Museum conservation

What is conservation?

Conservation is what we do to help look after and care for the items in our museums, galleries and record archives.

Our conservation team

Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives cultural and natural collections have been under the care of conservators since the 1940s. Our staff specialising in antiquities, paintings, paper and photographs, and preventive conservation are based at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Our conservators:

• prepare artefacts for display
• set conservation standards for the refurbishment of permanent exhibitions
• prepare artefacts for loan to another institution
• check new acquisitions
• assess the condition of objects and work on the installation of temporary exhibitions
• work to improve collections storage
• maintain permanent displays - this includes training staff and cleaning objects.

The Conservation Team is primarily a resource for Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives, but also provides information and advice to the general public and carries out work for individuals and other regional collections.  This work is undertaken on a commercial basis by our in-house team.

Can I contact a conservator?

If you have an enquiry or an object that needs conservation, please contact our conservators - details can be found on the Conservation in Action page.