Conservation news

Statement on Recent Developments in Ukraine

CCI and CHIN are ready to work on various campaigns being put in place to safeguard Ukrainian heritage and cultural objects across the world. We echo the statement made by the Canadian Museums Association (CMA), as well as statements by other national and international organizations, and will lend our expertise and resources to support this safekeeping effort.

We invite you to read “ Museums in Ukraine Scrambling to Protect Historical Artifacts During Russian Invasion ” an article in the Globe and Mail where Dorota Blumczyǹska, a member of CMA’s Board of Directors and CEO of the Manitoba Museum, speaks about the role of museums in conflicts and her personal connection to the current situation.

Caring for Heritage Collections during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cultural heritage institutions are coping with many challenges as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. While collections are not directly at risk, the pandemic complicates their care. This note compiles information and recommendations to help those responsible ensure that collections and heritage materials remain safe.

View the CCI Technical Note: Caring for Heritage Collections during the COVID-19 Pandemic

CCI Announces the Release of a Museum Storage Reorganization Toolkit

The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) is pleased to announce that a toolkit called RE-ORG: A Method to Reorganize Museum Storage is now available online. In addition to the English and French versions, Spanish (Download ZIP folder) and Portuguese (Download ZIP folder) versions have also been published, thanks to our partners in the Ibermuseos Program.

The four-part, downloadable toolkit was developed in partnership with ICCROM and is designed to guide heritage institutions through the process of transforming their storage areas so that they can improve preventive conservation conditions as well as access to collections within their facilities. The RE-ORG method has been used by the RE-ORG: Canada participating institutions since 2014 and has been applied in over 100 institutions worldwide.

Use this resource to reorganize your storage, to offer advice or to train others. Get started by watching “RE-ORG Fundamentals: Intro to the RE-ORG Method,” a short tutorial video developed by CCI.

Results of CCI Research Brainstorming

At the 2018 Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property (CAC) conference in Kingston, the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) held a brainstorming exercise to identify which areas of interest could be focused on in future research. Delegates were asked to submit ideas during the first two days of the conference, and on the third day, delegates voted on all the ideas to rank them in order of importance.

Results of CCI Research Brainstorming

CCI has a new video gallery!

Be sure to bookmark the webpage and check back regularly to watch the latest didactic or conservation treatment videos. We invite you to share your suggestions and ideas for future videos in the Comments section.

CCI videos

CCI Notes are now available in Spanish

Thanks to the Centro Nacional de Conservación y Restauración in Chile, the Canadian Conservation Institute's CCI Notes have been translated into Spanish, Notas del Instituto Canadiense de Conservación. They are available free of charge. Intended for a broad audience, the Notes offer practical advice related to the care, handling and storage of cultural objects. Make use of this great resource!