27 September 2007

SURVIVING AGAINST THE ODDS - CARE OF BRITAIN'S HERITAGE REWARDED

The battle to look after hundreds of years of British history was recognised
last night at a ceremony at the British Museum. People and projects who have
done most to ensure the preservation of valuable heritage items won deserved
acclaim at the Conservation Awards 2007, which are supported by Sir Paul
McCartney.

The top two awards, which come with a glass trophy and £15,000, went to
contrasting projects - the miraculous preservation of a 400 year old silk
jacket, and a unique university project in the north-east that will ensure
the proper preservation of precious documents across the region.

Judging Chair Dame Liz Forgan, said: "It is only possible to enjoy and learn
from our past because of the ingenuity, dedication and hard work that go
into ensuring heritage items are kept and looked after with meticulous care
and in the right environment. The winners of these Awards are an inspiration
to others."

The miraculous preservation of a 400 year old silk doublet won the Award for
Conservation. The fragile man's jacket dating from the 1620s had been
painstakingly conserved in a 300-hour operation based on detailed analysis
of the material and the way it had been made. Broadcaster Dan Cruickshank
presented the award to Tuula Pardoe of the Scottish Conservation Studio and
Sue Payne, curator at Perth Museum, where the doublet is on show for the
first time ever. The project was up against stiff competition from the
multi-Award winning ss Great Britain and a National Trust project to restore
an Elizabethan table carpet.

And a trailblazing scheme to spread advice on how to look after book and
paper collections across the north-east ensured that Durham University
Library picked up the Collections Care Award. The project, with funding from
the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) North East, helped 50
organisations across the region equip themselves with the know-how to
preserve vital documents, books and manuscripts in buildings ranging from a
castle tower to an industrial unit.

MLA Chair Mark Wood presented the award to Liz Branigan, resident
conservator at Durham University Library and Sheila Hingley, Head of
heritage collections.

Other winners were:

Rachel Morrison and The Courtauld Institute of Art won Student Conservator
of the Year for research into cleaning unvarnished paintings.

Loyd Grossman presented The National Archives, Kew, with the Digital
Preservation Award for the 'Active preservation at the National Archives:
PRONOM and DROID' project.

Professor Norman Tennent and Dr James Nobbs won the Anna Plowden Award for
inventing a computerised technique to improve colour-matching in ceramic
conservation, presented by Baroness Sharp of Guildford.

The Conservation Awards are the UK's leading awards for the preservation of
cultural heritage. They are sponsored by Sir Paul McCartney and supported by
key organisations in conservation and collections care: the Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), English Heritage, the Institute of
Conservation (Icon) and the National Preservation Office. The Digital
Preservation Coalition and the Anna Plowden Trust sponsor the awards in
their names.

For more information visit www.conservationawards.org.uk.

Pictures of the winning projects are available from www.picselect.com under
English Heritage/Conservation Awards.

Separate press releases on other Awards are available from the website.

For details of the Digital Preservation Award, please see www.dpconline.org.

2007 Awards Judges

Chair: Dame Liz Forgan Chair, Heritage
Lottery Fund
George Ferguson Chairman, Acanthus Ferguson Mann Architects
Maev Kennedy Arts Correspondent, The Guardian
Gillian Lewis Formerly Head of Conservation, National
Maritime Museum
Georgina Nayler Director, The Pilgrim Trust
Alice Rawsthorn Design Critic, International Herald Tribune
Ros Savill Director, Wallace Collection
Anna Southall Vice-Chair, Big Lottery Fund

The Digital Preservation Award has its own expert panel of judges, while the
Anna Plowden Trust Award is judged by the Trustees.


SUSAN HUGHES
Administrator, Conservation Awards 2007
3rd Floor, Downstream Building
1 London Bridge
London SE1 9BG
Tel: 020 7326 0995

E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Website: www.conservationawards.org.uk