Condition
Aftermath of the flooding event
The flooding caused significant damage to the both the Gallery and its collections, including:
- No power inside the gallery- leaving the team working in mud, rain, and darkness
- Patchy phone service, creating difficulties for communicating and creating a plan
- Large amounts of debris present that would require heavy cleaning
- Ceiling of the Gallery loading dock collapsed
- Rugs and carpets soaked by muddy water growing mould
- A large collection of works on paper and canvas, all soaked with many growing mould
Treatment
Disaster management steps
ICS conservators needed to devise and implement a variety of methods in order to accommodate the needs of this collection, which features a wide variety of materials, objects and artworks.
The immediate priority was to determine the damage and develop an agreed approach to salvage and treatment:
- ICS arranged for art transport trucks loaded with conservation supplies and equipment to travel to Lismore from Sydney.
- The collection was photo documented and individually assessed by ICS conservators to determine the damage, priority and potential treatment methodologies
- After assessment, it was determined which items would be moved to various holding points for treatment and/or storage.
- The bulk of the collection was transported to Brisbane by refrigerated trucks for temporary storage.
- The important Hannah Cabinet furniture and some textiles were loaded onto trucks and moved to Canberra for treatment.
- Additional trucks moved 3D objects, including cabinets and tubs of video materials, into safe storage
- Create NSW provided logistical support and provided a triage and treatment space in Sydney at no cost
Outcome
After 14 months of treatment, ICS conservators returned the collection to Lismore for temporary storage while the Lismore Art Gallery is rebuilt.
Before treatment
After treatment
