PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION
Preventive conservation can be described as the series of actions aimed to minimise or slow down deterioration of artefacts by mitigating or controlling the factors around the object, such as the environment, light levels, harmful pests and other potential risks.
It is based on the principle that ‘prevention is better than cure’ and therefore helps to prevent damages to artefacts and reduces the need for interventive conservation.
Artco provides comprehensive and integrated preventive conservation advice for collections belonging to institutions and private individuals. This could be in the form of surveys, consultancy reports, project management or strategic planning.
We can provide the following preventive conservation services:
- Condition Surveys and Preservation Needs assessments
- Environmental monitoring: measurements of Temperature and Relative Humidity levels
- Integrated Pest Management: managing and preventing pests in your museum
- Lighting: light levels checks and identification of light sensitive objects
- Collection and Storage surveys to identify storage needs for your collection
- Packing and transport of artefacts for local, regional or international travel
- Collection maintenance and care
- Advice on suitable materials for display and storage
- Advice on conservation strategies for collections
- Disaster planning & recovery: We can assist your museum or institution to prepare a disaster plan, or we can organise a training course for staff to learn how to do it. We can also assist in emergency recovery situations such as flood, fire, and other incidents.
