Cultural Conservation Channel
Welcome to the Cultural Conservation Channel.
Overview
The Cultural Conservation Channel provides accessible, informative, and practical information about the conservation of cultural material to communities and individuals with an interest preserving their history and culture. It showcases the work of students and staff at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation as well as the work of museum professionals, volunteers and custodians of privately-owned heritage with whom the Centre is engaged. The centre gratefully acknowledges the support of the Helen MacPherson-Smith Trust, which made the creation of the channel possible.
This website also provides a portal to the reCollections website, which updates the 1998-2000 handbook series reCollections: caring for collections across Australia. reCollections has been made possible by the kind permission of the copyright holder, the Department of Communications and the Arts, and has been a partnership program in collaboration with the national professional body for conservators, the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM), and its members.
reCollections is an online resource all about caring for collection materials.
Supporting distributed cultural collections by connecting conservators and custodians
reCollections: Caring for Distributed Collections is designed to help people care for their objects and their collections. Written by conservators, it provides a sound guide for the care and management of cultural items and collections. A wide range of materials are covered, as well as the common causes of deterioration and appropriate storage, handling and display techniques. Information provided includes:
- common deterioration processes
- light and ultraviolet radiation
- humidity and temperature
- biological pests
- dust and pollutants
- handling
- storage and display
- transportation
- materials
- management
With the support of the Department of Communications and the Arts, Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM) and the Helen McPherson Smith Trust, the Grimwade Centre has updated and republished the reCollections guide to the care and management of cultural collections principally for non-conservators working with cultural collections.
Build your knowledge of how to care for collections through the Conservation Learning Series.
The Conservation Series is a short, online learning program for anyone interested in enhancing their collection management skills.
Delivered by professional conservators, the Conservation Series is ideal for building your understanding of things that can accelerate damage and deterioration of collections, and what you can do to protect artworks and objects into the future.
The Conservation Learning Series delivers an introductory package ideal for all people who own or manage cultural collections including volunteers, collection caretakers, museum and gallery workers, curators, registrars, community workers, and private individuals.
Launching in 2022
The Conservation Series would like to acknowledge the University of Melbourne Proof-of-Concept Fund for the advancement of research.

Caring for collections - the complete Conservation Series
Gain a complete understanding of best-practice collection care activities including safe object handling, collection environments, documentation, storage and packing, and disaster preparedness.
- Delivery mode: Online and one live group zoom session
- Duration: 5 hours
- Digital Certificate of Completion

Disaster preparedness for collections
Discover how disasters can impact collections and the active steps you can take to prevent them.
- Delivery mode: Online and one live group zoom session
- Duration: 2 hours and 50 minutes
- Digital Certificate of Completion

Storing collections properly
Develop an understanding of how to store artwork and cultural material safely.
- Delivery mode: Online and one live group zoom session
- Duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes
- Digital Certificate of Completion

How to document collections
Gain an introductory understanding of how to use best-practice collections record-keeping procedures to document your collection items.
- Delivery mode: Online and one live group zoom session
- Duration: 2 hours and 50 minutes
- Digital Certificate of Completion
Contact us
Have a question about the Conservation Learning Series? Get in touch.
Contact usThe Grimwade Centre student project blog showcases the work of our Masters and PhD students
Learn more about the Grimwade Centre through videos of recent events, seminars and workshops
Disclaimer: Work in these videos is undertaken or supervised by highly skilled conservation experts from the Grimwade Centre. Please consult an expert before undertaking any conservation action. Professional services are available through the our commercial services.