Workshop 03
Collections Salvage & Recovery
A practical workshop for teams who may need to handle damaged collections after water, storm, fire or building incidents. Participants practise setting up a salvage operation, triaging mixed materials, handling wet and fragile items, documenting movement, using basic drying and packing techniques, and deciding when specialist recovery is required.
Recommended Audience
Museum and gallery staff, technicians, collection managers, registrars and trained volunteers likely to participate in post-incident salvage.
Marae, whare taonga and kaitiaki groups wanting practical experience handling and stabilising affected taonga within agreed tikanga and authority structures.
Organisations that have completed preparedness or response training and want hands-on capability rather than plan-writing.
Topics Covered
Knowing when it is safe to begin salvage work
Setting up an organised recovery area and workflow
Prioritising damaged taonga and collection materials
Safely handling wet, fragile and weakened items
Understanding basic responses for water-damaged books, paper, photographs, textiles, artworks and objects
Using simple drying, blotting, support and separation techniques
Knowing when freezing or specialist drying may be needed
Reducing the risk of mould and recognising when specialist advice is required
Understanding the risks from smoke, soot, silt and contaminated water
Labelling, photographing and tracking items throughout recovery
Setting up safe temporary storage and monitoring affected materials
Planning the next stages of recovery, including conservation treatment, insurance documentation and return to storage