AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

Couriers are a vital part of the cultural heritage ecosystem, ensuring the safe movement and installation of artworks across multiple locations. The additional skills and experience conservators bring to the courier role tangibly benefit the lender, borrower, and cultural heritage object. From a business perspective, adding this service offering provides the conservator with an additional income stream and can be a valuable tool for expanding their network. The Bookend Courier Model, a form of contract or third-party courier, is particularly relevant in the light of the global climate crisis as it significantly reduces the environmental impact of loans.
Recent research suggests that lenders are reluctant to use contract couriers because it is difficult to find trusted people to fill the role. In seeking a way to overcome this issue, the authors have identified three primary barriers to finding a suitable bookend courier: a scarcity of training opportunities for private practice conservators, a lack of recognition that private practice conservators can serve as independent couriers, and the unreliability of personal networks in a desired geographic region.
This talk will focus on addressing training opportunities and highlighting this service offering by private practices. The authors will discuss a workshop they have developed based on internationally accepted registrarial standards to train independent conservators to successfully act as contract couriers and integrate this service into their business model. Concurrently, the authors have been raising awareness of the Bookend Courier Model through presentations to allied professionals. To further support both conservators who would like to offer this service and those looking for trusted professionals to serve in that role, the authors are working on the development of a Collections Courier Network (discussed during the Toward Art in Transit 2.0 symposium). The network will address the need for a database of collections care professionals who can serve as independent couriers.