Living in Culture

This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending a Penn Museum Teen Event, Hands-on History: Caring for Conservation.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and loved talking to the conservationists. We met the conservation team and listened to a presentation about threats to conservation. Then, we had the opportunity to walk around the museum and try to identify conservation techniques at work, including humidity and temperature monitors and low lighting to prevent fading.

My favorite part of the day was the lab tours where we were able to see the techniques of cleaning and restoration at work. We say items like a Lenape Bandolier Bag that was being restored soon go into the Native American Voices Gallery. We even saw preserved Egyptian bread! The group was also taken into a small photography studio where conservationists used tools like black light to identify previous conservation attempts. We also saw the equipment the team uses to photograph pieces for the records. They have to write down everything they do to a piece and they have a fascinating database that can show you all of the information.

As we returned, we had the chance to try out some of the techniques we had just learned, which made the experience even more exciting. We carefully cleaned the tiles, paying attention to the delicate surfaces and the small grooves that could easily be missed. We made our own cotton swabs, used an agave-based gel to pick up the dirt, and tried to pick off the dirt with long wooden skewers. Reassembling the broken ceramic vessels was especially challenging—it required a lot of patience, precision, and teamwork. It was definitely more difficult than you might think, but also incredibly rewarding to see the pieces slowly come back together. Overall, the hands-on experience gave us a much deeper appreciation for the skill and effort that goes into archaeological restoration.

Overall, I had a wonderful experience! I learned so much, and I will continue to look for the signs of conservation in all the museums I go to. I never thought about all of the behind-the-scenes work that has to be done to a piece before it can even be considered to be put on display.

If you are interested to learn more, please visit the website below!

https://www.penn.museum/about-collections/object-conservation