Conservation Summer School 2011

Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) in partnership with Heritage Without Borders (HWB) offered a week long conservation training course at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.
The course was given during five days (19-23 September) where three professionals in Conservation from HwB did a series of lectures and hands on practical training using the museum's collections. The focus of the course was on Preventive Conservation.

The conceptual and scientific work during the mornings was supported by lectures about different risks within collections: Humidity, light, temperature, pests, human handling, transportation and contamination. Each lecture explained the nature of different risks within collections: Humidity, light, temperature, pests, human handling, transportation and contamination. and its effect on different kinds of organic and inorganic materials, mainly wood, ceramics, metals and textiles.

These outstanding lectures were complemented with visits to different facilities of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina where the participants carried on several workshops: Firstly, They did a short study of the environmental conditions of a textile storage and an exhibition room in relation with pests and dust risks using traps to assess the nature of this problems and the strategies and recommendations for future action from the staff in that matter. Secondly, They had an object assessment workshop where the objective was to evaluate and write in a standardized format the conservation conditions of a piece of the museum; later this work was given to the museum for its everyday use. Finally, They designed and made packages for different pieces taking into account several factors such as storage, conservation conditions and “easy to handle” design.

The week was an excellent opportunity to train staff from different museums in the Balkans region and support their everyday work under restrained conditions. The course had 25 participants from Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Colombia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was a time for promoting knowledge and cultural exchange through teamwork.

For more info about the daily work of the Conservation Summer School, please visit: http://heritagewithoutborders.org/2011/09/first-day-in-sarajevo/