How to save our art heritage?

Museum objects are often thought of as unchanging elements, fixed in time. But any materials change, interact with their surrounding environment and factors such as light, humidity, temperature, pollutants, and external mechanical stress originating from handling or transport. Most of these variables are therefore monitored, especially in big cultural institutions, and everything is done to reduce the risks posed to the collection.
In this presentation, I'll try to show some examples of how the work of the cultural heritage scientist can help improve practices of conservation and preservation of our cultural heritage and collections. I’ll present recent work on the use of mechanical testing to study the response of objects to humidity and temperature, and how the results of these experiments can better inform museum climates and contribute to the improvement of exhibition, storage, and transportation of museums and galleries objects.

"As conservators and conservation scientists of built heritage, we face unique challenges in our work. Built heritage, including monuments and murals, are exposed to uncontrollable weather conditions and they are, by nature,
immovable. Water is directly involved in many weathering mechanisms of these sites. The examination of sites, to inform conservation treatments, can be difficult. Portable and non-destructive methods are valuable tools to overcome this challenge. We will explain how an instrument that uses only a little water drop can be really useful to inform our work regarding surface properties, state of conservation or performance of protective materials.
In particular, we will present examples showing how this method can give us information on the impact of microbial biofilms on stone and to assess ​​the performance of acrylic coatings on a mural painting in East Los Angeles. We will bring you into the world of cultural heritage science, from the laboratory to the field. "