RE-ORG: Unlocking the Potential of Museum Collections in Storage

Abstract

This article offers an overview of 10 years of institutional and human efforts led by ICCROM (the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) and other international and national organisations to address the state of paralysis of collections in storage, and restore their potential as a tool for education and social cohesion. Launched in ²011 and tested in many different contexts and across all global regions, the RE-ORG method provides a solid, feasible and adaptable solution to the many museums struggling with overcrowded collections in storage and the impossibility of using and enabling access to them.

The article presents the situation of museum storage areas as unveiled by an international survey in 2011, and analyses the development of the RE-ORG Method and its application (145 museums and 34 countries), training strategies, lessons learned and future challenges. The reflections and experience of ICCROM’s partners and stakeholders in this project in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, India, Nigeria and Portugal illustrate the unique and innovative aspect of the project and the results obtained in terms of preventive conservation, collection management, and sustainability. In conclusion, the article offers suggestions for a strategic and global application of RE-ORG commensurate with museums’ needs and with the inherent potential of the billions of objects in storage.

Keywords:

• Access
• museums
• preventive conservation
• RE-ORG
• storage

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Galia Saouma who, when working at UNESCO, believed in this project and found the financing to develop the RE-ORG Method. They warmly thank all of the heritage professionals who actively supported this programme and joined in the evaluation by sharing their thoughts:

• Anne-Laure Aubail, Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia

• Gabriela Baldomá, Modern and Contemporary Art Research, Conservation, and Restoration Institute, Argentina

• Elise Bocquet, Hôpital Notre-Dame à la Rose, Belgium

• Alexandre Chevalier, Chair ICOM Belgium Wallonie-Bruxelles 2020–2023, Belgium

• Cindy Colford, The Manitoba Museum, Canada

• Joanie Dehullu, Jenevermuseum Hasselt, Belgium

• Annah M. Dunkrah, University Museum, Zaria, Nigeria

• Alban Duparc, Musée Louis-Philippe, France

• Veljko Dzikic, Central Institute for Conservation in Belgrade, Serbia

• Nathan Etherington, Brant County Museum & Archives, Canada

• Goranka Horjan, Ethnographic Museum, Zagreb, Croatia

• Elena Korka, Direction of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport, Greece

• Christine Lambrechts, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Belgium

• Susana Meden, International Museum for Democracy, Argentina

• Natalia Naranjo Mogollones, National Centre for Conservation and Restoration, Chile

• Aida Nunes, Museu de Lisboa, Portugal

• Achal Pandya, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, India

• María del Pilar Salas, Universidad Nacional de Nordeste, Argentina

• Abubakar Sule Sani, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

• Benoit de Tapol, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

• Chantal Turbide, The Oratory Museum, Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal, Canada

• Nadia Vangampelaere, Groeningemuseum, Belgium

• Sabina Veseli, Institute of Archaeology, Albania

• Linda Wullus, Art & History Museum, Belgium

Notes

1 Various resources freely accessible on the websites of ICCROM (https://www.iccrom.org/fr/section/conservation-preventive) and CCI (https://www.canada.ca/fr/institut-conservation/services/conservation-preventive.html) may provide guidance towards museums’ efforts to protect their collections.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catherine Antomarchi

Catherine Antomarchi was the Director of the Collections Unit at ICCROM until 2019; she developed and coordinated training programmes for cultural heritage professionals in the fields of preventive conservation, sharing conservation decisions and risk management for cultural heritage. RE-ORG was one of her unit’s key projects in the last decade.

Marjolijn Debulpaep

Marjolijn Debulpaep is Head of Preventive Conservation at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Belgium. She offers advice to heritage professionals, coordinates research projects in preventive conservation and organises classes, workshops and national and international seminars. In addition to her leading role in developing the RE-ORG strategy in Belgium, she regularly acts as a trainer for international RE-ORG projects and is co-author of the forthcoming practical guide ‘Becoming a RE-ORG Coach: How to plan and lead a workshop to implement a storage reorganization’.

Gaël de Guichen

Gaël de Guichen is a chemical engineer. In 1968, he began his career as Head of Conservation at the Lascaux cave. The rest of his career has been at ICCROM, where he focused on the preventive conservation of movable heritage, carrying out more than 700 missions in ICCROM’s Member States. He launched flagship projects such as Preventive Conservation in Museums in Africa (PREMA 1990–2000), Media Save Art and RE-ORG; he also coordinated the ICOM-CC Taskforce on the terminology of conservation and restoration.

Simon Lambert

Simon Lambert is Manager of Preventive Conservation at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI); in this role, he leads a team of advisors and scientific staff who work with heritage institutions to ensure sustainable access to their collections. He took part in designing the RE-ORG Method, its adaptation for distance learning and the drafting of the guide ‘Becoming a RE-ORG Coach: How to plan and lead a workshop to implement a storage reorganization’.

Isabelle Verger

Isabelle Verger has collaborated on various ICCROM projects, particularly for the production of teaching resources on preventive conservation, for over 20 years. More recently, she collaborated on the UNESCO-ICCROM Partnership for the Preventive Conservation of Endangered Museum Collections in Developing Countries (2007–2010), contributed to the RE-ORG Nigeria project (2017–2018) and the organisation of ICCROM’s national and international RE-ORG workshops.