Amazing opportunity to learn more about repairing bound books

Louise James from The Binding Studio, based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is hosting a workshop about repairing cloth bound books. 

This workshop is a great starting place to learn about book conservation and repair. It’s a stepping stone to repairing at home and feeling confident with bookbinding processes.

Here is some info about the workshop, please contact Louise at thebindingstudio@gmail.com or check the link - Repairing Cloth Bound Books — The Binding Studio | Artisan Bookbinder

Tutor: David Ashman

Date / time: Two day workshop- Friday 6th & Saturday 7th December / 10am to 4pm

Skill Level: advanced

Workshop Length: 12 hours / over 2 days

Number of Participants: 6x

Nau mai, haere mai!

Come and join us 18th - 20th September at NZCCM 2024 - an excellent opportunity to connect and engage with speakers and diverse professionals across conservation sector and partners. The conference will be held this year at a vibrant community hub in Tauranga Moana, the Historic Village!

The first two days will feature keynote speakers, papers, and panels with an emphasis on the theme of “Navigating Conservation Challenges in Aotearoa New Zealand.” The theme of this year’s conference acknowledges our location and the interconnectedness of land, water, and people, emphasing the significance of both the environment and the well-being of the community. 

On the third day, there will be a field trip to sites between Tauranga and Waihi Beach, focusing on coastline changes and impacts to archaeology.

Conference dinner will be held at Macau, 50 The Strand Tauranga. Please note: Conference registration does not include the dinner.

Registration for the Conference and Conference dinner is open now!

For booking and more info please visit - NZCCM Conference 2024

Hurry up and secure your spot! Ka kite koutou kei te Tauranga Moana!

Don't miss this opportunity of whakawhanaungatanga. 

The Collection Care Company has dates scheduled for emergency management courses in Auckland for 2023

Website: www.collectioncare.co.nz

Eventbrite Course Information: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/emergency-management-training-for-heritage-1540559?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

The ICON Book and Paper Group have announced the agenda and ticket sales for the #IconBPG21 upcoming conference are live. The conference will take place over four afternoons, from October 4th to October 7th, 2021, and will be held online on Accelevents, an all-inclusive and interactive conferencing platform.

The Conference theme is Mod Cons: Modern Conservation. Modern Constraints. Modern Conveniences. 

To view the conference agenda and ticket sales click here

2022 Congress Announced!

IIC is thrilled to announce the 29th IIC Biennial Congress 2022 will be located in New Zealand, in partnership with the New Zealand Conservators of Cultural Materials (NZCCM) in Wellington, NZ. Also thanks to 100% Pure New Zealand and Business Events Wellington.

RACHAEL COLLINGE and RANGI TE KANAWA—Valerie Carson, Textile Conservator, passed away on Tuesday 21 January surrounded by her family in Whanganui. Valerie was so much more to us than just a colleague, we loved her dearly and will miss her terribly. Her presence is still felt in the lab, her hand writing still visible on our scissors and in our conservation files. Valerie Carson, Textile Conservator, lover of textiles, travel and tassels. She gave so much to us she is now part of our DNA. Valerie we thank you with all our hearts. Valerie was New Zealand’s first textile conservator and worked at the Museum for more than 27 years before her retirement in 2007. Her first contact with the museum’s textile collection was as a volunteer with the Wellington Embroiders Guild. Valerie also taught embroidery at Wellington College. She believed these practical skills and those of an ex-dental nurse gave her the hand skills required for textile conservation. She liked to say she went from conserving teeth to conserving textiles. While working with the textile collection to improve the storage conditions, she recognised that further conservation training was required. In 1979 she travelled to the UK, completing the textile conservation course run by Karen Finch OBE at the Textile Conservation Centre, then based at Hampton Court Palace. Her application to study was supported by Dr John Yaldwn and she received funding from the Interim Conservation Council, Historic Places Trust, The federation of University Women and a grant from the Mobil Environmental Scheme. Valerie spent a year away from her family and three children to complete her conservation studies. On her return to New Zealand she worked at the Conservation Unit at the National Art Gallery and Museum working alongside Jack Fry until the establishment of Te Papa. She worked across the collections caring for textile items in the social history collection, Pacific collection and taonga Māori. She particularly loved the kakahu collection and recognised the importance of this collection and the challenge of preserving the black paru dyed textiles. For this, she made possible, and supported the entire career, of a Māori textile conservator. She worked with volunteers, community groups and museum staff sharing her knowledge and passion for textiles. As a consequence textiles across the county have benefited from improved storage and awareness of conservation practice. Valerie recognised the importance of growing conservation and mentored many of us. She was so generous with her skills and time. Her mentoring was not just confined to conservation and the academic study of textiles. She was always concerned with our wellbeing. She was loving, kind and compassionate and so much fun. Valerie loved to travel and combined this with her textile interests leading a number of textile tours through India and following the Silk Route. Valerie developed a personal textile collection and many of the textiles were collected on these travels. More details on Valerie’s life and career can be seen at https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2020/02/17/valeriecarson-1936-2020-the-pioneer-of-new-zealand-textile-conservation/.

Photo credit: Valerie Carson in the Elgar room of the Colonial Museum, 1992. Photo by A. Marchant. Te Papa

Anna Whitehead: Wellington Regional Rep

Anna has been your Wellington rep for 1.5 years. This year is seeing a large part of her role being involved in the Conference Planning Committee. Originally from Sweden and the UK, Anna is a book and paper conservator with many years in private practice. Since 2015 she has been conservator at Archives New Zealand in Wellington, with responsibilities for the care of the records of government including the  constitutional documents in the He Tohu exhibition. In her spare time Anna enjoys her rural living, her 11 sheep, 8 ducks and 4 hens, and is involved with the local Birds NZ group for which she writes a monthly column in the local paper about the awesome birds to be seen in the Wairarapa.

A Message From Your President 

Kia ora tātou,

In light of the new and rapidly changing situation that we are all finding ourselves in I just wanted to email you all on behalf of the NZCCM executive team.

Firstly I hope that you and all your families and friends are well and taken care of. Conservation is a small and very friendly profession and I’m sure we all have friends and colleagues as well as families both inside and outside New Zealand who we are thinking about at the moment.

At present our annual conference committee are continuing to plan for this year’s conference in October, and details of the proposed dates and calls for papers will go out soon. We are aware that a number of conferences have already been postponed, however, the committee and exec will continue to review the situation and the options available to us and keep you informed. Not only is our conference an important time from an organisational perspective but it is also a really important networking and sharing opportunity for us all and we are keen to find a way for this is continue in one format or another.

In addition to this, the exec will continue to work on a number of projects that we believe will benefit all our members including improvements to our website, a workforce survey and advocacy. I am also working with the exec, a number of other NZCCM members and Tourism New Zealand to submit a bid at the start of May to host the 2022 IIC Congress in Wellington. More details around this will be in the forthcoming newsletter. That said if you feel there are things you would like us to be doing that we aren’t, myself and the regional reps are open to any ideas or suggestions you may have.  I can be contacted directly using the details at the end of this message.

I would also encourage you help us promote the work of conservators across our website and social media channels. At a time when an increasing number of institutions are either temporarily closing or planning for closure (https://www.ndf.org.nz/covid19-and-nz-glams) it is more important than ever to remind people what it is we do and why its important. I know this may not seem a high priority and in comparison to people’s health it isn’t. However, I believe that we need to continue to promote conservation and its place in New Zealand’s cultural landscape at a time when funds and funding are likely to grow increasingly stretched. For any of you who are well but bored in self-isolation or having to work from home we would love any blogs or other content you’re happy to share. We will also be making efforts to share content and helpful resources from our conservation and GLAM’s colleagues overseas with you.

Finally though this is a very uncertain time for many of us I am aware that those members that work as freelancers are likely to feel the affects of reduced spending and the postponement of projects most keenly. As I am sure those of you who are self employed are aware there is support available to you as part of the Governments economic package announced earlier this week, details of which can be found at on the Work and Income website. I am also aware that this might be a particularly difficult time for our self employed members from a stress and mental health point of view and I’d encourage you to reach out and talk to those around you or if needed to contact 1737 via phone or text if you need support.

I am very keen to hear from our freelance members with any suggestions about what NZCCM could be doing for you in particular at this time. I would also been keen to hear about the impacts that the current situation is having on your business if you are happy to share that information as it will help us consider how best to work with allied professional groups around advocacy.

Apologies for the long message at the start of the weekend but the exec and I did think it was important to let you know what the NZCCM is doing. I hope you all have a good weekend and stay well.

Ngā mihi nui

Nyssa