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Highlights of 2000

December 2000

Painting conservation in The Edmonton Journal

Cyndie Lack's expertise as a paintings conservator was highlighted in an half page, illustrated article on December 27. Journal reporter Jeff Holubitsky's feature "Old art comes alive with delicate restoration" was a welcome recognition of professionalism and ethics in the field of conservation, with well-relayed comments by Audrey Yardley-Jones and Bruce Dunbar, registrar for the Edmonton Art Gallery. Congratulations! All ARG! members appreciated the conservation advocacy.

November 2000

Care of Historic Furniture and Wood workshop at the Conservation Centre
The Canadian Conservation Institute Advanced Seminar on Conservation was held as a Museums Alberta Citation II course in Edmonton, November 17-18. It was hosted by James Engelbert at the Conservation Centre of the Historic Sites Service. Lecture room and labs in the facility provided amble elbow room for the many participants - exceeding the normal capacity for a workshop. Michael Harrington and James Hay impressed with their combined experience and entertained with facts and anectodes. The hands-on components of the workshop were appreciated by all. Pictured above: The insect frass in the center looks like a sprinkling of saw dust. It is a sure sign of wood borer damage. The frass could have fallen out of holes from an old damage in the wood, however, it could also be from an active infestation. It is best not to take any chances and to quarantine the affected furniture by placing it, wrapped in plastic, in a vibration-free area. Small piles of new frass underneath the furniture will be evidence of wood borer activity.

November 2000

News from the Glenbow
In preparation for Glenbow's upcoming spring exhibition highlighting Folk Art, Gail Niinimaa has been treating several quilts, samplers and rugs, while Sue Cross has been working on ethnographic objects. Heidi Swierenga, a second year intern from the Queen's program, spent the summer in the objects lab working on artifacts for a new Blackfoot Gallery. Heidi treated over 50 artifacts including the repair of several willow backrests, the humidification and tear repair of skin artifacts, and lots of bead cleaning! We wish Heidi the best of luck in her new position at the Museum of Anthropology. Heather Dumka

October 2000

Safe display materials for silver tarnish prevention
The acrylic display case below provides a pollution-free environment for a silver collection. The artifacts are custom-fitted on polished Plexiglas supports which add to (rather than distract from) the sparkle of the flawless silver. The table top has been coated with a two-component polyurethane paint; the underside has a barrier of Marvelseal. It is raised on acrylic blocks to provide space for MicroChamber paper which acts as a molecular trap for pollutants in the environment. (Ref.: Zeolite molecular traps and their use in preventive conservation, by Siegfried Rempel. In waac, v.18-1, 1996)

Illus.: Display mounts by Carl Schlichting for the exhibit "Anno Domini: Jesus Through the Centuries" at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. Silver collection Montreal Museum of Fine Art.

Illus.: Book mount made from acid-free, 100% rag board, for vertical mounting on panel. By Jane Zaiane, Cultural Resource Management Program, University of Victoria, during an internship in the PMA conservation lab.

Picking Up the Pieces
What gets you wet and sooty and smelling of smoke? Thank goodness, it's only an MA workshop to practice disaster response! Master-minded by Audrey Yardley-Jones with the assistance of Cynthia Ball, Fiona Graham, the Jasper Fire Department and Herb Presley from Disaster Services Alberta Municipal Affairs, it took place at the Palisades in Jasper National Park. Representatives from most institutions with large collections were present: University of Alberta (5), AB Foundation for the Arts (3), Glenbow Museum (2), Reynolds Alberta Museum (2), Historic Sites Service and Provincial Museum of Alberta (1 each), as well as Bowden Pioneer Museum, Medicine Hat Museum, Fort Calgary and Fort Saskatchewan Museum.

For the workshop, two beautiful, warm days were spent practicing salvage techniques on a variety of sacrificial objects Audrey and James collected at second-hand shops. Scorched textiles, soot-coated bird and mammal mounts, photographs, books and paintings were available for testing the effectiveness of chemical sponges, vacuum cleaners, and drying methods.

The disaster drill was more than salvage. Sharing of information between participants is the best way to ensure that a museum will not be taken "to the cleaners" in an emergency situation. Every disaster mock-up reinforces the reality of what can be achieved given a particular logistic. But the best training can be derailed by outside players. Only a functioning disaster plan can absorb unforeseen complications.

September 2000

A baby girl for Juliet
Congratulations and best wishes to Juliet Graham on the birth of daughter Daisy on September 25. Juliet continues with her paper conservation practice but Daisy is the new boss!

New Humidification System at the PMA
A new RH module is up and running for the Anno Domini: Jesus through the Centuries exhibit at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. International loans of works of art required optimal environmental conditions for the duration of the exhibit. The RH module is set at 50% RH and has a capacity for humidifying 5000 square cubic feet. This addition to the building's HVAC system ensures that a stable environment for sensitive artwork is maintained within display cases during winter. Invaluable advice on the effectiveness of humidification systems was provided by Stefan Michalski and Paul Marcon (CCI), and Helen Coxon (ROM). The RH module was purchased from Micro Climate Technologies of Burlington, Ontario.

Conservation Survey at UofA
Gillian Noseworthy conducted a conservation survey of the collections at the Department of Anthropology.

ARG! at MA Conference in Red Deer
Tom Hunter from Museums and Collections Services, University of Alberta, has joined the Board of Directors for Museums Alberta. Congratulations, Tom!

The Museums Alberta conference in Red Deer gave great opportunity to emphasize collections. Kudos for conservation advocacy: Carolynne Poon and Joanne White presented the pre-conference workshop on the always relevant subject of mount making for artifacts; Joanne and Gaby Kienitz displayed museum mannequins; Margot Brunn participated in an artifact research session; Audrey Yardley-Jones organized a "virtual experience of a real disaster" recovery session.

ARG!-SIG meeting
Members present: Andrea Bowes, Audrey Yardley-Jones, Carolynne Poon, Gaby Kienitz, Gillian Noseworthy, Irene Karsten, Margot Brunn, Tom Hunter from Edmonton; Christine Feniak from Calgary; Cindy Van Olsem from Medicine Hat.

Andrea Bowes discussed the conservation survey format with priority ranking she developed for the Provincial Archives. Gaby Kienitz showed slides about conserving a Roman textile from a ship-wreck off the coast of Turkey. Christine Feniak described her involvement as organizer for CCI's "Preservation Initiative" (more on this to follow later). Other interesting information from Calgary was an announcement about the existence of a historic keyboard collection by Andrew Mosker, manager of the privately-run Chinook Keyboard Centre. The two year old "museum-style" Centre currently houses over 400 vintage keyboard instruments which chronicle music innovations over the last 600 years. The collection contains early square, rare grand and vertical pianos by Broadwood & Sons, Erard and Steinway as well as electronic instruments by Moog, Buchla and Mellodron. The instruments are being restored for exhibit and recitals; apparently, interest is growing in exploring conservation measures. This was followed by a discussion on the importance of documentation, resources, code of ethics, and other topics.

August 2000

New Conservator at Glenbow
Don Murchison, conservator of paintings and sculpture, replaced Sandy Easterbrook who returned to Saskatchewan in March for family reasons.at the Glenbow. Don previously worked at the National Art Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, one of the most geologically active places on earth. He has experience in salvage and recovery of cultural heritage material and has joined the volunteer list for the MA Emergency Response Network.

June 2000

Elizabeth Richards retires
Professor, mentor, colleague and friend of the Alberta conservation and museum community, Elizabeth will be retiring as of June 30. You can mail your best wishes to elizabeth.richards@ualberta.ca.

Carolynne at The Works
Carolynne Poon will be exhibiting at the Indigo Print and Paper Works/Indigo 2 co-op booth in Churchill Square. Check Events page for Carolynne's schedule to meet her personally.

ARS LIBRI write-up in The Journal
Edmonton Inside & Out (section B2) featured Ksenia Kopystynska on June 5, 2000 in a good article on her book binding design and conservation studio. If you remember the pot-luck at Audrey's last year, you'll notice that Mike Sadava missed Ksenia's wonderful sense of humour but he seems to make an effort to get his facts straight.

A Nitrate Film Story
A thick layer of corrosion products covered the interior of a tin-plated iron film canister which hadn't been opened in decades. It contained a 28mm movie, printed on reversal film. The pungent odour, and analysis of a test sample snipped from the film confirmed its unstable cellulose nitrate composition. Questions regarding conservation, reproduction or de-accessioning were addressed by unrolling between 800 to 1000 feet of film to determine its unknown subject. The movie would have been about 20 minutes long, with 24 frames per second. Many sections were stuck together or faded but examples of most images could be saved to be photographed again and printed.

A text frame from the "infomercial", from the Ernest Brown collection of the Provincial Museum of Alberta. Film was identified and images reproduced by Dennis Hyduk, Provincial Archives of Alberta

Demonstrating the process of the Heart stooker, 1926-27 (on account of women's hat styles). Interestingly, the Database of Alberta Inventions lists two separate patents for the invention of grain stookers which were granted to Boychuk and McFarlane in Edmonton in 1925. The Heart-Stooker Company is listed with a patent on shock forming machinery in 1930.

Lunch Discussion on Textile Conference 2000 Irene Karsten invited ARG! members to a lunch discussion on papers presented at the North American Textile Conservation Conference 2000: Conservation Combinations which was attended by Irene, Shirley Ellis, Elizabeth Richards and Nancy Kerr in Asheville, North Carolina this spring. 17 people accepted the invitation including Gaby Kienitz, Gillian Noseworthy, Andrea Bowes, Heather Price, Maja Buchkowsky, Audrey Yardley-Jones, Nancy Kerr, Elizabeth Richards and Margot Brunn.

Irene prepared a summary of papers which was sent to the ARG! list. The conference preprints can be purchased from University Products 1-800-628-1912. Among the topics for discussion were Sara Foskett's "Ten Lessons for Successful Collaboration", penned as a post-exhibits project evaluation at the National Museum of Scotland. Certainly, Sara's "lessons" are well taken and instructive but some of the more seasoned members of the group had reservations. Conservators have been on the cutting edge of responsible, modern museum practice for a quarter of a century in most major institutions. High and low tech advances in environmental management, pollution control, mount making, display case design and ethics for collection care and management have all come from the conservation community. Irene commented that conservators have been the push behind most of these developments, but some of the creative thinking has come from other professionals with different skills (e.g., the exhibit preparators at the McCord Museum in Montreal or Robert Byers from the Royal British Columbia Museum) who learned their conservation lessons very quickly and then pushed mount making to an art. In fact, art and artifact literature is full of projects where timely consultation of conservators has saved money, hassles, and produced a better end result: be that exhibit, storage organization, collection preservation or architectural/engineering plans. Still, many conservators waste much of their time and talents cajoling to be heard, policing, or fixing the same old tired problems - problems whose root cause may be found in external or internal politics, or self-serving resistance to change by others. No matter, the bottom line is that for conservators, the safety of the collections will always demand passionate involvement.

Thanks, Irene, for cookies and great discussion topics; to the Department of Human Ecology for refreshments, and to Museums Alberta for continuing to provide grants which enable thought-provoking, interesting learning opportunities to be brought closer to home.

May 2000

Change of CAC Board Members
Audrey Yardley-Jones and Margot Brunn completed their two 1-year terms on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property. It was a very good experience in learning how our professional association operates and we strongly encourage members to become involved. Gillian Noseworthy was voted the new Western Regional Councillor at the last conference. Congratulations, Gillian, and thank you for volunteering to present the western perspective on the CAC Board of Directors.

Congratulation, Klara!
Klara Zold from Edmonton has been accepted into the Queen's University Conservation Program for the fall. Klara, with degrees in fine arts (paintings) and textile design has been volunteering at the Provincial Museum of Alberta Conservation Lab, doing off-site monitoring and condition reports for art loans, as well as contract work for exhibits installation. Best wishes, Klara. We hope to see you back with the MA in Art Conservation from Kingston!

Kimono by Klara Zold, displayed in the exhibits space of the University of Alberta Human Ecology Building. Klara won Best of Show and First Prize in her category from the Focus on Fibre Art Association. She prepared the fabric as part of the Surface Design curriculum of the Textiles, Clothing and Culture Program.

Historical Resources Management Internship
Dennis and Andrea at the Provincial Archives of Alberta are very happy to have Heather Price join them as Preservation Technician, under the internship program of the Historical Resources Foundation. Heather is a recent graduate of Sir Sandford Fleming College Art Conservation Techniques program and relocated to Edmonton from Selkirk, Manitoba. We will be hard at work this year on several big projects including the rehousing of a large collection of cellulose nitrate negatives. These negatives will be surveyed, rehoused and duplicated where necessary, in preparation for cold storage. A holdings maintenance program will be implemented for high use collections and some treatment work of badly damaged maps. We hope that Heather enjoys Edmonton and gets a good foundation in preventive conservation for archival collections. By Andrea Bowes

Ottawa in May 2000
Juliet Graham, Shirley Ellis and Audrey Yardley-Jones travelled to Ottawa for the Annual CAC conference. Symposium 2000: The Conservation of Heritage Interiors, held at the National Gallery of Canada was attended by Audrey as well as James Engelbert and Cyndie Lack.

SYMPOSIUM 2000: THE CONSERVATION OF HERITAGE INTERIORS
Review by Cyndie Lack
This inspiring conference was attended by approximately 190 delegates including conservators, architects, museum curators, suppliers and contractors specializing in heritage restoration. Canadian speakers were joined by colleagues from England, Norway, the United States, and Australia, and in total, 25 papers were presented.

Topic of Conference Sessions: Sessions were organized into themes relating to Conservation Assessment, Project planning ("Teams and Partners") and Treatment Approaches (with the sub-categories of Walls and Ceilings, Wallpaper, Furniture and Textiles, and Paintings and General), and The Interior Environment.

Presentations: Papers discussing Project Planning (a team approach) were of considerable interest; the experiences that were described mirrored my own experiences working on large, on-site projects, but more importantly, the suggested approaches for dealing with typical problems of communication and work coordination were useful. As a paintings conservator, I was fascinated by the paper by a former supervisor of mine, Gianfranco Pocobene, which described the conservation assessment of murals by John Singer Sargent in the Boston Public Library. The murals represent an early example of "mixed media," complicating the interpretation of the mural surfaces by the conservator. Since the techniques employed by the artist varied as he progressed over a 29-year period, the conservator will have to design varied and selective treatments, and one problem with blanching of paint surfaces (which emerged during cleaning tests) remains unresolved. The paper illustrated how acutely a team approach is required and how the conservator worked with other project professionals in interpreting not only the artists' intent with respect to appearance and lighting (the lighting systems, and therefore the presentation of the murals had changed several times, and the artist designed the original lighting fixtures), but also past restoration work on both the architectural setting and the mural cycle.

Bonnie Halvorson, a graduate of the University of Alberta Department of Human Ecology, now at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, presented in the Furniture and Textiles session. Her clear and well-organized paper concerned the use of "Modern Replacement Fabrics in Historic Interiors." Michael Gates (who was at the UofA in March describing his experiences as curator for Parks Canada in the Yukon), presented the restoration of the Commissioner's Residence in Dawson City, as a multi-disciplinary "dream" project, in which no restoration detail was deemed too small to be overlooked.

Fibre Optics Lighting: Papers relating to the interior environment were practical and extremely useful. Conservation Lighting International Ltd. from Philadelphia, presented the benefits of fibre-optic lighting for illuminating historic interiors. This form of lighting is extremely versatile and can provide ambient or directional lighting. There are many advantages in terms of conservation issues (no heat, no ultraviolet) and maintenance (light source may be housed in virtually any location, close to or remote from points of actual emission, eliminating problems of accessibility when the lamp requires replacement). Fibre optic lighting can be retrofitted into antique fixtures, and can be used to appropriately light any age of building.

In Alberta, contact Kevin Zak, University of Alberta, 492-0781 for information on his installation of fibre optics at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. A free catalogue is available from NoUVIR Research, 1977 East Villa St., Pasadena, CA 91107, which presented a Fibre Optics Lighting Seminar for Museums, organized by Museums Alberta and hosted by the Dept. of Human Ecology in 1997. Another reference is Fiber Optics in Architectural Lighting, published by McGraw-Hill, $79.95 U.S.

Tours: The Symposium included a special tour of Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada. Delegates were also offered tours to the interiors of the Parliament Library and the Centre Block, including the House of Commons; the "Diefenbunker" - the underground nuclear attack shelter which is now a National Historic Site and Canada's Cold War Museum; the Canadian Conservation Institute; or the recently completed interior of Notre Dame Cathedral, the exterior of which is still undergoing restoration.

Scaffolding on Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa. Photo by Cyndie Lack.

Networking, References, New Resources, Kudos: Delegates were invited to leave business cards and other materials at the Business Information Exchange table; a CD titled: "CO2 Cleaning: Specialized Restoration Technique" from a Canadian company, Lawrcon, is now at the Museums Alberta library. The pre-print publication The Conservation of Heritage Interiors can be ordered from The Canadian Conservation Institute. The conference posters included topics such as the restoration of the steamboat Ticonderoga, and the HVAC system for the Sistine Chapel.

On Friday delegates were treated to a special showing of the IMAX film "Journey of Man" (Cirque du Soleil), followed by a banquet in the Grand Hall of the Museum of Civilization. David Grattan, Michael Harrington, and James Hay entertained us with fantastic and amusing tales of the restoration of the totem poles gracing the Hall.

This symposium was extremely well planned and highly successful. The Organizing Committee are to be congratulated for their efforts. It was clear that the delegates strongly supported the multi-disciplinary, collaborative concept of the conference, and enthusiastically received the conference papers (some with lively discussion!) You're invited to contact cyndielack@powersurfr.com if you need more info.

April 2000

Performance Measures for Museums
Conservation Co-ordinator Audrey Yardley-Jones is managing a national project that focusses on standards and performance measurement for museums. Developed by Museums Alberta, the Museum Achievement Program will be piloted over the next year to test its relevance to different museums across the country. The Project is a collaborate effort involving provincial museum associations, individual museums, museum professionals and the Canadian Museums Association. Gerald Fitzgerald will be contributing his experience with conservation and accreditation as a member of the National Achievement Program Committee. For more information visit the web site at http://www.museumsalberta.ab.ca/achievement.html

Back from Turkey
Gaby Kienitz has returned to Edmonton after spending another extended period of time in the conservation lab of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology on the southwest coast of Turkey. During her time in the lab she treated objects from a Late Bronze Age shipwreck, such as fragments of matting made of plant fibres, faience beads, a glass ingot, plus a multitude of amphora sherds. She also was part of the team which installed an exhibit highlighting some of the finds from the "Uluburun" shipwreck in a new exhibit hall which will open in the summer of this year.

Left: Mounting artifacts for the Late Bronze Age Uluburun exhibit at the Bodrum Underwater Museum are Gaby Kienitz and Sandy Walcott, a visiting exhibits installer/mount maker from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Right: A view of faience walls and ceilings inside Istanbul's famous covered market. Before returning to Alberta, Gaby and Cindy Van Volsem took a whirlwind tour of Turkey's historic sites and modern culture, bringing back, among carpets and memories, receipes of the culinary experiences they enjoyed.

Mannequins for Dummies
Foam chips were flying in a fun course put on by Museums Alberta, hosted in the conservation lab at the Provincial Museum and taught by Joanne White, Maya Buchkowski, Gaby Kienitz and Zophia Zarkadas. Participants learned how to carve a torso in ethafoam to support a vest and finishing techniques, as well as other mannequin parts and hat mounts, and left with a new appreciation of the intricacies of clothing artifacts and mount-making skills. 21 people in one conservation lab and not a pin prick! Oh, the joy of a job well done!

Gee, ARG! members show up everywhere!
Guess who's hand is depicted on the cover of the new CCI catalogue?

March 2000

Congratulations to Karen, ARG! member at large in California, and our best wishes to the "Team Mendonca" on the birth of your new baby Jacob Francis, born February 23.

Audrey Yardley-Jones held a 2 day workshop on preventive conservation. This workshop is part of the excellent Museum Standards training series offered by Museums Alberta.

The Alberta Regional Group of Conservators strongly advocates preventive conservation training for museum staff and volunteers involved in curatorial or exhibits work. In our view, the successful completion of collections care training is as crucial to the preservation of museums collections as is a security reference check. We are fortunate in Alberta to have learning opportunities readily available through Museums Alberta, UofA and UofC.

March is Outreach Month: Margot Brunn introduced preventive conservation for topics such as silver storage and displaying works of art at a Questors lunch meeting.

Gillian Noseworthy presented an introduction of archaeological conservation to third and fourth-year UofA students from the Anthropology Department. Topics covered the importance of documentation, and collaboration between archaeologists and conservators as well as common deterioration factors, and ethics of treating artifact materials. This was followed by a tour of the conservation lab and archaeological storage areas of the Provincial Museum of Alberta.

Michael Gates, Curator for Klondike National Historic Sites in Dawson City, gave a guest lecture to conservation students at the University of Alberta in which he talked about the many preservation challenges to be met at historic sites. Thank you to Nancy Kerr for inviting ARG! members to this talk.

Cindy Van Volsem has joined Gaby Kienitz in Turkey. They will be travelling together to visit archaeological sites and bring back lots of pictures!

February 2000

Robyn Douglas has resigned as paper conservator from the Glenbow lab as of this February. Belinda Fireman continues the conservation work of the archival collection.

Protecting Cultural Property was one of the sessions held during International Week 2000, sponsored by the International Centre at the University of Alberta. David Walden, Secretary General, Canadian Commission for UNESCO and Kathryn Zedde, Senior Program Officer, Department of Canadian Heritage, described Canada's contribution to the international battle to preserve cultural property and its role in UNESCO's Culture of Peace. Particular focus was given to the return of cultural property that has been illegally removed from other countries, and the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Shirley Ellis, Linda-Sue Burwood, Margot Brunn and Jerzy Chlopicki were present for discussions. The Federal Government has not yet signed the UNIDROIT Convention against International Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property nor have Provincial and Territorial Governments enacted legislation in this regard. The conservator's role lies in supporting the implementation of the Object ID Checklist, an international documentation standard for cultural property which was created to facilitate the exchange of information.

Minutes of meeting - Alberta Arts Foundation Boardroom, Edmonton, February 12,
11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Present: Cyndie Lack, Alison Becker, Shirley Ellis, Joanne White, Audrey Yardley-Jones, Janice Manuel, Clare Toth and daughter Sarah, Carolynne Poon, James Engelberg, Linda-Sue Burwood, Nancy Kerr, Maja Buchkowsky, Andrea Bowes, Zophia Zarkadas, Gillian Noseworthy, Irene Karsten, Margot Brunn. Regrets: Heather and Sandy, Michael, Juliet, Gail, Cynthia

A record number of ARG! Members met at Beaver House for the first meeting of the year. The videos were a hit, shaking complacencies as well as providing plenty of laughs. The pot-luck lunch was delicious, as was expected, and plentiful for sharing later. Only baby Sarah slept through the meeting.

From the Agenda (condensed): CAC business: Audrey has been researching the issue of insurance for the revised Code of Ethics. Apparently at AIC, the topic is covered by standards of conduct; guidelines for insurance issues; and guidelines for contracts. The conference in Ottawa will be attended by Shirley, James, and Audrey.

Health: The video on mould hazards inspired a long discussion on recovery procedures during the latest archives' flood. Conservators may not be able to count on in-house OH&S experts to provide the appropriate respirators and safety gear. This topic will be dealt with during the Museums Alberta mock Disaster Recovery exercise in October. The mould video can be borrowed from Shirley.

Publications: The planned publication Emergency Resource Tool received a MAP grant. Cynthia Ball is co-editor with Audrey Yardley-Jones. The publication will provide Canadian content and resources. ARG! Members are encouraged to contribute their expertise. Most of the contributions for the Museum Mannequins handbook, edited by Margot Brunn and Joanne White, have been received and work is progressing to meet the publication deadline.

Jobs: The Provincial Archives of Alberta have contracted conservators and are offering an internship position through the University of Calgary Historic Resources Management program.

January 2000

Congratulations and Best Wishes
To Clare on the birth of Sarah Elizabeth and to Gillian on the birth of Shelby. The two baby girls were both born on January 10, at the same hospital!

Juliet Graham joined the Southern Alberta Art Gallery's Board of Directors in January. She has set up her paper conservation studio in Lethbridge and is busy treating flood damaged prints and drawings.

CAPC Accreditation for Alberta Conservators
Andrea Bowes, Margot Brunn, Shirley Ellis, and Cyndie Lack received accreditation by the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators after completion of a peer review process. Other accredited CAPC members in Alberta are Heather Dumka and Christine Feniak.

CAPC is the professional body incorporated to accredit professional conservators and conservation scientists in Canada. Founded in 1971, CAPC works to establish and encourage high standards of competence, integrity, and ethics in the field of conservation. For info on becoming a member: CAPC c/o Canadian Museums Association, Suite 400, 280 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Ont. K2P 1R7.

Packing methods for fragile artifacts
More than 100 fragile Chinese archaeological artifacts for The Rise of the Black Dragon exhibit were recently transported by air cargo from the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum to be displayed at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. All artifacts were individually packed in beautiful, hand-made boxes with padded silk linings, giving maximum support and security for these national treasures. One such box is illustrated here. It contains men's stirrup pants from the 12th century Qi Guowang Tomb which was excavated in 1988. The pants and other gold embroidered silk garments are bagged with AgelessR satchets. It includes a colour indicator for monitoring when the satchets are exhausted and need to be replaced. AgelessR consists of iron oxide that provides an anoxic micro-environment for protection against insects and oxygen degradation.

A drawback of vacuum packing for long-term storage is that textile fibres often become weak and break along creases and sharp fold lines. Preventive textile conservation measures overcome this problem by padding out creases and folds with acid-free tissue paper to soften and support potential stress points.

A review of AgelessTM can be found in the waac Newsletter, volume 15, Number 2, May 1993, pp.12-14: AgelessTM Oxygen Scavenger: Practical Applications, by Vinod Daniel and Frank L. Lambert.

Illus: Mrs. Guo Sijie (left), Storeroom Director, and Mrs. Tian Hua, History Department, of the Provincial Museum of Heilongjiang, with one of the packing boxes they created for the exhibit.