July 7, 2005 memorial gardens

We have recently acquired the ephemera from the three memorial
gardens established after the bombings of the transport network last
July. As you would expect, this collection is not only sensitive in
its content but also in its structure. The objects consist of
messages, cards, poems, soft toys, flags, scarves and objects, and
covers the range of material from paper and cloth to plastic, glass,
metal and wood.

As the items were outdoors for several weeks, the type of damage
suffered includes water (mould/staining/bleeding), bird excrement,
and faded inks. We find we are posed with questions such as 'should
the items be cleaned and if so, how much is necessary? Should the
pressure sensitive tape used on some items be removed?'

While we are keen to do as little work as possible on these items to
retain the evidence they present, there are also certain health and
safety issues we must address.  It is not advisable for the public
to be handling items contaminated with bird faeces, or be in contact
with the mould which started growing on many of the water damaged
items, and this will be looked at in the type of packaging we
propose to use. We would be very interested to hear from other
institutions who have worked on this type of material, and what
conclusions they drew from their experience. Many thanks in
anticipation,

Seren Fisher, Conservator
JAS Collections Care
40 Northampton Road
London EC1R 0HB
+44 20 7332 3825


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:54
                    Distributed: Friday, May 5, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-19-54-016
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