Moving toward a sustainable conservation – Experience of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology (MAE-USP)

Most of the ethnographic collections present in traditional museums in Brazil were formed by collectors, purchases, donations and exchanges by large encyclopedic, naturalist museums, typical of the 19th century. It is in this context, the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology (MAE-USP) collection were constituted. The MAE has been made a big effort to guarantee their conservation. Preservation of tangible objects as well thousands of organic objects, composed of plant fibers, wood, skins, feathers, seeds and various materials, has always been challenging as they are prone to deterioration by biological agents such as insects, mold, bacteria and rodents. Chemical treatments are traditionally examples of actions to preserve many museum collections around the world. Since the 19th century, collectors and museum professionals have applied a variety of toxic substances through fumigations and direct applications trying to enhance the conservation.