Conservation of Artworks: VCE Art Making and Exhibiting

VCE students and their teachers are invited to join Associate Director of Conservation at the National Gallery of Victoria, Michael Varcoe-Cocks, for a presentation on the conservation and presentation of artworks in Floribunda at Bunjil Place.

The exhibition Floribunda, a major partnership between the National Gallery of Victoria and Bunjil Place, is an intoxicating larger-than-life mashup of floral imagery, design and motif drawn exclusively from the NGV Collection. 

Featuring over 150 artworks ranging from still life painting to contemporary fashion, works on paper and decorative arts, staging the exhibition required extensive conservation preparation and processes. 

These aspects of conservation and caring for artworks will be discussed in detail during this presentation for students.

The presentation will cover key topics from Unit 4: Consolidate, present and conserve, Area of Study 3, Outcome 3 including:

•    Preparing artworks for display, including medium and art-work specific requirements
•    Condition reporting
•    Transport and storage
•    Handling and Installation

This lecture-style presentation will include plenty of time for questions from students and teachers.
Bunjil Place Gallery will open early at 9.00am to allow time for teachers and students to view Floribunda before the lecture.

About Michael Varcoe-Cocks

Michael Varcoe-Cocks is the Associate Director of Conservation at the National Gallery of Victoria where he has worked for twenty-five years. Michael is a regular contributor to the field of Technical Art History and his conservation practice has principally focused on collection-based research and the treatment of paintings produced between 1850 and 1950.