Salvaging and Conservation advice for flood damaged collections

The following organisations have provided information regarding salvaging and restoring flood damaged materials including collections held in galleries and museums and personal collections of photographs and other paper-based works.

Museums and Galleries NSW

This collection of resources deal with the process of salvaging water damaged collections for museums and galleries.

The Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials has compiled an invaluable resource that cover a variety of instructions for dealing with water-damaged materials.

All AICCM information sheets are available for download

Flood and Water Damage – MGNSW

Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials

AICCM is the professional organisation for conservators in Australia.

Conservators work to preserve our cultural heritage. They work in museums, art galleries, libraries, archives and in private practice.

The devastating floods in QLD and NSW have caused significant damage to personal possessions and cultural heritage collections.

Here’s how you can seek help.

Flood – Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (aiccm.org.au)

Blue Shield

Blue Shield is an international organisation, working to protect the world’s cultural heritage threatened by armed conflict and natural disasters.

Flood recovery – (blueshieldaustralia.org.au)

Resilience NSW

Helping communities rebuild and recover after natural disasters like floods, droughts and bushfires.

Resilience NSW leads disaster and emergency efforts from prevention to recovery.

Resilience NSW | NSW Government

Paintings

• From the Canadian Conservation Institute
  • Emergency Treatment of Water-damaged Paintings on Canvas
• Tips from various American conservation organisations
  • How to Properly Remove Mold From Paintings
• YouTube video from Artist SafetyNet
  • Mold-Damaged Artwork

Paper Material

• University of Delaware YouTube video about how to salvage photographs
  • UD Art Conservation: How to restore flood-damaged photos – YouTube
• From the Conservation Online Disaster Portal
  • Procedures for Salvage of Water Damaged Library Materials

Film Material

• From the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), focuses on salvaging home video
  • Home Movie Recovery

Emergency Response Plans

• The American Institute for Conservation has a rough step-by-step emergency response plan
  • American Institute for Conservation – word document
• The California Preservation Network an in-depth sample emergency response plan
  • Library Disaster Plan