Paul McCartney steps in to save the Conservation Awards

London: 24 November 2004 - Sir Paul McCartney has agreed to sponsor The Conservation Awards, the UK's leading awards in the conservation field, rewarding excellence and innovation in preserving our cultural heritage. His generous offer of support will secure the future of the Awards until 2009.

Sir Paul agreed to fund the awards after meeting Ian Clark, the joint winner of the 2002 Conservation Award for his restoration of the Royal Navy's first submarine, Holland 1. The 1901 vessel was saved from rampant corrosion, and the conservation work included design of a humidity-controlled gallery to allow public display. The submarine, by the way, is not yellow.

Sir Paul said, "It's really important that the objects, pictures, documents and buildings we've inherited are properly looked after, for us and our children after us to learn from and enjoy. People don't realise how lucky we are to have such brilliant conservation specialists in this country. I've seen them in action. The Conservation Awards draw attention to those wonderful skills, and I'm delighted to help ensure they continue."

Welcoming Sir Paul's involvement, David Leigh, Director of the UK Institute for Conservation, commented, "It's wonderful that Sir Paul has decided to champion these Awards and secure their future. Our cultural heritage gives enormous pleasure to people of all ages and reminds us of who we are and where we have come from. In our throw-away society, it has never been more important to preserve "the real thing", and that's what conservators do. The Awards have recognised the triumphs of conservation over the past decade, and Sir Paul's generous support will help us celebrate many more."

Chris Batt, Chief Executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), which is a supporting partner of the awards, said: "At the heart of all of the institutions that we represent lie their collections. Future generations of visitors rely on the behind the scenes work of the staff who research, preserve and care for those collections. MLA is proud of our support for these important awards, and delighted that such a high profile funder is on board to help promote the essential work undertaken by the conservation community."

The Awards are open to projects completed by conservators working in every heritage field. They attract entries from national and regional museums and galleries, libraries and archives, and major organisations such as the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Royal Palaces as well as smaller firms such as Ian Clark's which do outstanding work. In addition, the Digital Preservation Award, new in 2004, attracts entries from across the world.

The deadline for applications for the 2005 Awards will be announced shortly.

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Notes to Editors:
For further information, please contact Fiona Cameron, Museums, Libraries and Archives Council on 020 7273 1459 or email [email protected]

Images of Holland I and Paul McCartney are available from Fiona Cameron.
Images of the 2004 shortlisted projects are available from www.papicselect.com in the English Heritage/Conservation Awards folder.

The Awards are managed by the UK Institute for Conservation (UKIC) at present. From early 2005, UKIC and the Institute of Paper Conservation will become part of a new larger professional body for conservation of the cultural heritage, the Institute of Conservation, which will manage the Awards in future.

The last four rounds of the Conservation Awards were funded by The Pilgrim Trust. The Awards are supported by key organisations in conservation and restoration, including the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), the UK Institute for Conservation, English Heritage, the Institute of Paper Conservation, the National Preservation Office, the Digital Preservation Coalition and the Anna Plowden Trust.

The 2004 Conservation Awards Winners:

The 2004 Award for Conservation was won by Hamilton Kerr Institute, who brought a fourteenth- century painted and gilded altarpiece back to life in a rural Suffolk church, and solved the environmental challenges of the thatched building with an ingenious environmentally-controlled box. This £15,000 Award was presented by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. It celebrates excellence in completed conservation and restoration projects in museums, galleries, historic buildings, libraries and archives.
The first-ever award was made in 2004 for Digital Preservation, presented by Loyd Grossman to The National Archives for their all-purpose digital archive, designed to store important Government records in many different formats, including e-mails, webpages and databases. (www.pro.gov.uk/about/preservation/digital/archive/default.htm). This new Award, worth £5000, is sponsored by the Digital Preservation Coalition and recognises leadership and achievement in the developing field of digital preservation.
The £10,000 Student Conservator of the Year accolade went to Erica Kotze and Camberwell College of Arts for her work on a concertina-format medical folding book, the Samut Thai Khao (white Thai manuscript). Previously severely damaged and unusable, this book can now be read and put on display. This Award is a shared prize of £10,000 for an outstanding student and their training organisation, and celebrates the world-class quality of the UK’s conservation training courses.
David Howell of Historic Royal Palaces was the winner of the Anna Plowden Award for Research and Innovation. His automated dust slide analysis provides a fast, economical and accurate method for assessing dustiness in historic houses, museums and elsewhere. The Award, sponsored by the Anna Plowden Trust, is worth £2000 and is for the best completed programme of conservation research or development.

For more information visit the Awards website: www.consawards.ukic.org.uk, which includes links to information about the supporting partners.