Larger & Working Objects Guidelines: Call For Interested Parties

ABTEM has recently appointed the International Railway Heritage Consultancy (IRHC) to work with them on its ongoing project to produce new guidelines for museums and private collectors with larger and working objects. The guidelines will cover stationary engines, industrial machinery, road vehicles, aircraft, railway vehicles, ships, boats and other working items.

The Standards first published by the former Museums & Galleries Commission have been used widely by specialists and non-specialists alike since they were first published in 1994, but after two decades of experience now need updating.

The project is supported by an award of £47,565 by Arts Council England in 2016 through their Museum Resilience funding stream that enables museums to become more sustainable.

We are looking for interested parties such as private collectors of transport, agricultural or industrial artefacts, national and regional museums with any large or working objects in their collections that would be able to feed into the process by either responding to questionnaires or submitting case studies that can illustrate the decision making process and conservation ethos of a particular treatment.

Selected case studies will be included in the new guidelines, available at the end of 2017. The guidelines will be widely publicised and promoted, including  a programme of seminars scheduled between October 2017 and March 2018.

For further information contact Efstathios Tsolis, Associate Consultant, email tsolis@efstathios.co.uk, tel. +44 (0) 7726419551

The main publications of Standards and Guidelines can be accessed online:

MGC 4 Standards in the museum care of larger and working objects

Larger & Working Objects – a guide to standards in their preservation and care