Humidity and Temperature

A word of caution about travelling exhibitions and loans

Remember that your collections may be subject to a changing environment within and outside a museum. Of particular concern is if items are lent to other organisations, or are transported for other reasons. They should be well packed and sealed, to ensure that they are not subjected to unacceptable fluctuations in transit.

On arrival at the destination of transported items, the local climate within the crate should be allowed to gradually adjust to the conditions of the new environment. The crates should remain unopened at the destination for a full 24 hours. This should also be done on the return journey.

If the objects are travelling from one extreme to another, for example, from a tropical to an arid climate, it may be advisable to allow more than 24 hours for conditioning at each end.

The hand on this polychrome sculpture split after getting very damp and then drying out quickly. Mould has grown on the sculpture as well. The sculpture became very damp when it was shipped from Europe to Australia. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia, reproduced with the permission of the History Trust of South Australia.