A REFLECTION ON THE EFFECTS OF A MUSEUM ENVIRONMENT ON THE DETERIORATION AND PRESERVATION OF LATIN AMERICAN COLLECTIONS AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WORLD CULTURES, SWEDEN
Abstract
The interdisciplinary Chaco-Cordillera expedition in 1901–1902, led by Erland Nordenskiöld, has been followed by a number of Swedish collecting expeditions to Latin America during the last century. The results from those expeditions are today reflected in the stores at Swedish museums. At the National Museum of World Cultures (the former Ethnographic Museum in Gothenburg) there are approximately one hundred thousand archaeological and ethnographical objects, of which almost 70 percent originates from South America. The majority of these came to the museum through Erland Nordenskiöld, his students and contacts.
The history of these objects has continued since they came to the museum. In the yearbooks and in correspondence among other written sources, it can be read how they gone through exhibitions, research, restoration and conservation treatments, or they have just been stored away. In all these cases the natural process of deterioration, which in principle can’t be stopped, has had an effect on the museum’s collections. In this work, insight is given into how exposure to light, humidity, temperature changes, air pollution, handling and so on effect have effected different materials and lead to changes in the internal structure and outer appearance of the artefacts.
Downloads
References
ALVARSSON, JÅ (1992) Något om arvet efter Erland Nordenskiöld i skandinavisk amerikanistik. In: Erland Nordenskiöld Forskare och Indianvän, edited by JÅ Alvarsson, S Brunius, Å Hultkrantz, SE Isacsson, Carlsson bokförlag, pp 143–170.
BRADLEY, SM (1992) Conservation aspects of storage and display. In: Manual of Curatorship. A guide to Museum Practice, edited by JMA Thompson. 2. Ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 468–473. Oxford.
CARTER, D, and WALKER AK (1999) Care and Conservation of Natural History Collections. Oxford. Butterworth Heinemann.
COSTAIN, C (1994) Framework for Preservation of Museum Collections. CCI Newsletter, 14:1–4.
EKROTH EDEBO, M (1999) Quantitative Analyses by ESEM/EDS of the Chemical Composition of Five Copper or Bronze Objects. In: Masked Histories. A Re-examination of the Rodolfo Schreiter Collection from North-western Argentina, editors P. Stenborg and A. Muñoz. Etnologiska Studier 43, pp 225–226. Göteborg.
FJÆSTAD, M (1999a) Föremålen som kulturarv och källmaterial. In: Tidens tand Förebyggande konservering, editor M Fjæstad. Riksantikvarieämbetets Förlag, pp 15–21. Stockholm.
FJÆSTAD, M (1999b) Respekt för materialen. In: Tidens tand Förebyggande konservering, editor M Fjæstad. Riksantikvarieämbetets Förlag, pp 22–26. Stockholm.
ISACSSON, SE (1992) Nils Erland Herbert Nordenskiöld. In: Erland Nordenskiöld Forskare och Indianvän, editors JÅ Alvarsson, S Brunius, Å Hultkrantz, SE Isacsson. Carlsson bokförlag, pp 29– 51. Uppsala.
ISACSSON, SE (2000) Årsberättelse för 1997. In: Årstryck 1995–1998, editors SE Isacsson, A. Muñoz,. Etnografiska Museet I Göteborg, pp. 35-46. Göteborg.
IZIKOWITZ, KG (1963) Berättelse för 1959. In: Årstryck 1959–1962, editor SH Wassén, Etnografiska Museet, pp 3–23. Göteborg.
KONSERVATORSUTREDNINGEN (1983) Fortsatt konservatorsutbildning: förslag till vidareutbildning, specialistutbildning m. m.: betänkande / av Konservatorsutredningen. Ds U; 1983:2. Stockholm, Liber Förlag.
KRONKRIGHT, DP (1990) Deterioration of Artifacts Made From Plant Materials. In The Conservation of Artifacts Made from Plant Materials, editors MLE Florian, DP Kronkright and RE Norton, Princeton Academic Press, pp 139–193.
LINDBERG, C (1996) Erland Nordenskiöld-ett indianlif. Stockholm, Bokförlaget Natur och Kultur.
MADSEN, HB (1994) Luftforurening. In: Bevaringshåndbogen, editors O Alkaersig, J Garoff and M Lundbaek, Statens Museumsnaevn, pp 52–60. Copenhagen.
McGOWAN, GS and LA ROCHE (1996) The Ethical Dilemma Facing Conservation: Care and Treatment of Human Skeletal Remains and Mortuary Objects. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation. Summer 1996, Vol. 5 Nr. 2:109–21.
MUÑOZ, A and FASTH, N (2001) Inledande undersökningar av en pre-kolumbiansk samling från nordvästra Argentina på Världskulturmuseet. Arkeologen Nr.3–4/01:4–13.
NORDENSKIÖLD, E (1915) Göteborgs Museum Annual Report, pp 75–88. Göteborg.
NORDENSKIÖLD, E (1922) Göteborgs Museum Annual Report, pp 57–63. Göteborg.
NORDENSKIÖLD, E (1928) Göteborgs Museum Annual Report, pp 55–62. Göteborg.
NORDENSKIÖLD, E (1929) Göteborgs Museum Annual Report, pp 57–65. Göteborg. PYE, E (1992) Conservation and storage: archaeological material. In: Manual of Curatorship. A guide to Museum Practice, edited by JMA Thompson. 2. Ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 392–426. Oxford.
RYDÉN, S (1936) Archaeological researches in the department of La Candelaria. Göteborg. Etnologiska Studier 3.
STANIFORTH, S (1992) Control and measurement of the environment. In: Manual of Curatorship. A guide to Museum Practice, edited by JMA Thompson. 2. Ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 234–245. Oxford.
SOOLD, L (2000) På väg mot Världskulturen. Statstjänstemannen, 12:22–23.
SOU:98:125 (1998) Betänkande av Organisationskommittén för etablering av ett Världskulturmuseum i Göteborg, Kulturdepartementet, pp 23–109.
WENANDER, L (1981) Föremålen ruttnar. Arbetet (Sweden), 4th August 1981. Archive of The National Museum of World Cultures.
WERDELIN, L (1991) Pleistocene vertebrates from Tarija, Bolivia in the collections of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. In: Fosilies y Facies de Bolivia. Editor R. Suarez-Soruco. Vol 1 Vértebrados Revista Técnica de YPFB, 12 (3–4):673–684, Diciembre 1991, Santa Cruz-Bolivia.
ÅKERLUND, MS, FLATO, S and HELLEKANT, A (1998) Från silverfisk till hälsorisk skadedjur och åtgärder i samlingar. Arlöv, LTs Förlag.
