ICON19

The most important conservation event of 2019 will undoubtedly be ICON19, the Institute of Conservation's triennial conference, it was set to bring together conservators from all over the world with different disciplines. Being titled 'New Perspectives: Contemporary Conservation Thinking and Practice', I used it as an opportunity to submit a poster about using 3D Printing to create replacement parts for the Kings Fund Hospital Model.

I had 3 main aims in attending ICON19

1. Opportunity to connect with other conservators, particularly those working at local authorities similar to myself in my new employment working for the Conservation and Museums Advisory Service (CMAS) at Wiltshire Council.
2. Share my use of 3D Printing through my poster and a practical demonstration.
3. Attend talks on subjects to help with my current work and areas of interest.

The conference kicked off, sparking everyones enthusiasm with plenary talks. Sandra Smith from the British Museum discussed future challenges for the conservator, even touching on 3D printing materials and fabrication processes and the fact these need to be reviewed and researched. However, the most heart breaking and thought provoking had to be from Richard Mulholland. His talk on conservation in conflict zones highlighted some of the heroes that put their lives on the line to save collections from destruction.

There were so many absorbing parallel sessions that it would be impossible to cover them all in one summary. On a personal level I found of particular interest the Science Museum's Vanessa Applebaum's talk on biodegradable plastics and the continued work that was carried out on the Kings Fund Hospital Model by Kenneth Cobb. For my new role at CMAS it was the research undertaken by Johanna Thunberg, Nicola Emmerson and David Watkinson, from Cardiff University, on best practice for the storage of archeological metals which helped confirm and instruct methods we can implement at the museums we work with across Wiltshire. I also feel that David Leong's talk on using artificial technology to identify axe marks and carvings at Stone Henge will be a huge talking point for people in Wiltshire, and Sarah Hamlyn and Nicole Monjeau gave some very valuable advice for effective training which I will definitely implement in future workshops. A summary of key talks that stood out for me are included in the links at the bottom of this page.

My own contribution, thanks to the donation from the Anna Plowden Trust, consisted of not only my poster but a practical demonstration. My treatment using 3D printing to produce replica parts was carried out on a 1932 1:16 scale model of a Hospital going on permanent display in the new Medicine Galleries at the Science Museum. I was unable to bring a 3D printer with me via plane to the event, but I put together a time lapse video of the design and printing process. I also had printed parts for people to handle and detailed information sheets for people to take away. Primarily, I discussed the steps you take to create a replica part using 3D Design and Printing, but I also used it as an opportunity to assess if there would be interest in a future 3D Printing workshop for conservators. I also had the opportunity to meet two fellow conservators working for local government authorities and I hope to continue the connection in order to share experiences and gain advice.

Some of the closing talks were tough to listen to, dealing with the vital problems of lack of diversity and job opportunities within conservation as highlighted by the Emerging Professionals Network and Leanne Tonkins talk on 'Forging ways forward with the fear factor'. However, the key themes that seemed to be repeated throughout were collaboration and research. New technologies will be vital in the future development of the field, but it must be remembered that heritage is about people, the tangible matters. And as Debra Hess Norris put it so succinctly in the penultimate closing talk with a Beatles tribute

'tell stories, today, tomorrow, eight days a week.'