Food products in museum collections

Jackie Hoffman Chin <doublechin [at] earthlink__net> writes

>I am trying to find current guidelines used by other institutions
>for the storage of foodstuffs in museum collections. This is not a
>food or packaging museum so we do not have separate facilities for
>refrigeration of perishables. I am mostly interested in the
>guidelines that other museums may have developed for the
>retention/discarding of the perishable products within the
>containers they retain as artifacts.

You may want to contact the Fabric Workshop and Museum
<URL:http://www.fabricworkshop.org/> in Philadelphia.  I believe
they have a current collection policy concerning food.  Back in the
1990's when I worked with their collection the food issues were
chocolate and licorice in the "art". Visitors were asked to take
candies home with them. With chocolate came bugs.  The National
Museum of American Indian Museum was highlighted at an AIC meeting
(objects/ textiles?) discussing the food used in collections as
offerings.

Alicia M. Bjornson


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:64
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