Visit to the Getty Conservation Institute and Exchange Meeting on Research into Sustainable Collection Environments
As global warming has become a pressing global issue, the need for sustainable environmental management in cultural heritage preservation has also gained importance. In 2014, a joint declaration was issued by the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) and the International Council of Museums – Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC), calling for environmentally responsible approaches to preservation practices. At the Center for Conservation Science, Preventive Conservation Section, we have been pursuing research to explore sustainable environmental management methods suited to the preservation of cultural properties in Japan.
As part of these efforts, in August 2023 (Reiwa 5), a team from the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) participated in the “Changing Climate Management Strategies Workshop: Sustainable Collection Environments and Monitoring Object Response,” co-hosted by the Getty Conservation Institute and The National Gallery of Victoria in Australia, and since then have continued exchanges with researchers at the Getty Conservation Institute.
From September 24 to 26, 2025 (Reiwa year 7), we visited the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. Two years after the workshop, members of both TOBUNKEN and the Getty Conservation Institute presented updates on their respective research and engaged in discussions. Representing TOBUNKEN, Dr. MIZUTANI Etsuko (Researcher, Preventive Conservation Section, Center for Conservation Science) and Assoc. Prof. IBA Chiemi (Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University; Visiting Researcher of TOBUNKEN) delivered the presentations. Active discussions were held on topics such as Japan’s climatic conditions, the unique structural characteristics of cultural property materials, and measurement methods required for risk assessment of deterioration.
Following the discussions, we toured the research facilities and had the opportunity to interact with researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The Japanese case provides valuable insights into the challenges of managing conservation environments for cultural heritage in countries with humid temperate climates. This visit was a highly meaningful opportunity to re-examine environmental conservation research from an international perspective and to explore possible directions for future collaboration.