AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

One of the statutory functions of the National Library Board is “to share information on library and archival collections by any means, including through publications and exhibitions”. The Archives Conservation Lab supports exhibitions by working closely with the curators from the planning and ideation stage, condition assessments and installation – all of which often require innovative problem solving and racing against time to manage the curveballs that come together with exhibitions. Every exhibition is different, and conservators increasingly must find a balance that works – without compromising the preservation needs of the items.

The "Architecture Archives Exhibition" running from November 2023 to June 2024 at the Urban Redevelopment Authority Building, Singapore, presents architectural drawings from a special collection of the National Library of Singapore. This exhibition features over 550 multifarious design drawings covering 19 contemporary architectural projects from 1981 to 2015.

The paper-based items included sketches on translucent tracing and butter paper, building plans, watercolour presentations, diazo prints, and printed images on copier paper. Some of the drawings had multiple sheets that were taped together to create greater depth via a unique overlay effect when viewing. Some had a sheet of translucent paper superimposed over an opaque print or paper, while others had varying layers of translucent paper stacked over each other.

On top of this, the design of the exhibition display sought to intentionally contradict the archetypical museum style, instead opting for a more organic 'working studio' aesthetic. This approach presented several obstacles in mounting items for vertical display. The curators proposed displaying vertical items by sandwiching the top edge of the object between plywood bars with magnets. However, as the objects varied in size and material, the magnetic force could be acceptable for some but potentially harmful, causing dents, in others. There was also a risk of tearing the object during the installation or deinstallation process; especially those made from butter paper which were extremely thin and fragile.

Hence the team was tasked with a unique problem – how do we enable the vision of the exhibition while ensuring the safety of the items? To achieve this, the team pioneered a new way of hinging, enabling a balance between curatorial direction and conservation integrity by altering how the objects were secured between the plywood bars. Since the conventional method of framing or hinging onto a mount board did not fit the design aesthetic of the exhibition, we eliminated direct contact of the plywood bars to the object by including a modified T-hinge. The modified T-hinge uses Japanese tissue and thin folder stock, which were adhered to the object using either wheat starch paste or heat-activated tissue, Filmoplast® R. The choice of adhesive depended on the object’s sensitivity to moisture. The object was then attached to the showcase wall using 3M™ 415 double-sided polyester adhesive tape. This method sufficiently supported and safeguarded the object; also remained completely unobtrusive for the viewer.

This new method saved 60% more time than the traditional T hinge method and the team used folder stock off-cuts to make the support T-hinge, making it cost effective too. It was all hands-on deck, with conservators trained in the new hinging method to ensure consistency. 253 items were successfully mounted in this way, paving a new alternative for similar exhibitions in the future.

This gargantuan effort with numerous consultations with curators and exhibition designers, shows that the role of conservators goes beyond simply providing one-off exhibition support. Through close consultation the curators in the exhibition team were reminded that they too play an equally important role upholding preservation guidelines and initiating conservation efforts as early as possible, regardless of the condition of items. Given the changing nature of exhibition spaces becoming more immersive and interactive, this is only the beginning of more of such unique, informal exhibition designs and there will be more variants of conservators ‘crossing the T’s’ to come.