Virtual Conference
Plastics in Peril: Focus on Conservation of Polymeric Materials in Cultural Heritage
16-19 November, 2020
Meeting Timezone GMT (UK)
09:00 - 17:00
10:00-18:00 (Germany/ Netherlands/ Italy/ Belgium/Sweden/ France/ Switzerland)
09:00-17:00 (Portugal)
01:00-9:00 (LA, California, US)
04:00-11:00 (New York/ Washington DC, US)
04:00-11:00 (Gatineau/ Kingston, Canada)
18:00-02:00 (Melbourne, Australia)
DAY 1 Monday 16.11.2020
08:40-08:55 Welcome - J Dawson, M Kleiner, S Brüggerhof
Keynote 1
09:00-09:40 “Maximising information obtained from surveying polymers in museum collections: The importance of iterative terminology development and data curation” Petronella Nel (Australia)
09:45-11:25 Session 1 “What am I?” — Identification of plastics
"Plastification: the plastic identification tool and workshop that helps to identify plastics in your collection" Carien van Aubel, Olivia van Rooijen, Suzan de Groot, Henk van Keulen and Lydia Beerkens (Netherlands)
"Save the plastics! Identification and condition survey in Belgian museums" Hannah Hendrickx, Eline van der Velde,Griet Kockelkoren and Wim Fremout (Belgium)
"The quest for an affordable identification tool for plastics in museums" Sophie Rowe (UK)
Q&A session
11:25-11:30 Break
11:30-12:00 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
12:00-12:55 Lunch
12:55-15:00 Session 2 “A goal without a plan is just a wish”— Collection management
"Beg, borrow and steal: developing preservation strategies for plastics in large multidisciplinary collections" Alice Cannon, Rosemary Goodall, Elizabeth McCartney and Karina Palmer (Australia)
"Understanding plastics in our collection: a survey at the Harvard Art Museums" Georgina Rayner, Susan D. Costello, Angela Chang, and Elizabeth La Duc (USA)
"A tale of two national collections, Canada" Sue Warren (Canada)
“The problem of numbers - plastics in Natural History Collections: a case study” Peter Giere (Germany)
Q&A session
15:00-15:05 Break
15:05-15:35 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
15:35-15:40 Closing Day 1
DAY 2 Tuesday 17.11.2020
09:40-09:45 Welcome
09:45-11:25 Session 3 “Today’s and tomorrow’s sorrows” - Storage and global warming
“Plastic in the Pacific” Valerie Tomlinson and Ruby Satele (New Zealand)
“How to deal with a self-destructive plastic in museum collections? Storing cellulose nitrate 3D objects at the Deutsches Museum” Christina Elsässer, Marisa Pamplona, Teresa Donner, Veronika Mayr, Anna Micheluz and Susanne Grießbach (Germany)
"Cellulose nitrate badges: are they at risk of fading and is it safe to store them in a freezer?" Marei Hacke and Capucine Korenberg (Sweden and UK)
Q&A session
11:25-11:30 Break
11:30-12:00 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
12:00-12:55 Lunch
Keynote 2
12:55-13:40 “Collective Care: Notes from Now” Jill Sterrett (US)
13:40-15:25 Session 4 “From pop to blob” — Science driven decisions in plastics conservation
“Helping “Hinz” and “Kunz”? Analysing and conserving two robotic prototypes from the Deutsches Museum in Munich” Julia Sawitzki, Marisa Pamplona and Frank Dittmann (Switzerland)
“Investigating paint materials in street art mural paintings through spectroscopic and mass spectrometric approaches” Jacopo La Nasa, Beatrice Campanella, Francesca Sabatini, Antonio Rava, Will Shank, Paola Lucero-Gomez, Daphne De Luca, Stefano Legnaioli, Vincenzo Palleschi, Maria Perla Colombini, Ilaria Degano, Francesca Modugno (Italy)
“Challenges and chances in surveying plastic objects in an industrial heritage collection. A visual atlas of damage phenomena in plastics” Till Krieg, Cristian Mazzon and Elena Gómez-Sánchez (Germany)
Q&A session
15:25-15:30 Break
15:30-16:00 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
16:00-17:00 Panel discussion
“A blessing and a curse” - plastic collections in the modern world
Moderator: Katherine Curran (UK) Joy Mazurek (US), Mary Coughlin (US) Tim Bechthold (Germany), Stefan Simon (Germany)
17:00-17:05 Closing Day 2
DAY 3 Wednesday 18.11.2020
09:40-09:45 Welcome
09:45-11:25 Session 5a “Pop, blob and back again” — Treatment techniques
“Should we clean plastics like we clean paintings? A study in cleaning plasticised poly (vinyl chloride)”John Morrison and Petronella Nel (Australia)
“Approaching the preservation of polyurethane soles on football boots” Gabrielle Flexer and Kayleigh Spring (UK)
“Pemulen™ and poly (vinyl alcohol)-based treatments: Discussing cleaning applications on poly (methyl methacrylate) museum objects” Stefani Kavda (Germany)
Q&A session
11:25-11:30 Break
11:30-12:00 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
12:00-15:15 Lunch & break
15:15-17:00 Session 5b “Pop, blob and back again” — Treatment techniques (continued)
“The plastic bag as art: three case studies on the treatment of clear, flexible plastic sheeting in contemporary art” Joy Bloser (US)
“Conserving Line Vautrin’s Talosel resin objects” Loredana Mannina and Gabrielle Crowther (US/UK)
“Preserving and recovering the original: Developing conservation treatments for damaged plastic artifacts” Anna Lagana´ (US)
Q&A session
17:00-17:05 Break
17:05-17:35 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
DAY 4 Thursday 19.11.2020
12:25-12:30 Welcome
12:30-14:10 Session 6 “Fit for the future” - Treatment options over time
“The case of the vanishing Gabos: the Gabo Collection at Tate” Gates Sofer, Deborah Cane and Joyce H. Townsend (UK)
“Sustainable strategies using supercritical carbon dioxide for the conservation of plastics: insight from the PlasCO2 project” Angelica Bartoletti and Joana Lia Ferreira (Portugal)
“The dynamic composition: learning from the CH 1 38 Rho Space Modulator” Megan Creamer (Canada)
Q&A session
14:10-14:15 Break
14:15-14:45 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
14:45-15:15 Lunch
Keynote 3
15:15-16:00 “Working side-by-side: The necessarily close collaboration between conservation scientist(s) and conservator(s) at restoration treatments” Thea van Oosten (The Netherlands)
16:00-17:45 Session 7 “A good atmosphere” - Packaging and micro-pollutants
"Decision making in conservation based on modelling and measuring diethyl phthalate plasticiser loss from cellulose acetate in varied ventilation conditions" Argyro Gili, Rose King, Luca Mazzei,Simoní Da Ros, Josep Grau-Bové, Robert Koestler, Michael Petr, Odile Madden and Katherine Curran (UK)
"A smart future for cellulose derivatives conservation" Artur Neves (Portugal)
“Ozone test strips for PVC plastics?” Mary Coughlin (US)
Q&A session
17:45-17:50 Break
17:50-18:20 "Connect in digital space" - meet a speaker, chat about a topic, or meet for a coffee
18:20-18:30 Closing remarks - Maria Elvira Callapez
Back to main conference page
Registration page
