The AICCM Textile Special Interest Group (TSIG) Symposium was held on the last few chilly days of June at the National Gallery of Victoria, Naarm/Melbourne. There was a record number of conservation speakers populating the three days of talks, presenting on topics including object histories and how they inform our practice, specialist mounting techniques
After 50 years, we have paused to reflect on the people and circumstances that brought the AICCM into existence. Having first arrived in Australia in 1989, I’d known little about its genesis. Then, in 2019, I found a bundle of letters in my office at the Australian Museum from 1972, which provided a snapshot
In October–November this year, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) hosted a five-day symposium focused on photomechanical prints. Born from the need for mass-production, permanence and technical control, photomechanical printing translates and transforms photographs and other imaging techniques. Photomechanical images are ubiquitous, yet we tend
I was privileged to attend the AICCM 50+/-50 National Conference 2023 in Canberra, celebrating the organisation's 50th anniversary. The conference was a jam-packed three-day event, with sessions that delved into the history of the AICCM, highlighted current practices in cultural materials conservation, and explored future challenges and opportunities for the profession. A major theme
From 3 to 5 July, the Asia Pacific Tropical Climate Conservation Art Research Network (APTCCARN) held the 6th APTCCARN forum in Bali, Indonesia, addressing the theme ‘Creative conservation initiatives: Collective approaches for material culture and living heritage’. Co-organised by Institut Konservasi and the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, APTCCARN 6 welcomed 80 participants
What an adventure! In mid-May I packed my bag with great excitement, and with a skip in my step headed to Los Angeles on a blissfully unremarkable Qantas flight. Once there I went straight to Pasadena and visited the Huntington Library, Museum of Art, and Botanic Gardens, the Norton Simon Museum, and the USC Pacific
Collaborating on climate change action over Zoom (captured by Nicole Tse 2021). In preparation for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), a number of interested members of the AICCM banded together in October and November 2021 to spread awareness of the role of the conservation profession in mitigating the climate crisis. With
‘Modern Conservation. Modern Constraints. Modern Conveniences’: the theme for the Icon Book & Paper Group 2021 conference (4–7 October), ‘ModCons’ was wholly appropriate for the current climate, with social and environmental issues at the forefront of our minds and increasingly intersecting with conservation practice. While feeling the modern constraints of Lockdown 6.0 in Melbourne, I
In April, the book team at State Library Victoria tuned into the Care and Conservation of Manuscripts 18 conference held online by the University of Copenhagen. The seminar presented a range of topics by many international speakers who showcased their work with early printed book and manuscript collections from around the world [...]
Plastics in Peril: Focus on Conservation of Polymeric Materials in Cultural Heritage was a free online conference held on 16–19 November 2020. Bringing together conservators, scientists, collection managers, and researchers, the conference merged two events scheduled for earlier in 2020 that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic: a conference in Edinburgh organised by the University of Cambridge Museums, and a workshop organised by Leibniz Association of Research Museums [...]
