Buckle up! In this episode we have a chat about ‘extreme’ conservation and what that can mean – dangling off buildings, potholing for preservation, or working in extreme conditions. We talk to Cathy Tully, nomadic conservator-in-a-suitcase, and Sophie Rowe, a conservator who recently worked on in Antarctica.
00:00:33 News time!
00:02:40 Abseiling, underground conservation, and other unusual skills
00:05:31 Our extreme experiences (or lack thereof)
00:07:31 Interview with Cathy Tully
00:23:41 The joy of getting specialist supplies in different countries and the value of planning
00:24:22 What would you bring to a desert (island)?
00:25:00 Interpersonal skills and extreme freelancing
00:26:15 Working in politically unstable regions
00:27:41 Interview with Sophie Rowe
00:53:45 It’s serious when you involve the military in some fashion
00:55:11 When technology fails the pencil prevails!
00:57:31 Conservators in space next?
00:58:30 Visitor numbers are impressive on the South Pole!
00:59:06 Health and safety
01:00:51 Summary
01:02:19 Comments, questions, corrections
01:02:26 Patreon shout-out!
Today we’re talking about how we portray ourselves and how conservators are perceived: in both the media and in fiction. Kloe and Jenny have another natter about the app Articheck, and Christina reviews the book ‘The Public Face of Conservation.’
00:35 News time!
05:13 Popular culture, language use, and how we communicate
14:18 When people think stuff is fake…
16:50 Examples of articles about conservators, not their work
20:03 Profile raising, unexpected skills amongst conservators, and the Peter Principle
23:54 Is the white coat endearing or threatening?
25:20 Conservators in photographs and PR images
28:00 ‘Conservation’ and ‘conservator’ are not great search words
30:45 Fictional conservators
38:21 Why are there not more horror stories/films set in dark museum stores?!
40:25 Book review: The Public Face of Conservation
52:50 Questions, comments, corrections
53:48 Articheck review revisited
58:25 Patreon shout-out!
We tackle life as an emerging conservation professional (ECP): Jenny and Kloe talk to guest host Marie Jordan about their collective experiences as new conservators and share a few of our listeners’ stories. We talk about the struggles of both British and American ECPs and the importance of making a fuss. Christina interviews Jonathan Ashley-Smith about conservation training, craft skills (the other c word!), and why it’s important to play nice as an ECP.
00:00:25 News in brief
00:04:22 We’re on Patreon!
00:04:47 Marie, Kloe, and Jenny talk about being emerging professionals
00:06:03 What is an emerging conservation professional, anyway?
00:08:57 Who has had the worst job rejection?
00:13:15 Silent employers are the worst
00:15:40 Listener stories: travelling far and wide, the phenomenon of Skype interviews, short contracts, and working away from spouses
00:28:18 Resume gaps, volunteering, and how to deal with unemployment
00:39:10 Working away from partners and families
00:40:52 Listener stories: worst distance-to-contract-length ratio
00:41:41 Impossibly expensive cities to work in: London and San Fransisco
00:46:30 The need for empathy from employers
00:47:50 Status quo, diversity, and why you should be angry
00:53:21 Listener stories: inexperience, commuting times, and job security
00:56:17 Vital skills you need to get hired
00:58:52 Comments, suggestions, questions, corrections
00:59:20 Interview with Jonathan Ashley-Smith
01:17:33 Research and the possibly disillusioned graduate
01:19:32 Craft skills and extracurricular CV material
01:23:55 Resources for ECPs
We have a chat about gloves: their uses, problems, and varieties. Also is there such a thing as clean hands? Tune in for an interview with Dr Cordelia Rogerson and Dr Paul Garside from the British Library who tell us about their glove policies.
00:23 Gloves, gloves, gloves – and when people refuse to wear them
03:56 The health and safety aspect
05:46 Lifting the glove rule (ish)
07:21 The White Cotton Glove Problem
15:27 Not wearing gloves
16:15 Cross-contamination worries
22:49 Disposable gloves and recycling
24:31 Colours!
26:09 Chemical resistance in nitrile gloves
28:30 Hand cleanliness – or lack thereof
33:02 Subconscious bias?
35:34 Interview with Dr Cordelia Rogerson and Dr Paul Garside about glove policies
47:47 Review: Jenny and Kloe talk about their favourite nitrile gloves
52:22 Comments, corrections and questions
We talk about visible storage: the hype, the pros and the cons, and whether we can or should show off our tattered storage boxes. Kloe also reviews and compared the apps Articheck and Evernote for condition reporting.
00:24 News in brief
06:10 Definition of visible storage
08:50 Good examples we know of
12:03 Conservation perspectives – plus what if our stores are rubbish?
23:58 Not all objects are pretty
27:10 Can’t we just put it online instead?
32:30 More good examples
35:00 Conservators on display
39:30 Yet more examples
42:45 Changing trends – is visible storage in fact going away?
44:41 Review: Articheck and Evernote
We talk about human remains: how we might approach them as conservators, philosophical topics like consent and time, and examples from all over the world. Listen to an interview with conservator Barbara Wills sharing her experiences. We even review a topical book!
00:25 News in brief
01:35 Our experiences of working with the dead
03:18 Radio Newcastle snippet interviewing conservators Christina and Diana about mummies
05:00 Reactions to different types of human remains from the public – and from us!
08:10 Storage examples, the story of Bob, and Jeremy Bentham
12:12 Recent vs. ancient human remains
15:15 Consent, ethics, and privacy
21:58 Should we conserve human bodies?
24:20 Interview: Barbara Wills chats about her experiences with mummies
35:40 Contemplations, anxieties, and coping strategies as conservators
41:04 What really counts as human remains?
45:25 Context is everything: what about how they died and how long ago?
49:20 Licensing
53:00 Funerary objects
55:20 Review: The Conservation of Hair (book)
We discuss who we are as conservators: the demographics, the diversity (or lack thereof), and what a typical conservator is like. Who are we, why are we, and can we change it?
00:50 News in brief
01:26 Who are we? What does a typical conservator look like?
04:55 Stereotypes of conservators
10:05 Education and qualifications
14:14 Age range in conservators – and previous careers!
17:48 Disabilities amongst conservators
26:56 Ethnicity and class
36:20 Is there a white middle class way of conserving objects?
41:23 Summary
42:08 Men in conservation (and why we love them)
44:30 Review: Toggl app
47:06 Comments, questions, corrections
