Conservation and Restoration of Clear Coatings on Furniture and ...

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How the ISS can help
Most <strong>of</strong> the advances in furniture conservation have traditionally come from large institutions <strong>and</strong> museums. These
too are in decline as budgets <strong>and</strong> personnel are cut. It is within the privately funded International institutions like the
Getty <strong>and</strong> Winterthur which seem to have taken up the research arm <strong>of</strong> conservation, even granting money to other
institutions for research projects.
The issues <strong>of</strong> conserving modern coatings has not been heavily explored at any other level other than individuals like
myself <strong>and</strong> overseas institutions who, out <strong>of</strong> necessity, have had to find solutions to new problems. Getting together
with these people <strong>and</strong> communicating our ideas would be <strong>of</strong> huge benefit. The ISS may be able to aid this process
by helping organise a visiting pr<strong>of</strong>essional to run <strong>and</strong> attract enough people for an international forum.
The ISS has the necessary contacts <strong>and</strong> lobbying power required to attract international conservators to Australia.
These workshops could unfortunately only be aimed at the furthering the knowledge <strong>of</strong> already practising furniture
conservators.
The ISS may in the future like to consider scholarships to international academic institutions where specialised
training is <strong>of</strong>fered that is not available within Australia. The ISS currently sponsor people who already demonstrate
proven ability in their field. Could it be possible to arrange the possibility <strong>of</strong> a ‘HECS’ like scheme to students who
wish to study an academic or trade qualification not available within Australia? When I researched the possibility <strong>of</strong>
training abroad I found that financially it was impossible. No government support was accessible <strong>and</strong> the costs <strong>of</strong>
course fee’s along with living expenses would have been prohibitive for most. Maybe the ISS can either lobby
government to set up a system catering for students specialising in education not available under the Australian
education system, or perhaps the ISS can implement themselves a student loan service similar to ‘HECS’ where a
student can in effect borrow the necessary funds to gain experience <strong>and</strong> skills not accessible within Australia?