Art Handling, Transport and Storage
Online course by Node Center for Curatorial Studies with Eva Riess
Duration: Jan 17 – Feb 14, 2023
Fee: 184€
Max seats: 34
Enroll before: Jan 13, 2023
Live sessions: 2 hrs/week
Get 20% off if you enroll throughout December!
Discount code: twentythree
This course offers specially designed training on the handling, storage and transportation of cultural heritage focusing on modern and contemporary artworks (paintings, sculptures and installation works).
Artworks have to be moved, packed, transported, stored and presented properly to guarantee their preservation and safety. Curators, gallery staff, art handlers and technicians are indirect and frequent contact with artworks and therefore need to know the essentials of proper care, maintenance and preservation. Additionally, in an ever-expanding global art world this knowledge is crucial as the loan and transportation of works of art have increased significantly in recent years
This course is useful for anyone in contact with artworks and will provide basic guidelines for handling, packaging, transport and storage of works of art. In addition, the lecturer will enrich these guidelines, methods and techniques through case studies and day-to-day examples.
Program
Week 1. Introduction
- Introduction to the program and course overview.
This is a one-hour-only elcome session. The lecturer will introduce the program and participants will introduce themselves. No prior preparation is necessary.
Week 2. Handling
- general introduction into handling artworks: how to touch, move and place objects
- what not to do – common mistakes in art handling
- handling equipment and its application
Week 3. Packing (How to pack and crate an artwork)
- different crates used for transport (e.g. transportation frames, climate buffered crates) and their applications
- overview on materials used for soft packings like Tyvek, bubblewrap, Polyethylene foil or acid-free cardboard
- basic guide to safeguard glazed and framed paintings and drawings/works on paper
Week 4. Transport
- basics about how to transport artworks
- handling equipment: how to make best use of pallet jacks,forklifts and other devices to move heavy duty artworks
- requirements for short, in-house as well as long distance transports
- introduction on how to communicate with a transport company
Week 5. Storage
- general requirements on storage organisation
- materials and tools for storage use
- monitoring, pest management, housekeeping
- summary of good practices for daily work