31 Aug Stories From the Stacks – Artefacts

A new series about the museum’s motoring memorabilia, compiled and written by FMM’s Assistant Curator Sian Theron. This month, Sian gives some behind the scenes info on how the museum preserves its artefacts…

Museums are wonderful repositories of ‘stuff’ – knowledge, history, stories and culture. They are manifest melting-pots of heritage and home to many wonderful physical examples of human curiosity.  To the outside world, museums are seen to be pristine places housing displays and exhibitions with information boards giving background to their significance and purpose. But what about behind the scenes? This is the true life blood of any museum – the happenings away from the public eye.

Displays and exhibitions can take countless months, and even years, to plan and prepare for. Behind the scenes projects can often be anything but straightforward, often having an element of organised chaos to them. But you can guarantee that the curators know exactly what is going on as all of the objects require constant monitoring. Once an item – however large or small – is accessioned into FMM’s collection it becomes our duty to preserve it as best as possible for posterity. FMM has a vast collection that continues to grow.

It is of paramount importance for the collection records to be kept up to date, not only with regards to what is in the collection, but also pertaining to each item’s location and condition. FMM’s storerooms and display halls are kept to a constant temperature and humidity level to best preserve and conserve whatever is contained within them. However, time does march on and even inanimate objects can deteriorate. While we can never completely halt this decline, we can ward it off by maintaining an optimal environment for object care, as well as providing remedial conservation to best preserve the condition of items.

FMM is currently in the process of updating its records, and to that end we are conducting an in-depth photo documentation of each item. This is allowing us to review each article, its condition and location. Museum practices change over time as technology and knowledge improve, and FMM will always do its best to harness these improvements for the betterment of the collections and help preserve history. Other than providing an updated inventory of the items, this project will additionally provide our workshop with a useful list of parts, their condition and location, for use in future restoration and maintenance of the collection. When working with historical objects – particularly within a museum context – maintaining historical authenticity is extremely important, and having a well-organised and collated list of historical spares will assist in this regard.

A project like this one provides FMM with an opportunity to reassess its collection, and earmark items for more in-depth research with an aim to shedding even more light on South Africa’s wonderful motoring heritage.