SESSION A @ 1010

Engaging with conservation

Conservation is a tool that can tell great stories about collections, make discoveries and engage with visitors. Increasingly, museums and institutions are using conservation to engage with visitors, but are we conservators doing enough to support these activities? Conservation is still too often seen as an activity that is undertaken before an exhibition or behind closed doors. Also, conservation is increasingly undertaken away from the museum itself by freelancers or other institutions. So how can conservation be used to engage visitors beyond a few ‘before and after’ tweets once an object is conserved?

From past experience, we know that visitors who engage with conservation experience a positive outcome – they enjoy and benefit from the experience – and they have better understanding of how and why the objects require – and are worth – the expenditure of resources (time, effort, money and materials).

During live events when interaction with conservators is provided (talks, tours and visible conservation work), visitors often say that it has been a privilege to see or hear about the conservation process and have a further appreciation of the process and value of looking after cultural heritage. Many visitors have never heard of conservation, and interaction with the conservation process can give them a whole new experience within the museum, one they never expected which enhances their visit.

This talk will focus on engagement projects carried out during the course of a number of archaeological and museum projects and will also look at how the large institutions such as the British Museum and Birmingham Museum have undertaken conservation when engaging the public. What has been successful? And how can this be improved? How do small museums make the most of the conservation they undertake? What is the benefit of the inclusion of conservation in exhibits that revolve around conserved objects? And how can conservation be included in STEM themes?

Speakers Bio

Pieta Greaves, Drakon Heritage and Conservation, Conservator

Pieta is an accredited member of the Institute of Conservation (Icon) and vice-chair of the Icon PACR accreditation committee. Her specialism is the conservation of 3D objects. She is a founding member of Drakon Heritage and Conservation, a partnership which provides conservation, archaeology and project management services to museums, places of worship, heritage organisations, private individuals and development-funded projects across the UK and EU. www.drakonheritage.co.uk