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

A new method of processing exhibit items

The Laboratory for Biological Monitoring (Liudmila Slavoshevskaya, director) has introduced a non-destructive method of processing exhibit items infested with insects in a deep-freezer chamber.

The objects are closely packed in polyethylene packaging and are held in a deep freezer chamber (8 cubic metres) at a temperature of -18°-20° C for several days (depending on the kind of pest, the size and material of the exhibit item).

In 2005 large collections of textile items and carpets as well as new parquet flooring contaminated with wood-eating beetles were processed in this manner.

Display cases with mechanically stabilized climate

Various exhibitions in museums make use of various models of installations for stabilizing microclimate. In Russia mechanical stabilization in display cases is being applied for the first time.

Such display cases are used to store very sensitive works of art which require storage conditions to be as stable as possible to prolong their life. While the relative humidity of the air in museum rooms may fluctuate within a rather wide range over the course of the year, in the display cases with mechanical stabilizers of microclimate it remains at the assigned level all year long.

Thus, in a display case used within the exhibition devoted to Indian art, relative humidity of the air is maintained within the range of 40-45%. Meanwhile, a display case with a microclimate device in the exhibition of Limoges enamels makes it possible to maintain relative humidity of the air at a constant level below 30%.

Freezer chamber
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Display case with mechanically stabilized climate in the Room of Indian Miniatures
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Display case with mechanically stabilized climate in the Room of Limoges Enamels
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