Artcare - Auckland Art Gallery

Preface / AcknowledgmentsIn 1986 the Auckland Art Gallery, inconjunction with one of its businessunits, the Northern Regional ConservationService (NRCS), published thebook Artcare: The Care of Museum andArt Collections in New Zealand. Suchwas the immediate success of Artcarethat it has become long overdue forrevising and reprinting. Now it has beenaccepted as a standard reference withinmuseums throughout the country, anupdated Artcare, produced under theexpert guidance of the Gallery’s newly establishedConservation Services, seemed more than timely.The first edition of Artcare specifically set out toprovide preventive conservation advice to small museums,with particular reference to New Zealand collectionsand conditions. In building awareness of theprimary causes of deterioration and damage to works ofart and artefacts, Artcare made a very cost-effective contributionto the preservation of New Zealand’s culturalmaterial in public holdings. It gave staff, from the paidto the non-paid, an essential tool-kit of practical advice.The revised Artcare extends its brief further to encompassthe many and varied private collectors who no lesslook to the safe-keeping of our distributed national collection.Preventive conservation is the most direct anduncomplicated way of caring for works of art and artefacts.Not only are conservation treatmentsa sometimes expensive path to godown, they do not always lead to thesuccessful reversal of the cumulativeeffects of deterioration or damage. Inaddressing the practical needs of thoseresponsible for the care or managementof collections, Artcare also draws outthe caveats which must limit the natureof that care. It makes clear that damagecan as much be the product ofuntrained or ill-advised attempts to conserveor restore works or objects.The updating of Artcare has also been propelled bythe many significant advances in conservation sciencewhich have led to sometimes quite fundamental shifts inthe development of preventive conservation practicesand procedures. There are also, of course, many newsuppliers and reference materials to hand today, andpublic and private collectors are demanding currentinformation to ensure that best preventive conservationpractices are being applied to the works in their permanentor temporary care.In introducing this new edition of Artcare I wouldlike to especially thank Sarah Hillary, the Gallery’sSenior Conservator, for her unerring dedication to thisnow ongoing project. Sarah has skilfully coordinated thework of many conservators from around the country, towhom the Gallery is no less greatly indebted. Their