Message from the Director General

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CCI Newsletter, No. 30, November 2002

Message from the Director General

"To have national treasures to display at all, means that we must maintain and restore them. There is an immense and urgent need for the establishment of conservation and restoration laboratories throughout the country. As a whole, the national cultural heritage is in such a state of neglect that if remedial action is not taken quickly, the value of the collections will diminish greatly in the next ten years, particularly in the small- and medium-sized museums. We have prepared an immediate plan of action: the establishment of a Canadian Conservation Institute with a complementary network of satellite laboratories."

The Hon. Gérard Pelletier, Minister of Communications, 1972

These words marked the birth of the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) — an important part of the new era in Canadian heritage preservation created by the National Museums Act. [Passed in 1968, this act is also responsible for the creation of our national museums, the National Inventory Program (now the Canadian Heritage Information Network), the Museums Assistance Program, and the Museumobile Program.] Although much has changed in the intervening three decades, the need for conservation has not diminished. In fact, it continues to gain importance. As CCI celebrates its 30th anniversary, I am pleased to have this opportunity to reflect on the past and look ahead to future challenges.

When CCI was established in 1972, the field of conservation was relatively unknown in Canada. With no academic programs for training conservators within the country, CCI was forced to recruit its first employees abroad. Although conservation activities were already well ensconced in many parts of the world, the Institute was (and still is) unique in bringing together conservators and conservation scientists under one roof. Over the years this has allowed for exciting synergies among disciplines, and the result has been the development of many innovative techniques for treating damaged artifacts.

From the beginning, CCI's mandate required that its services be available to all public heritage institutions, regardless of size. As much of the nation's artistic and historic heritage is held in small museums and historic sites scattered across the country, treatment activities were originally carried out not only in Ottawa but also in three regional conservation laboratories. The closure of these regional centres in 1978 was followed by the creation of a Mobile Laboratory Program in 1980. This fleet of mobile labs, each manned by a conservator and an intern, travelled across Canada every summer to provide on-site services and treatment. By the time funding reductions forced the cancellation of this popular program in 1987, the mobile labs had covered 330700 km, visited 820 Canadian institutions, treated some 4500 artifacts, and provided valuable learning opportunities for 43 interns.

In its early days in Canada, conservation focussed mainly on restoration and treatment. But this approach has been re-thought in recent years. Society is increasingly diverse, and issues of identity and culture have entered mainstream politics. The interest of indigenous people in the control and care of their cultural heritage has also become an issue of growing importance. In response to these changes, conservation has evolved from a restoration ethic to one that promotes preventive conservation. The objective is not to make objects look new again — it is to preserve the history of an artifact and prevent further damage.

The causes of damage are many, and come from a multitude of sources. Along with natural disasters and the passage of time, mankind itself presents a risk. As we have so sadly seen in recent years, cultural heritage is frequently an early victim of the conflicts of nationalism, ideology, and religion. Then there are vandalism, neglect, and the 'industrialization' or globalization of culture (through the promotion of cultural tourism and recreation) that all endanger cultural heritage. Even the museum environment may be a threat (which is why so much emphasis is now placed on light, temperature, and humidity in heritage institutions, as well as proper handling and storage conditions and strategies to prevent chemical and biological damage to collections). It is obvious that heritage collections must be safeguarded if they are to survive. But they must also remain available to the public. This balance between protection and accessibility is one of the challenges of conservation.

The conservation profession itself is also facing numerous challenges. With many institutions operating on reduced budgets, scarce funds are often being directed to money-making exhibits or educational outreach activities rather than conservation. In other cases, conservation is seen as a luxury rather than a necessity — as being reactive rather than proactive. Still another issue is the lack of standardized training and accreditation throughout the world for conservators and conservation scientists, a matter that such international bodies as the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) are tackling.

To counteract these problems, conservators will have to exert more effort to communicate the need for — and importance of — collections care. The image of the field must be boosted with politicians, institutions, and the general public. It is critical that conservation professionals become more actively involved in the decision-making process in cultural institutions. Although by training and inclination conservators tend to be 'hands-on' people rather than managers, their knowledge is vital to the development of appropriate policies for preserving collections. A few years ago, Diane Frankel (Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services) commented on this situation: "The work of the conservation laboratory cannot remain in the inner sanctum and hidden from view. In order to truly safeguard our cultural heritage, information about and exposure to collections care needs to be broadly disseminated."

The dissemination of information has always been one of CCI's critical functions. The research, analysis, and treatment carried on at the Institute have continually generated new knowledge, and we have been proud to share this with both the domestic and international conservation communities through printed publications, workshops, internships, and our Web site (www.cci-icc.gc.ca). This year we have extended our outreach to include the general public with the launch of Preserving my Heritage (www.preservation.gc.ca), a new Web site that provides a wide variety of information on conservation and practical advice on caring for personal treasures.

An informed public will be instrumental in maintaining our heritage. Public opinion polling shows that the general public supports, overwhelmingly, the need to preserve collections. Young people are particularly strong advocates. They are curious, creative, open to art, and, often, avid collectors. If we can ensure that they become knowledgeable about the value of conservation and preservation now, they will retain this when they grow up and become decision-makers.

But how do we accomplish this? The first requirement is to develop and communicate a reasoned assessment of the state of our heritage and then to lay out the steps needed to address the most critical problems. The conservation profession needs to explain the 'hows and whys' of conservation — including the materials, construction of artifacts, agents of decay and deterioration, monitoring and assessment of collections, cleaning and restoration, packing, handling, and transporting of objects, and the importance of proper environmental conditions. It is easy to assume that the mere acquisition of an object by a museum ensures its preservation. It will be our job to ensure that people understand this is simply not the case.

This need for public outreach was officially recognized at the 20th General Assembly of ICOM held in July 2001 in Barcelona, where a motion was adopted that urged the dissemination of information on 'the fragility of our heritage' by promoting public awareness of conservation activities. ICOM's Committee for Conservation took this a step further at its 2002 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, adopting a resolution that urges public engagement in the practice of conservation. It is encouraging that there is growing support in the heritage community for such initiatives.

As we look ahead, I believe it will become ever more important to educate the public (and other museum staff) about conservation as well as ensure the training of adequate numbers of professionals in specialized fields. After all, conservation is not aimed solely at posterity. It is vitally important for the present. People should be enjoying their heritage while they contribute to both its definition and enrichment.

To miss the opportunity to spread the word about conservation is truly to risk jeopardizing the future of our cultural heritage. We should heed the words of Northrop Frye who described conservation as "a commitment to the future rather than the past." We all must be involved in securing that future.

Bill Peters
Director General and
Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Conservation Institute