Treatment of Ethnographic Objects Damaged by Flooding and Subsequent Mould Growth
I had the opportunity to be a part of a team working on an emergency conservation project, where it was necessary to quickly enumerate and document art historical, condition, and treatment information for over 2,000 objects belonging to a prominent Swiss artist and collection, which were damaged by flooding and subsequent mould growth. I was responsible for cleaning over 100 objects in a 3-month period.
After emergency evacuation of the objects from the private residence of the client, the objects were dried as slowly as possible and moved to a storage facility, which was climate-controlled and independently ventilated to prevent the spread of mould spores. Before entering the room, staff needed to cover clothing with a Tyvek® suit and wear specially designated shoes, as well as a full-face respirator mask and Nytril® gloves. A workspace was erected, which was sealed off from the rest of the room and had its own ventilation units. A second climate-controlled room was used for storage of the objects after cleaning.
Brief Treatment Report
Firstly, objects were surface cleaned with the assistance of a HEPA-filtered museum vacuum cleaner. Mould treatment consisted of rolling or dabbing the area with an aqueous ethanol solution. Objects with sensitivities to this treatment were thoroughly cleaned with Wish-Ab and latex sponges. Due to greatly increased humidity as well as standing in water as a result of the flooding, some objects experienced the loosening of the paint layer, which required consolidation appropriate to each unique object. Also, Some wooden objects showed symptoms of rotting, which also required consolidation. After a mouldy object was treated, the surface of the table and the tools were cleaned with the ethanol solution.
Ethnographic objects I worked on included but are not limited to African prestige wooden spoons, also known as wakemia, colourful painted African wooden fish marionettes from the Bambara culture in Mali, Kpelié masks from the Senufo people of the Ivory Coast, antique African Voodoo figures, and Benin bronze heads and vessels.
