Environmental Conditions for Conservation of Cultural Properties published
In accordance with the Ministerial Ordinance to Revise Some of the Regulations Enforcing the Museum Act that was promulgated on April 30, 2009, Theories of Conservation of Museum Materials (2 credits) has been included in university or junior college courses to train curators. The course covers conservation of materials and exhibition conditions and will be required for accreditation as of this year. The National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo has authored and edited what should be the standard text for the class and published it via Chuo Koron Bijutsu Shuppan. The book provides a basic knowledge of and skills for conservation of cultural properties in facilities handing cultural properties and outdoors. Much of the book deals with information related to the natural sciences, such as temperature and humidity and climate control. The book’s content has been carefully examined and selected so that even students in the humanities can readily understand it without a loss in quality. Another advantage of the book is that it is practical, so it can assist curators who are already involved in conservation. As mentioned earlier, the fact that the course is required has further emphasized the important duty that facilities handing cultural properties have to conserve those items. Drafting this text has been both an imperative and a joy for those of us at the Institute who have long been involved in studying conservation conditions. Hopes are that this text will teach students and shape their efforts.