The local council for the ACT is as follows:

President: Ian Batterham, University of Canberra (UC)

Secretary: Hakim Rahim, University of Canberra (UC)

Treasurer: Natalie Ison, National Museum of Australia (NMA)

Ordinary members: Eileen Proctor, Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Freya Merrell, National Library of Australia (NLA), Nick Zihrul, National Museum of Australia (NMA), Jennifer Bryan National Museum of Australia (NMA)

Council meetings are held roughly monthly at the Old Canberra Inn in Lyneham where there is good craft beer and pub food.

Over the past 12 months we have had a number of members activities:

  • SYMPOSIUM DOWNLOAD, March 21 – where fellow conservators talked about their recent experiences, thoughts and ponderings about the Special Interest Group Symposiums that they have attended. Program includes Preventive SIG, Textile SIG and Paper SIG.
  • Our famous Christmas Trivia night. Last year the theme was ‘Space’ – held at the Polish Club.
  • Regular low-key drinks evenings for students and conservators at the Old Canberra Inn. Branded with the name CREED (Conservators Responsibly Enjoying Evening Drinks).
  • We paid the conference fees for 2 students to attend the National Conference in November
  • We also had a workshop on ceramics conservation organised in February but this was cancelled due to the bushfires.

Currently activities are curtailed due to Coronavirus restrictions. This has affected the University of Canberra course which has moved entirely to online teaching. Local institutions are closed and exhibitions put on hold. Many conservators are working from home and it seems likely that tighter restrictions will completely close conservation laboratories. Hopefully later in 2020 things will return to normal.

Email the ACT President here