As the new term starts, September is always a great time to gain new skills, reconnect with peers and plan your diary for the year. We’ve scoured the networks to find some great workshops and courses designed specifically for conservation professionals.
Icon Skills: Essentials of Collections Care for Non-Conservators
4 day workshop over 4 weeks
1 – 22 October 2024
Zoom + Museum Collection Centre, Dollman Street, Nechells, Birmingham, B7 4RQ
Learn the key skills needed to care for a heritage collection, and when to get a specialist involved.
Through this course, attendees will:
Understand of the range of conservation issues that are likely to impact their collections
Understand of the agents of deterioration and how they can mitigate risk to their collections
Be able to carry out preventive conservation activities within the scope of their knowledge and understanding
Be able to undertake basic remedial conservation within the scope of their knowledge and understanding.
Understand what to do in the case of an emergency or damage to collections
Understand the work of a professional conservator and what they do
Recognise the limits of their own knowledge and skills. They understand when to bring in a professional conservator and where to find them.
Find out more and book here.
The Photographic Chemistry series
This online, self study series explores key elements of photographic chemistry that are essential to understanding the nature of silver-based analog photographs, their creation, and their deterioration mechanisms. These topics are critical for photograph conservators, but also of interest to photographers, artists, collectors, and other photography enthusiasts. This series of online self-study modules includes video lectures and quizzes on specific topics in the chemistry of photography. Study at your own pace and repeat sections as needed!
Find out more and book here.
Back-to-Basics Upholstery Course
A three day workshop providing training in the conservation of upholstery.
When: 16 – 18 October 2024
Where: London
To help address the need for more basic training, the Icon Textiles Group will be hosting a Back-to- Basics workshop on upholstery conservation taught by Heather Porter ACR.
Days 1 and 2 will take place at the V&A, South Kensington. Day 1 will cover tools, materials and furniture types, designed to make conservators more knowledgeable and comfortable with identifying and describing upholstery. Day 2 will concentrate on typical damage, a range of treatments, considerations for treatments, examination and documentation, and references. Both days will include very short practical sessions.
Day 3 will feature a three-hour tour and lecture at the Frederick Parker Collection and Archive based at the London Metropolitan University Special Collections. This tour can be joined separately, so people who do not participate in the course can join this tour as well. The extra spaces on the tour will be posted as a separate event closer to the time
There will be 14 places offered, plus a limited number of places on the tour for non-workshop participants. Bookings will open on the 1st of August.
Find out more and book here.
Managing Environmental Monitoring
When: 10 To 13 Feb 2025
Where: West Dean, Chichester.
This course will review the agents that cause deterioration of museum and cultural heritage objects and consider how they impact on complex collections. We will discuss the basic interactions of materials with their surroundings and then consider the values and standards that shape environmental decisions and how we communicate our goals. Students will examine a range of strategies, from technical to managerial, to understand and modify conditions to deliver acceptable levels of care for collections.
Find out more and book here.
International Academic Projects: Hazards in Collections
Introducing the basic principles of materials science that govern the microstructure of metals and alloys.
When: 12 – 13 November 2024
This online course (which is conducted over two days, over lunchtime GMT) is a basic introduction to the topic of hazards in collections. It provides an awareness of a range of commonly encountered hazards, giving relevant object and archival examples, indicating situations where there may be a chance of being harmed and describing useful precautions which may help to reduce risks.
Find out more and book here.
Understanding Bookbindings
When: 21 Feb 2025
Where: London
Through demonstrations, power points and practical sessions you will learn how to identify structural features in handmade books as well understanding materials' degradation and the importance of safe handling. You will learn basic damage and binding features terminology and how to use it, gaining the foundation of condition assessment.
Find out more and book here.
Icon Skills: Writing Persuasively for Conservators with Margaret Webster
A workshop to help you write persuasively and with purpose to non-specialists and fellow conservators alike.
When: 10am – 12pm GMT, 30 October 2024
This two-part workshop is designed to help conservators write clearly and persuasively, and optimise their proofreading and business writing skills.
Course 1 – Writing Persuasively for Conservators – Wednesday 30th October 2024
Course 2 – Writing Clearly for Conservators – Wednesday 13th November 2024
‘Writing Persuasively for Conservators’ is designed specifically for expert conservators who need to write persuasively to fellow conservation experts and non-expert clients alike.
On the course, you will learn how to see past your own body of knowledge and consider how matters look to your audience. You’ll learn techniques for producing clear explanations without over-simplifying your message or patronising your reader.
Then, you will have the skills to make recommendations and share your knowledge with the people who need them.
Find out more and book here.
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