When I started an internship in San Francisco, California, I had no idea what to expect while working in a private conservation studio. One of my first big tasks when I arrived was to help open the large anoxia tent that was set up downstairs. This large, silver tent was roughly twenty feet long by Read more
Cardiff students work with a wide variety of objects at the university lab, on placements or other volunteering opportunities. It’s difficult to pick a favourite object – like choosing a favourite child! But in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we’ve asked six students to tell us about a special object that they’ve loved working with. Read more
Introduction Kintsugi, also called Kintsukuroi, is a set of traditional Japanese ceramic repairing skills that has been practiced for centuries. Archaeologists and historians have found that some excavated pottery in Japan was repaired with lacquerware techniques around 1000 BCE. It is also believed that around the 15th century, Kinsukuroi was introduced from China. Kinsukuroi means Read more
Students doing conservation degrees are expected to complete a summer placement where they work on site or in a museum. Masters students are expected to do a minimum of eight weeks and bachelors students are expected to complete a minimum of four weeks. This provides them with practical hands on experience in a setting outside Read more
This winter, I had the privilege of working with a team of stonemasons and conservators. Coe Stone Ltd. Masonry: Carving & Conservation (http://olivercoe-com.stackstaging.com/) were hired on to perform conservation work on Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, and I joined their team for just over one month, over the winter break of my MSc in Conservation Practice at Read more
This post was originally written for the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute. You can find the original post on their blog here. They have kindly given us permission to share the post on our blog as well. The history behind a single object can often tell many stories. In 2004 Read more
This summer has seen many of the Cardiff University students on summer placements and internships. As I headed into my internship at Bolton Museum I expected and prepared myself for a lot of practical desk work within the lab. While I absolutely love doing work in the lab, I was thrilled to discover that my Read more
Every exhibit is built with a story to tell. If, by the end of its observation, the viewer has not grasped the message of the exhibit, then it has failed to do its job. Thus, everyone involved in the exhibit’s creation must keep one question at the forefront of their mind: does what I am Read more
Conservation students, MSc and BSc, at Cardiff are required to do 8 weeks of summer placement between years, supported by a stipend from the University. Luckily, the department has cultivated some amazing connections with museums around the UK, and even some in the US and Greece. Many of these connections come from far-flung alumni/ae of the Read more
Plane, Bus, Taxi, and Coach… And that’s just what got me to the station in Volos, Greece for my summer placement within the conservation department of the Archaeological Ephotate of Larisa. As I was getting off the 4-hour coach ride from Athens to Volos, eagerly looking for someone I had never met in a country Read more
