Over the years our graduates have moved on to interesting museums and exciting positions, and we thought it might be nice to catch up with some of them to see where they are and what they’re doing. Today we’re talking to Wendy, one of our (not so recent) graduates, who is currently working at the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York.
How long has it been since you completed the MA in Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects at Durham University?
Three years.
Where are you working right now?
The National Railway Museum in York.
What is your role?
Conservator
What are some of your responsibilities?
- Responsible for loans
- Preventative conservation
- Condition checks of the collection with other lenders
- Object conservation
- Care and development of student placements
- Touring exhibitions.
What have you been working on lately?
- I have been working on an exhibition called Engineered, which has a collection of beautiful locomotive models from lenders across the world. One of the main partners is the Koc museum in Istanbul. The exhibition will be on tour at the NRM, The Science Museum and the Koc museum itself. As the lead conservator for this project it is my reasonability for the physical and legal care of these objects, this includes condition checking the objects, as well as the environmental and physical care whilst these objects are both in transit and on exhibition.
- I’m also working on the conservation of Queen Victoria’s carriage, which includes part restoration and part conservation of the exterior.
- The upholstery of the Mallards cab seats, they had previously been damaged by wear and tear, visitor footfall and moth damage.
- Everyday tasks such as ordering High Visibility vests that has the new rebranding.
What is one of your favourite objects in the collection?
One of my favourite objects is Queen Victoria’s carriage as the marquetry is beautiful, but I also love the story of how it was saved from the threat of destruction. Edward VII wanted the carriage to be destroyed once Queen Victoria had passed away, however the carriage works successfully saved it.
I also adore the art collection we have at the National Railway Museum which includes a Terrance Cuneo’s, David Sheppard and Norman Wilkson all of whom vividly bring Locomotives and the people who worked on them to life.
What are some of the challenges you face with the collection?
Rust! Metal corrosion is the largest threat to the collection. Given the size and complexity of the collection, it is very difficult to stop or slow the corrosion process. We also have a preparation bay whereby locomotives are lit, unfortunately this is next to one of the biggest stores, so the collection is always faced with the threat of coal dust!
Other challenges we have are footfall; the museum has thousands of visitors throughout the year, who are attracted to the collection such as the locomotive cabs that they can enter. We must balance this with the pressure of wear and tear to the cabs, so we must find a happy medium solution, for instance we use heavy duty rubber matting to protect the original floor and we have also produced a written guide for the staff who oversee the visitors as to how to care for the collection in situ. Conservation must be part of the museum in a much larger picture. Museums are far more reliant on an income related turnover directly against the threat of reduced funding from the government, which filters through to each department.
How did you become interested in conservation?
Due to the recession, I couldn’t get a job as an archaeologist. I met a conservator during a volunteer placement and realised that conservation was another avenue to work directly with historical objects. It became much more attractive than archaeology as we can work indoors in all weather conditions and someone else must dig it up!
How did the conservation course at Durham help you get where you are now?
The Placement which Dr Cape personally matches is brilliant, as it gives you a taste of conservation in practice and the reality of a department. For instance, there are very little placements that have time let alone an x-ray machine to analyse objects, deadlines both in private and public conservation will determine the conservation. The length of the placements also gave me an opportunity to network and gain from the experience of practicing conservators, I learnt how design a good working portfolio and interview style from the conservation during my placement which led me to the job I have now.
The conservation course helped me as it is extremely practicable, and we work directly with museum or archaeological objects. So, from day one we must comfortably work with priceless objects. Mindfully this has helped me, if there is a new challenge whether it is in the lab, exhibition meeting or in a warehouse in the middle of Hong Kong it gives you the confidence to apply yourself. The university course will then give you the skills to articulate yourself in each situation with evidence and ethically considered decisions, which tie nicely to the infamous Durham seminars!