Do you have any Wartime memorabilia – and do you know how to preserve it?

As I am in the process of writing my father’s wartime history, this caught my eye and may be of interest to others.

Do you have wartime arte-facts at home? Do you know their significance or how to care for them?  Learn from Australia's top preservation experts about how to keep your family's wartime heritage items safe in your home for future generations to enjoy, and bring your objects along for personalised advice. The Department of Premier and Cabinet - Veterans Branch and the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation are delivering a series of free workshops for the public across Victoria. The workshops will bring Australia's leading experts in preservation for a two-day line-up of free workshops and information sessions and in Morwell and Bairnsdale THIS WEEKEND

The Morwell War Heritage Roadshow will be held in the Rose Garden Room, Morwell Senior Citizen's Hall, 2-4 Maryvale Cresent, Morwell, on 15 and 16 September.

The project will travel to Bairnsdale on 17 and 18 September,  before heading to Ararat and Horsham in October venues later in the year.

Information & bookings available via the website: http://arts.unimelb.edu.au/…/eng…/war-heritage-roadshow-2017

War Heritage Roadshow 2017 : Faculty of Arts:     War Heritage Roadshow 2017 page in the Faculty of Arts site. arts.unimelb.edu.au      

Location:      St John's Anglican Church   9 Francis Street   Bairnsdale 

Enquiries Phone: 03 9348 5700      Enquiries Email: warheritageroadshow@gmail.com

Day 1 - Consultation Day                          Sunday 17 September 10 am to 4 pm

Please book a free individual session with one of our experts;

·         Jude Fraser specialising paper based wartime memorabilia (photos, prints, documents and diaries);

·         Bridie Kirkpatrick, Australian War Memorial, specialising in 3D artefacts (uniforms, military kit and equipment, medals and textiles);

·         David Gardner, Director of the RAAF Museum who will assist with general and historical information.

Twenty-minute sessions run from 10am to 4pm and bookings are essential.   Memorabilia brought in for these sessions will be photographed as a documentary record of the workshops. For your safety and that of others STRICTLY NO WEAPONS OR MUNITION. If you would like advice about these, please bring a photo.  Rolling collection care demonstrations will be running throughout the day. These include cleaning of metals, archival storage for memorabilia, preventive measures and storage of textiles and researching military history.  We encourage people without memorabilia wishing to view sessions to book an observer ticket.

Day 2 - Activity Day             Monday 18 September 10 am to 4 pm     10:15 am Talk: Caring for Wartime    Memorabilia  plus rolling collection care demonstrations will be running during the day.  These include:

·         cleaning of metals,

·         checking and preventing insect attack,

·         disaster preparedness in the home,

·         removing photographs from magnetic albums,

·         researching military history and medal information,

·         preventive and storage of textiles memorabilia.

Sources: Facebook & Heritage East Gippsland. Images: Facebook & John Munns