It has been a busy six months in the Conservation Lab preparing for our upcoming exhibition ‘Suffrage and Beyond: 1893 ۰ 2018’. My conservation background is in objects conservation – very useful for the diversity of material we have in the collections at Toitū– but sometimes we do need to bring in expert assistance.
The exhibition curator, Peter Read, selected a number of swim wear items to go on display and due to the fabric composition, they were going to be tricky to mount. The newer swimming costumes have elastic in them and over time this has begun to deteriorate – the deterioration of plastics is common in most collections and a significant amount of research is currently been undertaken to understand the process and ways to mitigate it.
At the last New Zealand Conservators of Cultural Materials conference held in Dunedin in 2017 I was fortunate to see a paper given by Te Papa textile conservator Anne Peranteau and following on from that was put in contact with Sam Gatley, an expert not only in mounting costume for display but making custom body forms too. We originally contacted Sam to make two body forms for our Girl Guide and Life Brigade uniforms, and after further discussion Sam agreed to mount our swim wear also.
During a long hectic weekend Sam mounted the two uniforms and Claire Orbell (Toitū Registrar) and myself under Sam’s instruction assisted with mounting the swim wear and pink knickers.
Sam (L) and Claire mounting the swim wear onto a prepared board for display.
As you can see all the hard work was well worth it.
‘Suffrage and Beyond: 1893 ۰ 2018’ opens on Saturday 8th September 2018, please do come along and see the exhibition as it celebrates the efforts of local women who were major players in the original suffrage movement, and examines the advances of women in social and professional circles since gaining the vote.
Fiona McLaughlan – Conservator
All images credit – Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
