following day.

O’Sullivan Conservation was engaged by the City of Sydney to undertake quality control of the bronze conservation works associated with the Archibald Fountain. This included reviewing and approving the proposed methodology and products used by the contractor completing the conservation treatment, attending the site throughout the project, and reviewing the final conservation treatment report, to ensure that each stage of the work was carried out to industry standard.

The major conservation treatment of the Sir Leslie Morshead Memorial Fountain at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, is now complete. This project included major conservation repairs to the copper alloy shrouds, waterproofing and retiling of the basin, and installation of custom-made grates over the drains.

O’Sullivan Conservation continues to demonstrate its ability to service client requirements, with the rapid recruitment and training of four new staff to support a 10-week conservation cleaning project. Hannah recruited and trained the team with three weeks’ notice, delivering comprehensive training at the workshop prior to attendance at site. Emily has continued the team’s training throughout the project, with Hannah’s support.

The conservation cleaning theme continued in February, with Eoin, Emily and Hannah heading to Canberra to undertake the conservation cleaning of a heritage skylight at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), Acton Building library. Luckily the weather was relatively mild and sunny for the first half of the project, with the team working at roof level to clean the exterior of the skylight.

State Library of New South Wales

Staff changes

In February 2023, Conservator Nikki Purkiss commenced parental leave as she and her partner have become parents to twin boys.

Senior Conservator Felicity Corkill also commenced parental leave in February following the birth of her and her husband’s son Harry. In Felicity’s absence we welcome Abigail Hundley on secondment from Museums of History NSW into the role of Senior Conservator, Books Objects Paintings.

On a happy note for her, but a very sad note for us, Senior Conservator Nichola Parshall will be saying farewell to the Library after 34 years on Thursday 6 April 2023. Nichola’s contribution to the work of the Branch and the Library has been immense and we will miss her very much.

Professional news 

Registration

In January, the Library became an approved borrowing institution under the Federal Government’s Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Scheme. This was to satisfy the loan requirements for international loans for two projects later this year. We were the 13^th approved institution, and the second library to gain approval. The project was led by the Library’s Registrars, Caroline Lorentz and Lauren Dalla, and involved a review of our incoming loans and other collection management policies and procedures, many of which were updated to ensure we met the requirements of the scheme. Further information about the Scheme can be found here

 Preservation team 

Lang Ngo contributed a chapter on transportation to the new Conservation of Books publication released on 27 March 2023. Online and in person events have been organised by the contributors to complement the publication of this book. Visit here

In March, Phoebe Clarke (assistant conservator) moved from the Storage team to the Preservation team. Phoebe and assistant conservators Silvana Volpato, Nicholas Beckett and Aileen Dean-Raschilla have been busy working with new acquisitions including a huge batch of rare books and artists’ books. We also assisted the Exhibitions and Loans team with the preparation of items for display in the Pride (R)evolution exhibition. The team has also been helping the Storage team with the architectural drawings project, flattening drawings and plans for a collection move.

Our quarantine room has been very busy, and we have all been checking new incoming collections to ensure there are no pest or mould issues.

In treatment news, Silvana completed repairs to an issue of The Moruya Advocate newspaper, which had been requested for conservation before digitisation pre-COVID. Silvana and Lang Ngo finally completed a lining of the last brittle folio in January.

As Nikki Purkiss is on leave, all members of the team have ably stepped up and are continuing to monitor the Library’s display and collection environment and update our disaster store and kits, which was much needed after the two-plus years of La Nina floods and wet weather.

Lang Ngo has been training staff in collection handling and freezer access, and is also developing online disaster awareness training for new staff using the Library’s online Learning and Performance system. It looks very promising so far and will make capturing all staff a much easier process.

Exhibitions and Loans team

Helen, Cathryn and Jochen in the Exhibitions and Loans team have been assessing and coordinating the preparation of content for the new Photographic Gallery, which is scheduled for opening in July 2023. The gallery is being developed as part of a larger build, which includes a 300+ seat auditorium. In addition, the team led the conservation, preparation, and installation of items for the critically acclaimed Pride (R)evolution exhibition, which opened in time for World Pride and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. With the 400^th anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare coming up soon, the team is busy assessing and preparing items for a new exhibition in July this year.

Paper and Photographic team

The Paper team is delighted to welcome Hoa Huynh, who has joined the team whilst Kate Hughes is on secondment to the AGNSW. Hoa has been developing her skills on high-priority watercolours from the new acquisition of works by Anna Collard made in the Lake Macquarie area during the 1840s. Due to the number of works in the acquisition, all members of the Paper team have been working on their treatment. In addition, Hoa, Wendy Richards and Cecilia Harvey have been working with Nichola Parshall on refining the mounting system for the 27 mammoth Holtermann glass plate negatives to be displayed in the newly constructed Photographic Gallery. The glass plates, a panorama of Sydney Harbour from 1875, pose a challenge due to their size and fragility, as well as the selected display system, which showcases them in a vertical orientation.

Dana Kahabka has been treating some John Rae panoramas (with Hoa) to complete the suite of his works exhibited at the end of the Grand Vistas display. Treatment has involved removal of canvas linings and multiple backings as well as suction-table washing before repair and retouching. With all the Rae panoramas, additional drawings and watercolours on the reverse have been revealed through treatment—an added pleasure for conservator and curator alike. Dana has also been researching the Mary Reibey journal, another high-priority item, to commence a condition report and treatment proposal.

Guy Caron has used the Miniature survey to inform his work on the cased items in this collection. He has been delicately repairing hinges and reconstructing missing parts of cases to enable the miniatures to safely rest back in their original housings. To date, Guy has completed work on 102 cases. In addition, he has been working through the 12 photographic albums selected for the new Photographic Gallery. Wendy Richards is the Paper lead for Charles Rodius – Portraits of a Colony, for which her work has involved the assessment of material in relation to treatment and the completion of backing removals, minor repairs and sympathetic retouching. Although many of these small works have had a hard life in the past, they showcase the skill in ‘trois crayons’ of this French artist.

Cecilia Harvey has been working through treatments for the Photographic Gallery, which have been as diverse as the Frank Fahey scrapbook of glamorous B/W silver gelatin 1920’s and 30’s mug shots, to the oversized Lindt carbon print of PNG. For the latter, Cecilia has also devised a safe mounting system to enable the work to be displayed vertically in an acrylic vitrine.

Trish Leen has been working on a small but delightful Arthur Streeton watercolour and, for a change of pace, also treating 1840’s Tasmanian convict lists. During her work on the convict lists, Trish found a watermark and after a quick search of our catalogue found the Sketches made aboard H.M.S. Rattlesnake by Oswald Brierly, compiled by Owen Stanley, circa 1848, which bear the same watermark, identifying the paper’s maker and age.