Helen Macpherson Smith Trust

Main Menu Search

Case Study: Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (University of Melbourne)

ProjectCultural Conservation Channel

Amount$100,000 over three years

Date2013

ProgramOther Past Programs

TRUST OBJECTIVES PROJECT OBJECTIVES
This grant was approved under our previous grants policy
Rural and regional Victoria Deliver expertise and support for cultural preservation to regional Victoria, where significant cultural and heritage material is held.
Supporting Indigenous Victoria Indigenous communities are amongst the key cultural partners committed to the project.
Building capacity Create an e-learning initiative program so communities and individuals across Victoria can better care for their cultural heritage.
Extending opportunity Cultural conservation skills which principally reside in Melbourne can be shared with rural communities, overcoming communication and resourcing difficulties.
Collaboration and partnership National Film and Sound Archives, Victorian College for the Arts, NETS Victoria,  University of Melbourne Indigenous Cultural Committee and Centre for Social Investment, Arts Victoria, Performing Arts Museum, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Yackandandah Historical Society and Gippsland Art Gallery.

Encouraging and assisting diverse user groups to participate in conserving Victoria’s history and heritage

In a new approach to the delivery of conservation expertise and support, the Cultural Conservation Channel has put custodians of Victoria's cultural records at the heart of an ambitious project to build collection care knowledge, skills, and capacity using online tools.

Image Conservation Workshop University of Melbourne, Parkville

Significant cultural and heritage material is held in regional Victoria, but the expertise and support for cultural conservation lies predominantly in Melbourne. It is expensive for conservators to travel to regional Victoria, and virtually impossible to bring collections to Melbourne for assessment. The Cultural Conservation Channel (CCC) has built a community of over 500 conservation practitioners to focus on access to conservation education, training and knowledge, bringing together disparate partners across Victoria and Australia representing peak bodies, community collections, and key individuals. It delivers both content on conservation, and the delivery platform from which to access this information to those responsible for, and interested in, cultural material preservation.

Snapshot:

  • The CCC provides a portal through which to raise awareness of new options for conservation resource delivery and communication
  • It contains a unique suite of integrated online conservation learning resources, designed by and for regional heritage custodians.
  • These resources can continue to be accessed and added to, extending life-long learning opportunities.
  • It enables professional development across heritage organisations for professionals and volunteers
  • It provides functional support mechanisms to preserve significant cultural materials enabling participants to look after their cultural collections.
  • The CCC is a sustainable information platform that can develop alongside new conservation resources.

Q&A preventative conservation forum: www.conservationanswers.net

Open text book with resources for a variety of conservation learning pathways: http://culturalmaterials.net/wp

arts.unimelb.edu.au/grimwadecentre

"The raft of easily accessible tools provided by the Cultural Conservation Channel is seen as extremely useful.” Professor Robyn Sloggett, Grimwade Centre.