Poster Session (Group A)

Poster Session (Group A), Tuesday, 06, September

Reviewed by Aparna Srivastava

Poster session (Group A) was held on the second day of the Congress. In this session, sixteen poster presenters had the chance to interact and share their thoughts on their work and subject of interest. The presenters connected with five zoom rooms dedicated to the different subject matte including,: ‘Sustainable approaches to conservation practices’, ‘ Museums: Culture, collections and preventive measures’, ‘The outdoor environment and pollutants’, ‘Analytical and Studies and the experimental’. The session opened with a brief introduction and meet-and-greet amongst the attendees.

Many astounding posters were also presented based on experimental studies and analysis like a study on the deterioration pattern and conservation approaches on ancient Chinese jade by Xi Huang; experimental studies and treatment for black-dyed textiles using Japanese traditional adhesives Funori and Nikawa; and identification of mother-of-pearl shell inlays and substrates.

Zaffer Chan shared her research on Shi Hua Cai, a plant-based adhesive from the family of red seaweed. This adhesive’s usage dates back to the late Qing Dynasty. It can be used in traditional mounting and backing removal and can also be used in backing and temporary facing. The seaweed is mixed with wheat starch paste in a 1:1 ratio to get the best results. Chan also shared why research on Shi Hua Cai is not taken up more, as both the species of red seaweed used for mounting and the species which produces agar are pronounced ‘Shi Hua Cai’ in mandarin, which creates confusion.

I liked the poster by Tanja Kimmel, which was based on calculating the greenhouse gas emissions of the central depot of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna which explained the museum’s transformation process by first gathering their  energy consumption data and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the storage facilities; this information to then be used in reducing environmental impacts to meet the sustainable goals. Her poster is an initiating step towards the goal but can be taken as a solid approach forward.

The poster session moved forward with engaging interaction and questions, which focused on the need to implement sustainable practices in the field of art conservation and the importance of taking subjective initiatives to make changes according to the collection raised by Sarah Staniforth (President Emeritus, IIC).

The best aspect of the session was that students and emerging professionals shared the same platform to exchange their thoughts and works. Each poster was the result of hard work, thorough thinking and deep dedication to the field of art conservation.

Author 

Aparna Srivastava is a Master’s student in Art Conservation at NMI, New Delhi.

Image captions

Figure 1: Screenshot of Zaffer Chan talking about “Research into Asian Seaweed-based Adhesive “Shi Hua Cai” for mounting paper” by Aparna Srivastava from Poster session (group A).

Figure 2: “Screenshot of the participants joining in for the poster session (Group A) discussion” by Aparna Srivastava.