Frac des Pays de la Loire 21e Ateliers Internationaux 2008
Frac des Pays de la Loire "Kagu Mobilier Japonais" 1984

A preventive conservation approach based on risk prevention, are implemented for these works…

This vast collection, with its array of diverse and specific mediums, is conserved in dedicated storage facilities, one of which is located at the Frac’s main site in Carquefou.

A policy of preventive conservation has been implemented since 2000 in anticipation of the problems and risks involved in transporting the collections and to minimise the effects of ageing on the actual materials of the artworks.

More than 250 different materials have been recorded across the whole collection. This is because 20th-century artists have used a much broader range of materials. This multifarious inventory brings together a diverse wealth of mediums and objects, many of which are derived from industry and used in their original form or have been modified, thereby posing the daily challenge of how to curb any changes or deterioration in the pieces.

The work through time

Each work is treated as a specific case. As soon as a piece comes into the collection, the Frac des Pays de la Loire requires the artist to complete a questionnaire. This covers many subjects, including the issue of the work’s ageing and its conservation. This document provides an overview of the artist’s initial thoughts on how the artwork should be cared for over time.

Preventive conservation is carried out on several levels. These include regular monitoring of the state of the works; surveying the physicochemical ageing of the works’ constituent materials; replacing certain mounts and frames that may have deteriorated over time; the manufacture of packaging using appropriate materials; the production of custom-made crates for transportation and storage; the transfer and digitisation of audio and video works; and the gradual refurbishment of the storage facilities to cope with the rapid growth of the collections.

In order to manage the preventive conservation of the collection in the best way possible, as well as during specific restoration campaigns, the Frac’s team enjoys the support of external conservation specialists, research laboratories for work on materials, teachers and students of the DNSEP post-graduate degree in Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Property (Sculpted Works option) from the ESAD TALM School of Art and Design campus in Tours, as well as the C2RMF (Centre for Research and Restoration of Museums of France).

Inventory checking

The collections department of the Frac has conducted substantial processes of inventory checking since 2011. This consists in verifying, for each piece and in situ, based on either the item itself or its inventory number, the presence of a work in the collection, its location, its state of repair and its labelling.

While inventory checking is obligatory for museums, this is not the case for a Frac. It is, however, essential for the sound management of a collection. It involves adopting a stringent procedure to enable systematic identification, authentication, labelling and localisation of the works.

The data collected is regularly updated in the artwork database – Videomuseum – Consortium of Modern and Contemporary Public Art Collections.