Laboratory director Liudmila V. Slavoshevskaya
Òålephone: (812) 710-97-38

The laboratory was formed from among a group of restorers and specialists in disinfection. It was organized in the 1960s to combat insects and other pests. During the period from 1963 to 1985, the group worked under the leadership of entomologist M.S. Volkova, who organized preventive inspection in the museum. Isolation chambers and a simple fumigation chamber for disinfection (using paradichlorbenzol) were set up. In early 1986, Doctor of Biological Sciences L.V. Slavoshevskaya headed a group of three staff members. Under her direction by 1991 the group was organized as an independent scientific and operational laboratory in which there were personnel changes and a new approach to the tasks of protecting the collections.

At present the main concept for operational and research work in the laboratory is to ensure the protection of the museum collections by means of preventive conservation. Twelve staff members perform work in two basic areas: biological control (led by the laboratory director L.V. Slavoshevskaya) and control of the microclimate (led by the senior research worker T.F. Bolshakova).

The laboratory staff have passed through training programmes in the leading professional institutions in their field in Russia, Germany, France and England. Over the past 15 years, the laboratory became a centre for preventive conservation of cultural treasures. Its specialists provide consultations and practical assistance to the staff of museums, libraries and archives not only in St Petersburg but also in other cities around Russia and abroad. The laboratory offers training positions to students who are restorers and biologists. The results of its work are published in the Russian and foreign press.

Restoration programmes:

1. A new method of processing exhibit items. Display cases with mechanically stabilized climate