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Today the process of displaying museum objects in exhibitions is complex and potentially problematic. Many objects have specific display requirements which need to be addressed to ensure their best care whilst on exhibition. Sometime ideal conservation exhibition conditions cannot be maintained in many institution buildings, because of problems inherent in the fabric of the museum building and the difficulty and expense of backwardly engineering conservation solutions. Therefore the front line of care of objects on display often falls to management of the local display environment the object is displayed in.
There is currently a trend for the increased use of external design services to add variety of design 'style' within a museum. This approach can create display problems of object conservation and ongoing exhibit maintenance if the contacted designers have poor experienced in providing the conservation display conditions that would normally be expected of museum objects.
Museum policies, procedure and resources can be formalised and monitored in order for best care of objects whilst on display: national and international guidelines, museum association policies, internal museum policies, all backed with the appropriate resources. There is no doubt that care and study of its collections is recognised and regarded as paramount in museum duty of care. Museum 'codes of ethics' documents reflect this internationally, yet the care of collections whilst on display is often not specifically mentioned in these codes of ethics documents. If these policies, procedure and resources are not in place, objects may be placed in display situations which are undesirable, or in some situations, threatening to the object. |
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