2 March. Following a specialized workshop on storage re-organization in January 2008 in Rome, the twelve participants, in March 2009, committed themselves to continue collaborating with UNESCO and ICCROM in the next two years to complete and develop further the proposed methodology and the related training/learning tools. Three working groups were created to work specifically on refining the methodology, developing an approach to estimate space for collections and identifying/completing literature and guidelines about storage re-organization.

Meeting of the ICCROM-UNESCO Task Force on Storage Re-organization
13 - 17 February 2009, Caracas, Venezuela

The members of the Task Force met again in Caracas in occasion of an International Forum on Preventive Conservation, to finalize the methodology scheme, plan the development of the two pilot projects in 2009 and propose actions for the dissemination of the methodology.

Proposed Methodology on Storage Re-organization

The methodology comprises three phases:

• initial condition report;
• re-organization project;
• re-organization implementation.

Throughout each phase, the following four aspects of the institution/museum are examined, to facilitate information gathering and its subsequent analysis:

• management;
• building, space and environment;
• collections;
• furniture and small equipment.

A series of well-defined, sequential objectives or steps have been developed to analyze the storage in the museum, identify problems and propose improvements.

Information sheets are being prepared explaining the purpose of each step and how to carry it out. Support materials are also provided, such as forms, charts, guidelines, references, and illustrations. A photo database of over 800 slides is under development.

The finalized methodology is scheduled to be made available to the museum professional community in 2010.

Among the many resources that are being prepared by this project is the user-friendly assessment tool for museum storage.

Implementation of two ICCROM-UNESCO Pilot Projects on Storage Re-organization

Two pilot projects have been selected and are currently taking place to test and refine the proposed methodology:

• Museo Histórico Provincial of Corrientes, Argentina;
• Museum of Decorative Arts in Isfahan, Iran.

The pilot projects were launched in May 2008, following a meeting with the respective museums staff to present and explain the first phase of the methodology, assign responsibilities, start fund-raising and identify existing and missing information. They completed the first phase and produced a storage condition report of their museum. Two missions of members of the Task Force are planned to take place in March-April 2009 to help the development of the projects in Iran and Argentina.

Task force supporting institutions

The ICCROM-UNESCO Task Force on Storage Re-organization is an international group of former ICCROM participants and teachers from partner institutions, well acquainted with the challenges met by smaller museum in dealing with their storage.

• Cultural Sub-Secretariat forthe Province of Corrientes, Argentina
• Fundación Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Venezuela
• Instituto Nacional do Patrimonio Cultural (INPC), Angola
• Lopez Memorial Museum, Philippines
• Museum of Italian Art, Peru
• National Museum in Belgrade, Serbia
• National Museums (NMK), Kenya
• National Museum Institute, India  
• Research Center for Conservation of Cultural Relics (RCCCR), Iran
• Reinwardt Academy, The Netherlands
• Technical Museum in Brno, Czech Republic
• Tropenmuseum, The Netherlands
• Universidad Externado, Colombia
• University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria

For any comment or further information, please contact collections [at] iccrom . org

Member States represented: Angola, Argentina, Austria, Colombia, Czech Republic, India, Iran, Kenya, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Serbia, Venezuela

updated on: 2 March, 2009