On September 24-26, 2024, the 11th International Conservation Conference from the series “Problems of Museums Related to the Preservation and Conservation of Collections” was held at the National Museum of Agriculture and Food Industry in Szreniawa, which opened the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of our Museum.

Fig. 1: Attendees at the Museum of Milling and Water Devices of the Rural Industry in Jaracz, Poland (25 September 2024).

The following institutions took honorary patronage over the event:

– Minister of Culture and National Heritage

– Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

– Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region

– National Institute of Museums

– National Heritage Institute

– Association of Open Air Museums in Poland

– AIMA (International Association of Agricultural Museums)

– National Centre for Culture

Continuing the tradition of Conservation Conferences, the eleventh meeting in the series was devoted to issues that fit into the following themes:

– preventive conservation of museum collections

– conservation of objects exhibited outdoors

– conservation of objects made of organic matter

– conservation of objects made of inorganic matter

– new technologies in the service of conservation of museum collections

– conservation of objects with a complex, atypical structure

– conservation of large-size objects

– commissioning of historic objects

– exploitation of historic objects of engineering art

Fig. 2. Wiktor Budzynski (Muzeum Wsi Radomskiej w Radomiu) presented “Challenges in the conservation of museum objects intended for activation: The example combine harvester of Antoni Sikora.“ The image shows him operating the conserved machine. Photograph by Debra Reid.

Discussion of these issues began with presentations on the broadly understood topic of preventive conservation, touching on, among others, the role and location of preventive conservation in the protection of cultural heritage, monitoring the museum environment for better protection of collections, the scope of possible preventive actions to prevent the destruction of museum collections, the impact of individual environmental factors on historic objects. In addition, the subject of conservation of monuments made of organic and inorganic materials was raised, which also includes such issues as: the destructive effect of time and the impact of the technical condition of rooms and climatic conditions on historic objects. Issues about differences between static and dynamic exhibitions in relation to technical monuments were also discussed, as well as the important issue of the “living museum” and compliance with conservation principles in the context of preparing historic technical objects for launch. Presenters also addressed thematic issues concerning the use of historic engineering objects.

The submitted presentations were presented in four thematic blocks:

I. Preventive conservation of museum collections.

II. Conservation of objects exhibited outdoors and made of organic and inorganic matter.

III. Conservation of objects intended for launch and large-sized.

IV. Exploitation of historic engineering objects.

Attendees also visited one of the five branches of the Museum in Szreniawa, namely the Museum of Milling and Water Devices of the Rural Industry in Jaracz. There the launch of a historic windmill was presented, as well as the production of white sausage and baking bread in bread ovens.

Fig. 3. Conservators tried their hand as making white sausage (Biała Kiełbasa) at the Museum of Milling and Water Devices of the Rural Industry in Jaracz, Poland. Photograph by Debra Reid.

Fig. 4. Bread baked in the ovens at the Museum of Milling and Water Devices of the Rural Industry in Jaracz, Poland (25 September 2024). Photograph by Debra Reid.

The event was attended by about 100 people from various museums and scientific institutions in Poland and from Australia, the Czech Republic, India and the United States.

Fig. 5. Conservators and other attendees filled the room at the National Museum of Agriculture and Food Industry in Szreniawa, Poland for sessions on 24 and 26 September 2024.

As part of the Conference, as during the last two sessions, a 430-page proceedings of the submitted articles was published (together with the Poznań Society of Friends of Science), in the form of a scientific monograph “Problems of museums related to the preservation and conservation of collections”.

Submitted by Hanna Ignatowicz, kustosz
Muzeum Narodowe Rolnictwa i Przemysłu Rolno-Spożywczego w Szreniawie