Reorganization of the Museum depot

Reorganization of the Museum depot
Authors: Ajla Alijagić, Kenan Cikotić, Iman Gec, Ida Fazlić, Mirza Raunić,
Jasmina Hrustanović, Arman Džaferagić
Mentor: mr.sc. Azra Bečević-Šarenkapa, senior conservator
Conservation and restoration department, Academy of Fine Arts and Faculty of
Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Sarajevo
ajlaali@hotmail.com, idabrcko@gmail.com, jasminahrustanovic@yahoo.com,
arman_dzaferagic@hotmail.com, imangec@outlook.com, kenancikotic@gmail.com,
raunicmirza@gmail.com
1. Introduction
Last summer, students of conservation and restoration from the University of
Sarajevo joined in a civil action called 'I am Museum'. This action had the goal to
reopen Bosnia and Herzegovina's most important museum institution, which was
closed for three years due to the influence of politics and financial plight.
These students gave their full support to employees of the museum, who have
been taking care of exhibits for almost three years, without any charge. Students
contributed to The National Museum of B&H and it's employees by keeping careful
watch of exhibits for one whole day. On this occasion, students offered to help the
museum's employees where they need it most. In agreement with mr.sc. Azra
Bečević-Šarenkapa, senior conservator, they arranged the reorganization of
'Agricultural collection' at the Ethnology Department of National Museum of B&H.
Since their menthor was already part of education program RE-ORG SEE with
an agreement to solve a reorganisation of storage area for Agricultural collection they
decided to continue to use the RE-ORG methodology. This certain methodology was
provided by ICCROM from Rome in collaboration with UNESO, in order to show the
states in transition, or those less fortunate, a way to reorganize museum storage
rooms without larger financial investment. In addition to the appropriate protection of
exhibits, this methodology provides their accessibility and effective use at the same
time.
The only condition set for students was that their job requires as less funds as
possible, considering the museum's financial plight. This condition set a new
challenge for students-to do a great job without financial aid.

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Photo 1. Entrance at The National Museum of B&H while it was closed (photo: Azra
Bečević-Šarenkapa)
Photo 2. Students of conservation and restoration keeping watch over the exhibits during the
civil action 'I am Museum' (photo: Arman Džaferagić, 11.august 2015.)
2. About the Museum
Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina was founded in 1888. It was the first institution
of western cultural style and scientific content in the country. Idea of establishing a
museum in Bosnia and Herzegovina was made in 1888. by the Austro-Hungarians,
despite the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina was still a part of the Ottoman Empire
as the Eyalet of Bosnia back in the mid-19th century. Austro-Hungarians brought new

Ajla Alijagić, Kenan Cikotić, Iman Gec, Ida Fazlić, Mirza Raunić, Jasmina Hrustanović, Arman Džaferagić
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values of science development and new social goals. Many cultural artefacts were in
danger because of treasure hunters, which made the establishment of the museum a
priority in a still unexplored Balkan country. The National Museum was established on
February 1st 1888 after the establishment of the Museum Society. First museum
director was government advisor Kosta Hörmann. In 1909 complex comprising four
pavilions and botanic garden were built for housing the National Museum because
the previous facility was not adequate for the growing collection. The facility was
completed and inaugurated in 1913. and it houses museum to this day.
2.1. Basic structure
The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina engages in museological,
scientific, educational, and publishing activities, which determine its organisational
structure. It is made up of four main departments: the Archaeology Department, the
Ethnology Department, the Natural Sciences Department and the Library.
2.2. Agricultural collection at the Ethnology Department
Department of ethnology has about 18.000 objects in their collections.
Agricultural collection consists of the 710 objects. Objects in the collection are used
at the rural areas for work at the field, transport, fishing and hunting, etc. Objects are
mainly made of wood, metal, basketry, leather. It is stored in a basemen of the
Ethnology building.
Photo 3. Storage room of Agricultural collection at the Ethnology Department of National Museum of
B&H before reorganization (photo: Azra Bečević-Šarenkapa)

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3. Phases of reorganization of the storage room of Agricultural collection at
the Ethnology Department, National Museum of B&H
According to Re-ORG methodology reorganization of the storage should be done
through four phases.
 First Phase: Creation and education of a team
 Phase Two: Study of the storeroom
 Third Phase: Planification of the project
 Phase Four: Execution of the project
3.1. Phase One: Creation and education of a team
Seven students who took part in the reorganization had a mentor, mr.sc. Azra
Bečević-Šarenkapa, senior conservator and curator, Samir Avdić on their team.
Mr.sc. Azra Šarenkapa-Bečević, senior conservator, educate team about
importance of the collection, Re – org methodology, types of objects, handling,
moving, packing and protecting objects.
3.1.1. About the Re-org methodology
3.1.1.1. Why storage reorganization?
Some facts:
"The progressive abandonment of museum storage is not only an issue
affecting developing countries. All countries face the same problems:
All over the world, the situation of museum storage is worrying, as shown by
the International Survey on Museum Storage conducted by ICCROM and UNESCO
in 2011.
In the United States, the 2005 Heritage Health Index showed that only 11% of
institutions had adequate storage facilities; moreover, a 2011 report by the Inspector
General said 10% of inventoried items at the National Museum of American History
are expected to be missing.
In Russia, as reported in 2008 by the French newspaper Le Monde, the
inventory control of a large national museum revealed 50,000 missing objects.
In Canada, the Collections Survey 2008/2009 by the Canadian Art Museum
Directors' Conference (CAMDO) showed that 37.2% of storage facilities were
inadequate and that 93% of storage areas would be full within 10 years.
In Wales, the 2007 report Spotlight on Museums revealed that 67% of
museum storage areas were already full, or would be within 5 years.

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In the UK, the 2008 University College London led research Collections for
People showed that overcrowding was believed to be the biggest deterrent to
opening up storage to the public.
And the list goes on…"1
3.1.2. Storage reorganization tackles the complexity of existing situations
Most museums are not faced with the problem of reorganization . Instead, they must
improve existing situation: objects are no longer visible, accessible or retrievable;
materials of all kinds have accumulated in the aisles, and the building no longer offers
adequate protection. Although 60% of museums are facing this particular kind of
problem, not much literature can be found about the solution to this problem. The
storage helps to improve the collection’s potential for use and access, while ensuring
its long-term conservation.
Over time, the storage areas (probably in one or two rooms) have been abandoned
progressively and no longer fulfilled the seven essential criteria for good storage:
 There is at least one trained member of staff in charge
 There is a basic documentation system (complete & up to date)
 Storage areas are reserved exclusively for the collection
 Every object has an assigned location
 Every object can be retrieved within three minutes
 Every object can be moved without damaging another
 The building is designed or adapted for conservation
 Who want the stored collection to be usable for the museum’s public outreach
activities, and for it to be presentable to colleagues.
 Who have colleagues that are keen to work together to reorganize the storage
areas, but don’t know where to start.
3.1.3. What outcomes can you expect?
By reorganization of the storage, exhibits will be fully accessible and usable by staff,
allowing public access to the collection for research and enjoyment.
The collection will be in conditions that provide its conservation for future generations.
1
Re-Org - Storage reorganization methhodology,Version 1.0., ICROM and UNESCO, 13.Dec.2011.,
http://www.re-org.info/images/printerfriendly/en_reorg_bw_worksheets.pdf

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The museum will be able to maintain and further develop the storage area(s).
3.2. Phase Two: Study of the storeroom
Research about the Agricultural collection and the storage room it is kept in
was done in this phase. These are the results achieved through this research.
 There is a storage department
 There is a responsible curator for the collection, but there is no strict
restriction who can get in the storage
 There is a written job description
 There are rules for the storage department, but rules are not applied
 The storeroom is cleaned at least once a month
 All objects are registered
 The registration do include the localisation
 Storage department have three connected rooms at the basement. Total
area of the storage is 119 m2
, but it is divided to the rooms by 15, 39 and
65 m2
.
 Problem is the height of the room, which is 220 cm, due to the terrain of the
building
 In each room is a window
 Space in two bigger rooms is blocked by unit for exchange of air in
exhibition spaces, but takes up space on the floor as well as space used by
ventilation pipes.
 Heating pipes are attached to the ceiling of the storage.
 There is a movement sensors, connected to the security company
 Collection are well organized, but not placed on specific location within a
storage area.
 There is no money to invest in furniture, equipment and packing material.
 About 15% of collection are extra large objects, over 50 kg, more than 1,2
m (long, wide,...)
 80% of exhibits were made out of organic materials (mostly wood) and 20
% out of inorganic materials (mostly metal)
 Objects rarely go out of the storage, since there are no so many exhibitions
with this kind of objects.
 It is difficult to move some of the big objects.

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 Objects which were at the exhibition are packed properly with adequate
packing, support and documentation.
Sketch 1: Floor plan - storage room (Azra Bečević Šarenkapa)
Chart 1: exhibits in the Agricultural collection (Kenan Cikotić, April 2016)

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Chart 2: Material used (Kenan Cikotić, April 2016.)
Chart 3: Type of material (Kenan Cikotić, April 2016.)
3.3. Third Phase: Planification of the project
3.3.1.Criteria of a professional storage
In this phase, they made a list of criteria of professional storing, and then they
reviewed on what they have and can, without any funds, fix themselves:
1. A person is in charge
2. Administrative documents exist
3. The building is sound
4. Existence of a storage department with at least 3 sectors (accession,
storage, expedition)
5. The storage contains only objects (accessioned and to be accessioned)
6. No object is on the floor
7. Each object has a personal space
8. All objects are accessioned
9. An accessioned object can be found in less than 3 minutes
10.To reach an object, one has to remove no more than one other object
11.All objects are sound, clean and ready for research or exhibition

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At this stage, the storage department of the National Museum BH museum
follows 6 the 11 criteria of a professional storage according to the ICCROM/UNESCO
RE-ORG methodology.
Photo 4. Storage room of Agricultural collection at the Ethnology Department of National Museum of
B&H (photo: Azra Bečević-Šarenkapa)
3.3.2. Project Goals
1. Better organization of the storage room (appropriate arrangement of the
exhibits in regard to available space and equipment).
2. Cleaning of the storage room and exhibits
3. Revision of documentation (revision of every object’s mark and number,
replacement of outdated marks with new marks).
4. Photographing (Photographing every object using a digital camera in high
resolution. Photographing each room of the depot in its existing state,
during and after work)
5. Packing, protection and final placement of objects
Depot includes shelves, wagons and palettes (for bigger objects). These are not
custom made for the exhibits. Students found it necessary to additionally protect the
items using mostly improvised materials for the proper placement (isolating, packing
and fixation).

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Students came to a conclusion that the storage room space was not fully used.
Most objects weren't placed properly, and they were just leaning over one another.
Since the usage of the floor was minimum, they made a plan for better usage.
Sketch 2: Before (Kenan Cikotic, April 2016.)
Sketch 3: After (Kenan Cikotic, April 2016.)

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They made this possible through a new arrangement plan of the shelves to
make the space fully used. They wanted each object to have an assigned location
without touching other objects, but to also make it easily accessible.
Sketch 4: Existing arrangement (Arman Džaferagić, April 2016.)
Sketch 5: New arrangement plan (Arman Džaferagić, April, 2016.)

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Tools and materials used during work in a storage room:
Tools and materials, used within budget, for protection of the people and exhibits:
1. Protective gloves
2. Protectcive clothes
3. Polyethylene foam for isolation of objects from shelves
4. Cotton ribbons
5. Vacuum cleaner
6. Soft brushes
7. 50 % ethanol /destiled wather solution for cleaning
8. Cotton cloths
9. Cotton wool
10. Wooden sticks
11. Rope
12. Camera
3.4. Phase Four: Execution of the project
1. Better organization of the depot space
Students didn't have a possibility to move all of the objects at once and
completely process the space. That’s why they adjusted the requirements to the lack
of additional space. They temporarily moved significant items until they finally
arranged the depot part by part.
Photo 5: After reorganisation (photo: Arman Džaferagić, April, 2016.)

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2. Cleaning of the depot and exhibits
During the moving of objects they thoroughly cleaned the surface of each
exhibit. First, they dry cleaned larger objects: using a vacuum cleaner, brushes and
soft cotton cloths. They also dry cleaned smaller items using soft brushes and cotton
cloths. After dry cleaning, all of the objects were cleaned with a mix of water and 96%
ethanol in a ratio of 50/50. For bigger objects students used cotton cloths, and for
smaller they used wooden sticks with cotton wool patched on it.
Photo 6: Cleaning object (photo: Arman Džaferagić, April, 2016.)
3. Revision of the documentation
After the cleaning, every object was carefully inspected. Almost all of them had
a mark number written on and a card with the same number, as well as name of the
objects and province.
Outdated cards were replaced with new ones. They used thin rope made out
of organic materials to patch the cards onto the objects.

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4. Photographing
(Photographing of every item using a digital camera in high resolution.
Photographing rooms of the depot in their existing situation, during the process, and
after the process of RE-ORG.)
5. Packing, protection and final placement of objects
During the final object placement on the shelves, as well as on the wooden
palettes, they used these materials: Polyethylene foam and cellophane (thin nylon).
Using these materials they long-term protected the objects from dust and humidity.
They made sure that the objects does not touch each other and that there is not any
kind of pressure on them. Students additionally protected sensitive items from dust
(as thin knitted wood, wattle, lop, wooden rope, wooden web) gently wrapping them
into an appropriate material. For very sensitive items they improvised a protective
packaging made out of Styrofoam.
During a process of reorganisation of a storage room, revision of objects was
done as well. All objects are checked according to collection where they belong to.
Also location of the objects was made, with number of storage room, shelf and space
in it, in order to make access to object easier.
Photo 8: After reorganisation Photo 9: After reorganisation
(photo: Arman Džaferagić, April, 2016.) (photo: Arman Džaferagić, April, 2016.)

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4. References
1. Re-Org - Storage reorganization methhodology,Version 1.0.,
ICROM/UNESCO, 13.Dec.2011.
2. http://www.re-org, pristup dokumentu 08.04.2016
3. http://www.zemaljskimuzej.ba/,pristup dokumentu 28.03.2016.

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