Who Cares? We do - A Nationwide Survey of Museum Storage in Slovenia

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION

ICOM-CC17th Triennial Conference2014 Melbourne

JANA UBIC PRISLAN*Goriki muzejNova Gorica, [email protected]

ESTERA CERARTehniki muzejLjubljana, [email protected]

VESNA IVKOVICentar za preventivnu konzervaciju DijanaCentralni institut za konzervacijuBelgrade, [email protected]

*Author for correspondence

KEYWORDS: preventive conservation, risk manage-

ment, museum storage, online database

ABSTRACT

In 2013, the Museum Association of Slovenia and

the National Committee of ICOM Slovenia organ-

ised a project titled Reducing Risks to Cultural

Heritage Risk Assessment for Museum Stores.

The project resulted from a conservation condition

analysis in Slovenian museums which identified

inadequate safekeeping conditions in stores as be-

ing of the highest priority. The project consisted of

a series of workshops based on cultural heritage

risk management. It enabled participants to apply

the relevant methodology in their own context,

working on risk assessment in stores and develop-

ing options for dealing with priority risks and im-

proving conditions for stored objects in museums.

The project was most important for its impact on

the collaboration of museum institutions at the

national level and the development of a common

strategic approach towards preservation of mu-

seum collections in stores, as well as the possibil-

ity to transfer the experiences to other museum

professionals in South East Europe.

Who cares? We do A nationwide survey of museum storage in Slovenia

INTRODUCTION

This paper describes the implementation process and the results of the preventive conservation project Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage Risk Assessment for Museum Stores carried out in museums in Slovenia in 2013 (Figure 1). It was designed in line with local needs and carried out by museum conservator-restorers and curators, based on the CCI-ICCROM-RCE Risk Management Method for Cultural Heritage developed by the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), the International Centre for Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE). The aim of the project was to present the approach and methodology of cultural heritage risk management to museum professionals and decision makers in Slovenia, to determine the main risks to museum collections in stores and to define the most efficient solutions to reduce them. The project included 23 museums, which represented almost half of the museum organisations in Slovenia, including institutions of national significance, and provided the basis for collaboration of museum conservator-restorers and curators in developing a preservation strategy and policies for collections in stores at the national level.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The protection of cultural heritage is the responsibility of various organisations and institutions in Slovenia. Around 50 museums and galleries are responsible for movable cultural heritage and they safeguard a very wide range of approximately 6.8 million artefacts. In addition to the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, protection of Slovenian cultural heritage is also regulated by the Act on Protection Against Natural and Other Disasters. These two acts define the general framework for prevention and elimination of threats to cultural heritage and establish principles regarding other heritage protection regulations, acts and guidelines. A gallery or museum may be accredited on the condition that at least the basic requirements laid down by the provisions of the Regulation on the Professional, Spatial and Technical Conditions for the Performance of Public Service in the Field of Cultural Heritage Protection are met.

Legislation on emergency preparedness is very strict and it includes regulations on the use of fire extinguishers and annual control by an

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WHO CARES? WE DO A NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF MUSEUM STORAGE IN SLOVENIA


2 ICOM-CC17th Triennial Conference2014 Melbourne

authorised company, annual drills for the staff, first-aid training, evacuation drills, etc. However, these regulations do not apply to museum collections or cultural heritage in general.

Diverse natural disasters over recent years (floods, earthquakes, landslides) have caused significant damage to Slovenias cultural heritage and this has prompted the need for the development of disaster risk management strategies and plans for cultural heritage. Furthermore, the Service for Movable Legacy and Museums of the National Museum of Slovenia prepared a questionnaire related to the evaluation of Slovenian museums which was carried out between 2006 and 2008 and answered by the management of the museums. Results obtained proved that the main problem in Slovenian museums was the lack of adequate storage conditions, either at the level of packing and storing of artefacts, or at the level of space and buildings. The stores are either too small or the environmental conditions are inadequate. In most of the museums, safety standards are deficient. In addition, museums are also confronted with a shortage of appropriately trained personnel.

In order to provide safe and suitable storage for their collections, most museum directors consider the acquisition of new storage facilities or the modernisation and renovation of existing ones to be their first priority. However, any modernisation and renovation work of this scope and kind requires substantial funds; hence the Ministry of Culture and local communities have a key role in overcoming this problem. Unfortunately, inadequate storage of collections in museums has been a longstanding issue, and, consequently, some artefacts and collections have already suffered serious damage. A detailed assessment of the situation across all museums and galleries has not been performed yet. The seriousness of the situation has never been defined, analysed or evaluated, which makes it difficult to fully understand all the aspects of the problem. Fifty per cent of museums do not have conservation or preventive conservation plans; they have not conducted risk assessments for their collections, nor have they identified their priorities as to how to deal with the accumulated issues. In the present difficult times, with the state facing a financial crisis, it is of utmost importance to present decision makers with comprehensive studies on the preservation of cultural heritage issues supported by well-reasoned arguments. Therefore, the conclusion derived from the evaluation of Slovenian museums was a recognised need for the development of understandable and clear risk management plans for the collections that will help reach informed decisions on managing and reducing these risks and at what cost.

In Slovenia, the risk management project for museum collections in storage has been developed gradually under the auspices of two museum organisations ICOM Slovenia and the Slovenian Museum Association (the organisation of Slovenian museums and galleries that share a common interest in solving professional and status issues). Over recent years, these two organisations have undertaken training activities for representatives of Slovenian museums aimed at improving preservation conditions in museums. The prioritisation and reduction of risks to collections were understood to be of greatest importance, and cultural heritage risk management was perceived as a methodology enabling comprehensive identification and

Figure 1Project logo




analysis of specific risks, as well as the basis for development of a long-term strategy for the preservation of collections. Therefore, the main objective of the project was to offer the most appropriate method for risk-based decision making in museums, including both tools for risk assessments in terms of probability and the expected consequences expressed through the loss of value of cultural heritage items and the selection of adequate measures for the control of the identified and analysed risks.

The first steps towards this goal were made in 20072008, through the participation of Slovenian museums in the project Teamwork for Integrated Emergency Management for South East Europe, organised within the framework of the ICOM Museum Emergency Programme by ICOM, ICCROM and the Getty Conservation Institute, in collaboration with UNESCO and the Regional Alliance of ICOM for South East Europe (ICOM SEE). Since the conclusion of the project, attention has focused on the presentation of the programme to the Slovenian museums in charge of technical heritage, and then on efforts to put the approach of integrated emergency management into practice and to use it in a real-life context. Another goal was the establishment of a national network that will allow the implementation of common risk management strategies in emergency situations.

The next training was undertaken in the context of the Application of Risk Assessment in the Region of South East Europe educational programme, which examined preventive conservation and risk assessment for museum collections.1 This programme, which lasted from November 2009 to May 2010, was a collaborative project between ICOM SEE and the Central Institute for Conservation in Belgrade, with the support of ICOM, UNESCO and the Serbian Ministry of Culture. ICOM Slovenia is a member of ICOM SEE which developed a long-term project titled Revitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage in South East Europe, starting in 2006, based on an integrated approach to the preservation of cultural heritage and the methodology of preventive conservation. The presence of a participant from Slovenia at the Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage online course organised by ICCROM in 2011 additionally contributed to the decision to implement the methodology in Slovenia.

THE METHODOLOGY

The project programme is based on the methodology and didactic approach developed and refined in partnership by ICCROM, the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) and the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE). In the past ten years, ICCROM, CCI and RCE have worked on raising awareness of the benefits of applying risk methodology when making conservation decisions and developing preservation strategies.2 From the results of the joint training initiatives on risk management for cultural heritage, the Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage project established a coherent risk management methodology, six international courses on reducing risks, diverse learning and training resources and research related to risk-based decision making, and led to a wide community of cultural heritage professionals understanding and accepting the importance of a risk management approach when making preservation decisions and strategies.




The CCI-ICCROM-RCE Risk Management Method for cultural heritage follows step by step the different stages of the risk management process defined by the Australian/New Zealand Risk Management Standard (evolved into ISO 31000). It demonstrates how to establish the context, how to identify, analyse, evaluate and treat, and how to communicate and monitor risks throughout the whole process.

The first step establishing the context includes defining the scope of the initial assessment and its goals for the cultural heritage organisation, as well as acquiring the data and existing documents which are necessary for the following steps in the process: information on organisation mandates and policies, the significance and importance of cultural heritage assets, etc.

The three next steps identifying, analysing and evaluating risks together constitute the core of the risk management process: the risk assessment. A precondition for risk assessment is comprehensive risk identification, where the data are systematised using a matrix of ten agents of deterioration (physical forces, thieves and vandals, dissociation, fire, water, pests, pollutants, light ultraviolet and infrared, incorrect temperature, incorrect relative humidity) and risk occurrence (rare events, common events, cumulative processes) and expressed as specific risks, stating clearly the causes and consequences. Completed risk identification leads to risk analysis where gathered information is processed to enable justified and argued quantification of three risk parameters: frequency or rate, future loss to each affected item, and current value of all affected items. The result obtained by adding these three scores together gives the magnitude of risk. Comparing risk magnitudes in the process of risk evaluation provides a basis to determine the priorities for risk treatment, and to define options for risk reduction, taking into account their cost-effectiveness.

The result is a clear argumentation on the needs, issues and priorities in preventive conservation of cultural heritage, based on logic and principles of technical analysis, enabling support for systematic and effective management of cultural heritage conservation.

CHRM application

The Risk Management for Cultural Heritage Risk Assessment for Museum Stores in Slovenia project served as an incentive to develop an online application, designed as an easily accessible and user-friendly tool for storage and manipulation of data gathered in applying the CCI-ICCROM-RCE Risk Management Method for cultural heritage. The first version of a cultural heritage risk assessment online database was created in 2010 for a training programme for museum professionals in the region of South East Europe Application of Risk Assessment in South East Europe (RA SEE). The programme included a distance mentoring phase during which participants applied the risk assessment methodology in their institutions. The database, developed in line with the CCI-ICCROM-RCE Collection Risk Assessment Method, was created to facilitate the risk assessment process, the exchange of information and the submission of the results. It was available on www.icom-see.org, for restricted use only.

www.icom-see.org




In 2013, following the Slovenian initiative, it was decided to refine the RA SEE database and, with the necessary updates, to make it available to the cultural heritage risk management community. The RA SEE database was thus redesigned into an online cultural heritage risk management (CHRM) web application, based on the CCI-ICCROM-RCE Risk Management Method for cultural heritage.3 It is a tool which facilitates the uploading of data related to the different steps in the risk management approach, evaluation of the value and relative value of the heritage assets, necessary calculations in the risk analysis process, comparison of results, development and analysis of treatment options (including calculations of cost-effectiveness), as well as the production of the final report. The option to publish the report for registered users provides different examples of the application of risk management in the cultural heritage field, underlines issues and solutions common in specific contexts and enables exchange of information.

CHRM can be used when applying the methodology from single risk analysis to comprehensive risk management. The application can also be used to support teaching and learning about cultural heritage risk management approaches.

The features of the application include global accessibility, sharing capabilities and statistical data analysis in order to create a common database of risk management case studies in different languages. The authors hope the tool will stimulate exchange of experiences and information and contribute to the further development of the methodology. They also expect to develop this website into an interactive platform, with discussions and additional tools for better understanding of the methodology, as well as to open it with limited information to the wider public and potential users.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The implementation of acquired risk management knowledge and skills within Slovenian institutions is an ongoing process. In 2013, the project Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage Risk Assessment for Museum Stores was organised to present the concept of risk management at the level of a wider regional programme. Conservator-restorers and curators from Slovenian museums, who had the opportunity to attend the courses on the subject, organised the project which consisted of workshops and practical work offering possibilities to the participants from museums to apply the risk management approach in their own working context, focusing on the issues of local stores (Figure 2). Through this method, valuable data about the current situation in most of the museum stores were collected and priorities identified.

The project was carried out with the support of the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. It brought together everyone who could take an active part in preventive conservation, either as participants and teaching staff, or as sources of information: conservator-restorers, curators, directors and technical and maintenance staff.

The translation of the methodology and terminology into Slovenian represented the greatest challenge during the preparations. Teaching materials also needed to be translated and adapted to the needs of the

Figure 2Workshop on risk analysis and risk evaluation held in the National Museum of Slovenia on 21 October 2013




project. Additionally, materials dealing with collection care and agents of deterioration published in Slovenian were selected, with some also being written for the purpose. More specialised information was made accessible in English, while ICOM SEE involvement introduced the Serbian language, which gave the workshops an additional dimension. The CHRM application is now ready for use in the three above-mentioned languages.

Risk assessment was undertaken in 20 museums and galleries national, regional and special. Risks endangering collections in 23 different stores were analysed and evaluated some general, others housing single collections, but all of them were selected because of the recognised issues (Table 1). There were 36 participants engaged in the assessment curators, conservators, even directors. In some cases, a team was created to work on the same case-study stores. During the process, several participants withdrew from the project, which proved that the work was unexpectedly demanding. After a late start, due to the unstable financial situation, the project was implemented over a three-month period after the first meeting held on 20 September 2013. It included two intensive full-day workshops in which the participants were presented with the various steps of the risk management process and tools for its application in their museums were provided. The participants were asked to apply the acquired knowledge in their respective museums for a month, using resource materials and having access to the CHRM online application, where they could publish their projects or get insight into other participants projects. Mentors provided constant support via e-mail. The part of the work done in the museums involved staff of different professional backgrounds. It was

Table 1List of the museums participating in the project and case studies

Name of the museum Case study

Bela krajina Museum, Metlika Textile Storage

Carinthian Regional Museum, Ravne na Korokem Storage and Building

Dolenjska Museum, Novo Mesto Recent History Storage

Gorica Museum, Nova Gorica Central Storage

Idrija Municipal Museum Museum Storage

Koevje Regional Museum Art History Collection

Museum of Contemporary History, Celje Collection of Kids Toys

Museum of Contemporary History, Celje Slovenian Dentist Collection

Museum of Gorenjska Textile Storage

Museum of Post and Telecommunications Museum Storage

Museum of Ribnica and Gallery Miklova House Koek Storage

National Museum of Contemporary History, Ljubljana Photographic Collection

National Museum of Slovenia, Ljubljana Archaeological Storage

National Museum of Slovenia, Ljubljana Musical Instruments Collection

National Museum of Slovenia, Ljubljana Textile Storage

Notranjska Museum Postojna Archaeological Storage

Pomurje Museum, Murska Sobota Museum Storage

Radovljica Municipality Museums Museum Storage

Regional Museum, Maribor Fine Art Collection

Slovene Museum of Christianity, Stina Collection of Canvas Paintings

Slovenian Police Museum Museum Collections

Upper Sava Valley Museum, Jesenice Town History Storage

Velenje Museum Museum Storage




especially important for the conservator-restorers, who used the opportunity to implement their knowledge in all stages of the project, explaining the concept of preventive conservation to curators and other members of museum staff. They also promoted it as the direction in which to move after the hands-on approach.

At the time of writing this paper, the project had reached its final stage and the results were presented in mid-December 2013. The final report, including the options for the treatment of specific risks and a cost-benefit analysis for their implementation, will give the institutions involved a basis for further enhancement and monitoring or revisions. However, the most important expected outcome of each assessment will be the opportunity to make clear decisions on where and how to invest resources in order to protect endangered collections. Based on this knowledge, together with data obtained during the assessments of the condition of the objects, decisions can be made as to whether to invest in the conservation of single objects, or to concentrate on preventive conservation for collections. Furthermore, museum directors and stakeholders will decide how to communicate the results and where to look for funding.

RESULTS

The assessment showed that all ten agents of deterioration were present in the stores. The most common risks identified were connected with physical forces, such as overcrowding of the stores, inadequate handling and lack of space (36%). Dissociation represented 13%, incorrect relative humidity, pests and water 11% each. Pollutants represented the lowest risk. The results were not unexpected, due to the fact that most museum stores are placed in unsuitable rooms in historic buildings. At the same time, new purpose-built stores proved to be inadequately designed with installations placed in store rooms, which caused frequent floods. Inadequate ventilation and air filtration caused particle deposition on objects. Most risks were scored in the high-priority category, implying the lack of preventive conservation policies and practice in museum storage (Figure 3). Finally, participants were expected to develop and analyse the cost-effectiveness of options for treatment of identified priority risks. It can be said that the main benefit was establishing a systematic overview of problems in the museum stores, providing a justified argument for improving their conditions, as well as acquiring knowledge to propose solutions for treating assessed risks which are the most adapted to the needs of collections and available resources.

CONCLUSION

The authors hope that the results of the Reducing Risk for Cultural Heritage Risk Assessment for Museum Stores in Slovenia project will exert decisive influence on changing conservation policies and practices in Slovenia, as well as on understanding conservation priorities in each museum, which will, on the other hand, help the goal-oriented distribution of funding by the Ministry of Culture and municipalities to the most endangered collections. The project was an example of full-scale cooperation within the museum profession. The basics about the approach and the tools of risk management for cultural heritage were mastered, the importance of the

Figure 3Detail of the CHRM application with an example of the risk assessment results for one of the museums, presented using a risk graph




methodology in building a convincing argument for decision makers was understood and the means to implement international experience across the museum community at the national level in a small country was learnt. The project has already generated others related to risk management, such as the development of a database on incidents occurring in institutions involved in the protection of cultural heritage and the establishment of a network of institutions to participate in the preservation of cultural heritage in the case of emergencies. Finally, the project was a pilot which could be adapted and applied with certain modifications, in terms of organisation, programme, coordination and communication, in other countries in South East Europe.

NOTES

1 Application of Risk Assessment in South East Europe RA SEE (http://www.icom-see.org/ra-see/ ).

2 Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage (http://www.icom-see.org/ra-see/ ).3 Cultural Heritage Risk Management (CHRM) web application (http://www.icom-see.org/

ra-see/ ).

REFERENCES

EVALVACIJA SLOVENSKIH MUZEJEV. 20062008, Zakljuno poroilo, Sluba za premino dediino in muzeje, Narodni muzej Slovenije, Ljubljana 2010.

MICHALSKI, S. and J.L. PEDERSOLI. 2011. Reference Manual for the CCI-ICCROM-ICN Risk Management Method, Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage Course Materials.

PARTIZANSKA BOLNICA FRANJA MUZEJSKA PRIHODNOST, Ljubljana 2007.

VISOKE VODE IN POPLAVE18. SEPTEMBRA 2007, Agencija Republike Slovenije za okolje, p. 4. http://www.arso.gov.si/vode/poro%C4%8Dila%20in%20publikacije/Visoke%20vode%20in%20poplave%2018.%20septembra%202007.pdf (accessed on 15 November 2013).

How to cite this article:

ubic Prislan, J., E. Cerar, and V. ivkovi. 2014. Who cares? We do A nationwide survey of museum storage in Slovenia. In ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Preprints, Melbourne, 1519 September 2014, ed. J. Bridgland, art. 1508, 8 pp. Paris: International Council of Museums.(ISBN 978-92-9012-410-8)

http://www.icom-see.org/ra-see/http://www.icom-see.org/ra-see/http://www.icom-see.org/ra-see/http://www.icom-see.org/ra-see/http://www.arso.gov.si/vode/poroila%20in%20publikacije/Visoke%20vode%20in%20poplave%2018.%20septembra%202007.pdfhttp://www.arso.gov.si/vode/poroila%20in%20publikacije/Visoke%20vode%20in%20poplave%2018.%20septembra%202007.pdf

Who Cares? We do - A Nationwide Survey of Museum Storage in Slovenia

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