Temporary Exhibition: Preserving What is Valued - A World of Repairs - Part 2

One of two ceramics on loan from private collectors
demonstrating repairs made using the kintsugi technique
with lacquer and gold © Pitt Rivers Museum

Back in May we posted a blog about preparations for a temporary exhibition curated by the Conservation Department demonstrating original repairs made to objects when they were still in use. This is an update on the earlier blog now that the exhibition has just been installed into the display case on the Lower Gallery.

Despite the last minute addition of an excellent gourd, discovered by Jem and Faye while working to improve storage of the reserve collections, we managed to have everything ready for mount making on Monday 1st June as planned. We also borrowed from private collectors two ceramics demonstrating the kintsugi repair technique, the starting point for our exhibition plans.

Most labels were designed to include a detailed image of the repaired area on each object to help focus the visitor's attention on the part they should be looking at. We were keen however, to not put too much information on each label but leave it for visitors to think about  what significance the repair might have, after reading the introductory panel text.

Mock-up of the display once mounts were complete
© Pitt Rivers Museum

Display Technicians Chris Wilkinson and Alan Cooke had produced a scale mock-up of the final display case and were ready to go immediately. We were surprised to find that it took them about a week to complete the mock-up, which I think was also a relief to them given the complexities of working on the re-display of the Cook Voyages Collections, from which they were taking a therapeutic break.

At this stage the previous exhibition in the case was deinstalled, allowing Chris and Alan to prepare the case by filling and sanding holes and re-painting. It is important to do this a few weeks before the objects are installed to allow the paint to dry properly and any fumes from the paint to dissipate as they could cause adverse chemical reactions with the materials used on the objects. This is why you may see display case doors left open when you visit the Museum. At this stage they also painted and prepared the panels and plinth to be used in the display.

Chris and Alan mount the final copies
of labels and text © Pitt Rivers Museum

The next task before installation was to prepare the final labels and text. Katherine Clough, who has volunteered in the Conservation Department for a few years in many capacities, had accepted the challenge of producing a poster for the exhibition. The key element of the design uses several detailed images of the repairs fitted together to look like the world. We had added the strap-line 'A World of Repairs' to the exhibition title to be more explanatory on the poster. We used Katherine's 'world of repairs' motif in a semi-translucent way on the panel text to give it a bit of a lift and tie it into the poster.

On Thursday 25th June, a little ahead of schedule, Chris and Alan installed the objects in the case where they had already added the pre-painted panels earlier in the week. They started early to have the case closed and locked when the Museum opened at 10.00 a.m. On Friday 26th we adjusted the lighting in the case slightly to prevent too much light hitting the textiles, the materials in this display most prone to light damage.

Left: Installation of the objects, right: Alan and Chris take a moment to appreciate their labours © Pitt Rivers Museum

When we set out to produce the exhibition we were keen to write a gallery trail to enable visitors to see more repaired objects that are permanently on display. Having narrowed down the list, Andrew (with a little help from Madeleine) has produced a colour trail, which is available beside the display case. This again uses Katherine's 'world of repairs' motif on the cover. There are lots of trails available in the Museum but they are aimed at children and we wanted to see what interest there would be from adults. Hopefully the Gallery Assistants will be able to observe how many people use the trail over the coming months.

Cover of the Gallery Trail
linked to the exhibition

Finally, this is a good opportunity to mention some of the other tie-in events that will be coming up over the 6-month run of the exhibition. On the 18th and 19th September Tom van Deijnen will be running darning masterclasses in the Museum's annexe. Tom is best known for his visible mending program where a 'beautiful darn is worn as a badge of honour'. Follow this link to book a place on one of Tom's workshops.

In November traditional lacquerware artists Muneaki Shimode and Takahiko Sato from Kyoto will be artists in residence at the Museum for 10 days, demonstrating the kintsugi technique of repairing ceramics. The residency will include gallery demonstrations, an evening event and half-day practical workshops. There will be information on how to book a place on a workshop appearing on the the Museum website very soon - so keep watching this space.

Heather Richardson
Head of Conservation

Temporary Exhibition: 'Preserving What is Valued'

Three arm ornaments from Africa with different methods of original repair
 © Pitt Rivers Museum

The Conservation Team are currently preparing a small temporary exhibition for a display case in the Museum's Lower Gallery showing objects that have been repaired by their original owners.

Given the nature of our work we study objects in great detail and part of our role is often to determine at what stage a repair to an object has been made. Has the repair been made while the object was still in use in the originating community, or by the original collector, or has it been repaired in the Museum?

When we find examples of repairs from originating communities we feel it gives the object a deeper resonance and is something we strive to preserve. Why was this object repaired by its original owners rather than replaced? Is it a fine example of craftsmanship or is it a sacred object? Were the materials it is made from scarce or expensive? These are just some of the questions we aim to explore in the exhibition.

We decided on the idea last summer when two of us attended the opening of an exhibition at the Japanese Embassy in London called 'Gold: All that Glisters - Japanese Gold Decoration.' One aspect of this exhibition focused on kintsugi, the Japanese method of repairing damaged or broken ceramics using urushi lacquer and, most commonly, gold powder. From early times, imperfection has been the subject of aesthetic appreciation in Japan, particularly with regard to the repair of valued items that have suffered in the course of their daily use. This idea of celebrating imperfection chimed with our attitude in Conservation and the repairs we had seen on objects from all parts of the world. We also felt that the theme of the exhibition fitted in well with the current Need, Make, Use Project, which has a focus on crafts skills and technology.

It isn't every day that Conservators have the opportunity to curate an exhibition based on their own idea and we started out by submitting an exhibition proposal to various museum committees for approval. We borrowed the working title 'Preserving What is Valued' from a book published by Canadian conservator Miriam Clavir (with her permission) and it seems to have stuck.

Having received the thumbs up, we then had to work around the schedule for the display case in the Lower Gallery used for temporary exhibitions. A gap was found for late June 2015 until January 2016, which we snapped up. At this point we also started to progress plans in collaboration with the Need, Make, Use Team for some tie-in events over the period of the exhibition. In the autumn we sent an email to all Collections staff to keep a look out for suitable objects.

We are fortunate that the Museum object database contains a search term 'repaired (local)', which refers to a repair made to the object by the originating community.

Database page showing the search term 'repaired (local)'

The term is either added to the record when the object is catalogued by the Collections Team or by Conservators when they work on the object.

Searching by this term initially produced approximately 500 records. We decided to only select object that were in storage, with the aim of producing a Museum Trail to guide visitors around some of the repaired objects on permanent display.

At this stage we were able to export the database information into a spread sheet.

Part of the working spread sheet

This enabled us to work through the list, physically finding and examining the objects to narrow the selection down further. It also made it easier to see if we had a good geographic spread.

We were down to 35 objects when we prepared a test layout. In the Conservation Lab we marked up a group of tables to the dimension of the display case and experimented with groupings. When working on the layout we considered how objects would need to be mounted in the display and how time-consuming it could be. As we work closely with the Museum Display Technicians, we are fully aware of their busy schedule and needed to make the display as uncomplicated as possible.

Test layout for the display in the Conservation Lab

Following the layout we are now down to 31 objects and have discussed the mounting requirements with Chris and Alan, who  will be working on the display. As we do not currently have any examples of kintsugi ceramics in the collection we have arranged to borrow one or two examples from a local private collector.

The selected Museum objects are now in the Conservation Lab being assessed, photographed, some mounts made and the text prepared. This stage will be completed by the end of May ready for the objects to be passed on to Chris and Alan to begin work on a mock-up of the display from the 1st June. All being well the exhibition 'Preserving What is Valued' will be installed by the 29th June. Please look out for the exhibition and the range of tie-in events we hope to have over autumn 2015.

Heather Richardson
Head of Conservation