Publication on conservation of indigenous collections

Care of Collections.  Conservation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Keeping Places and Cultural Centres (Pages 181), Edited by
Karen Coote is now for sale through the Australian Museum at AUS$50
plus postage.  You can order by sending a direct email to
karenc [at] amsg__austmus__gov__au

The following is taken from a review by Peter White in Museums
National Vol.7, No.1, August 1988. p.29.

    Aboriginal groups around Australia working to create or maintain
    cultural collections in indigenous keeping places have received
    a boost with the launch of a 'how-to' manual in Sydney.

    Care of Collections will have the beneficial effect of
    developing partnerships to help in the preservation of cultural
    material.  The publication balances professional museum
    conservation standards and practices with those achievable in
    cultural centres and keeping places, which are customarily
    limited by distance and lack of funds.

    Care of Collections offers advice on issues such as ethics,
    environmental control inside buildings, light, storage, packing
    and transport.  It also offers instructions for dealing with
    problems associated with specific types of cultural material
    commonly found in Indigenous cultural centres such as feathered
    material and bark paintings.

    The instructions, together with photographs and diagrams, are
    helpful for readers who want to gain a better understanding of
    conservation issues through practical issues rather than
    theoretical ones.  The photographs illustrate many of the common
    problems that occur and are especially good on the topic of
    storage.

    Care of Collections will be an invaluable tool for Indigenous
    workers in cultural centres and keeping places, but it will also
    be widely sought after by conservation students and the managers
    of collections of cultural materials.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:32
                 Distributed: Thursday, October 1, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-12-32-006
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