dk nkf - Nordisk Konservatorforbund Danmark

published a new version of their first Manual
of Housekeeping, with the subtitle “The care
of collections in historic houses open to the
public.”[5].
Let us take a closer look at this Manual of Housekeeping.
Their current definition of conservation
is:”... the careful management of change. It is about
revealing and sharing the significance of places and
ensuring that their special qualities are protected,
enhanced, understood and enjoyed by present and
future generations”. [6]
…the careful management of change, this
expression is very interesting, because there is
an acceptance embedded here regarding the fact
that there inevitably will be some sort of change
as time goes by and that our role is to manage
this change carefully.
...revealing and sharing the significance of
places, at Klevfos this has been the main focus
since the day the museum opened in 1986, as
explained earlier.
... ensuring that their, (Klevfos), special qualities
are protected, enhanced, understood and
enjoyed by present and future generations.
What meets the visitor today does indeed not relate
to any ”true” historical event, the time machine does
not run smoothly.
To protect the qualities. The
need of a new strategy for
conservation
The special qualities of Klevfos - how can we protect
them for future generations? [7] The museum has a
high quality in their communication to visitors, to
children as well as adults: theatre performances,
workshops for papermaking in addition to ordinary
guided tours. The memory of Klevfos is well taken
care of.
But we have to admit that the protection of the qualities
of the interior will not last for future generations. The
machines and equipment throughout the museum
are at high risk of self-destruction, so although the
Museum has good intensions, the result so far is not
adequate.
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A constructive dialogue between conservator and
museum staff about this has just recently started. For
us to find better ways of defining means and needs,
we now try to address the problems of conservation
in a more strictly analytical form.
One way of doing this is by means of analyzing
the nine agents of deterioration as mentioned in the
manual of housekeeping [8], based on the work of
Michalski 1994 [9] and Waller 1994 [10]: fire, loss,
water, physical, chemical, biological activity, light,
wrong relative humidity and wrong temperature.
When this plant was functional a natural procedure of
ongoing maintenance was undertaken. Parts needed
to be mended or shifted regularly; all moving parts
needed constant lubrication; in times of production
standstill more time-consuming maintenance was
undertaken; removal of rust and concurrent painting;
cleaning and improving. All this ended in 1976 when
the plant was closed down for good.
To protect the inherent qualities of this site we have to
understand the production process, to a certain point
at least. Are the conservation problems we encounter
today related to the former production process? Are
they related to the museum period with none or very
different activities, or is it a combination?
For almost all the agents of deterioration these
questions are utterly important; and could theoretically
be of some variation along the production line.
The production line
The production line of the pulp and paper production
is still complete, but there has never been any
intension to start even a small museum production,
or make the machines run during special events.
Here follows a short description of the various stages
of production at the plant:
Cellulose factory
To make Kraft Pulp also called Sulphate Pulp the
chopped wood was boiled into pulp mixed with liquid
caustic soda (cooking lye).
The liquid chemical - called black lye - were filtered out
and was sent for recycling to Sodahuset (soda house).
As the chemicals were expensive a quite complicated