Methodology for the preservation of cultural objects – optimization of conditions with the aim of achieving long-term sustainability(DF13P01OVV016)

About project

Between 2013 and 2017, a joint project was carried out by the Technical Museum in Brno, the National Heritage Institute, and the Moravian Gallery in Brno entitled “Methodology for the preservation of cultural objects in collections – optimization of conditions with the aim of achieving long-term sustainability,” DF13P01OVV016, which was supported by the NAKI program of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. The main objective of the project was to develop methodologies for the long-term preservation of cultural objects, both in the environment of collection-forming institutions and in heritage buildings. The aim was to evaluate the technologies and protection systems used to protect cultural heritage from the perspective of preventive care and to propose their optimization. All aspects related to the structural and physical parameters of the building were taken into account, including the identification of risk factors associated with security systems, the internal environment, storage, internal equipment, and the regime of the objects under observation. The methodologies were formulated on the basis of an evaluation of specific museum buildings and cultural monuments. The knowledge gained and the results of the survey were also processed in the form of a database of evaluated buildings for the storage of cultural objects.

Main results of the project

 

Electronic professional publication: Buildings for Storing Cultural Heritage Objects – Principles and Methods for Assessing Indoor Environments

One of the secondary results of the project is a publication that accompanies and develops some of the topics that could not be discussed in greater depth in the Methodology for the Preservation of Cultural Objects, the main output of the project. In the interests of maintaining a systematic and clear structure, the methodology’s rules and principles do not allow for a broader development of individual topics (of which there are a large number given the focus of the project) or excessive branching from the basic line. The basic focus of the project, which includes a wide range of perspectives on issues related to the preservation of cultural objects in memory institutions, allows for thematic expansion in many directions and areas that are now often separate scientific disciplines, whether exact, humanities, or natural sciences, or domains of practical technical activities and specializations in applied fields. The aim of this publication is, among other things, to provide a closer look at the principles and methods of assessing the internal environment of buildings containing cultural objects and their origins. It deals in specialized chapters with the basic issues of selecting buildings for these purposes, the possibilities for their modification, especially in the case of historic buildings with their own heritage value, and the starting points for planning new buildings, whether for exhibition or storage purposes. It develops the theme of risks, mechanisms of damage to objects, and possible solutions based on the principle of sustainability, including modern methods of control and regulation. At the same time, it contains excursions into historical topics of technical means and equipment of buildings intended for the presentation and storage of artifacts, as well as a look into the past from the perspective of materials and structures.

Other publications