Deborah Barbora Fričová
Last year, Deborah Barbora Fričová successfully completed her degree in ‘Chemistry and Materials Technology for Conservation and Restoration’ at the Faculty of Science. She is now applying the knowledge and skills she acquired during her studies acquired to use as a conservator at the Podhorácké Museum in Předklášteří near Tišnov.
Deborah ended up on this highly specialised programme at Masaryk University’s Faculty of Science entirely by chance. She originally came to Brno to study chemistry at a different university but changed her mind after her first year. “I like chemistry, but I felt that focusing on its application in medicine wasn’t right for me. However, I didn’t want to leave Brno, so I started looking for other study options and came across this programme at Masaryk University”.
Her interest in the study of conservation and restoration stemmed from her parents taking her and her brother to visit castles and châteaux as children, thereby fostering a love of culture and historic monuments. “I knew that this subject could be studied at secondary school, but my parents persuaded me to go to a grammar school. I’m grateful to them for that because it was only there that I discovered my passion for chemistry. Thanks to that, I was then able to study this subject at university”, Deborah remarked, adding that her studies at Masaryk University were a perfect fit.
“My degree programme allows me to combine my interests in history, chemistry and logical reasoning, and I have the opportunity to work with my hands, which is important because the conservation and restoration of historical artefacts requires great manual dexterity”, she said.
Chemistry and Practical Work
Although the first few years of the degree programme focus primarily on the chemistry of conserving and restoring historical artefacts, Deborah says that a major advantage was that it also focused on practical skills right from the start. “We had plenty of practical sessions, and we started working with museum artefacts relatively early on. I really enjoyed that”.
Although the word 'chemistry' is right there in the name of the degree programme, Deborah says many students were surprised by just how much of it they had to get to grips with. She likes chemistry herself, even though she only developed an interest in it at Grammar School. "Our teacher placed a lot of value on rote learning, which is probably not the best way to teach it. I only enjoyed chemistry a little, but I felt under pressure to master it and study hard. Thanks to that, however, I eventually discovered how chemistry works. I understood it, and it began to make sense to me”, said the Faculty of Science graduate.
She shared some modules with chemistry students, while in practical sessions with her own degree programme students, they focused specifically on caring for particular materials, such as paper, wood, various metals, leather and building materials. “Of course, we also had modules from the Faculty of Arts relating to museology and art history”.
From work experience to a career
While still a student, Deborah completed a work placement at the Brno Regional Museum in Předklášteří, where she now works full-time as a conservator at the Podhorácké Museum. Her job essentially involves preparing new museum exhibits for storage in the repository. She also looks after items in long-term storage that need to be checked and re-conserved, often just before they are due to be displayed.
“The museum is housed in a Baroque building. Although we try to maintain constant conditions in the storage areas and exhibition spaces, it’s never 100 per cent effective. Of course, we can’t guarantee that nothing will happen to the items in storage”.
Every object that comes into her hands must first be cleaned of coarse dirt. Then, any loose or unstuck parts must be repaired to prepare the entire object for long-term preservation in the best possible condition. At the museum, she primarily focuses on conserving paper and leather, while her colleague focuses more on metals and wood. “But you need to know how to do everything, because most objects are made up of a variety of materials. Take books, for example. They’re bound in leather and usually have some metal elements. They’re made of paper, of course, but they also contain ink”, said Deborah, explaining the varied work of conservators.
Bibles and maps
As a conservator, she reminds herself that the objects that come into her hands have been made by someone with great care, and that people have used and cherished them. “Of course, some catch my attention more than others", she says. At the moment, for instance, I’m working on a 16th-century Bible that the owners have lent us for an exhibition. We’ve agreed to conserve it for them in return. It’s a unique item – a small Protestant Bible that was perhaps hidden away in an attic somewhere, yet it’s in fairly good condition. My job is to clean it and conserve the leather and metal parts of the binding”, said Deborah, describing one of her interesting tasks.
Originally from Sabinov in Slovakia, Deborah would also like to use her profession to preserve her family’s heritage. “We don’t have any great treasures, but I have one important task left to complete. My grandfather has a collection of historical maps dating back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and I would like to compile and conserve them”, she said with a smile.
In contact with Masaryk University
Even modern technology and methods are not a panacea. Conservators cannot predict how long their interventions will protect specific objects for. “It always depends on the storage conditions. Sometimes we’re surprised by how well-preserved really old pieces are, and vice versa”, Deborah added.
There are times when she is at a loss as to how to proceed with certain treatments. In such cases, she consults with more experienced colleagues from other institutions or from Masaryk University. She will remain in contact with her fellow students from her degree programme at Masaryk University in the coming months. She is planning a small exhibition for the Podhorácké Museum next year focusing specifically on the work of conservators and she would also like to use this opportunity to introduce the public to the degree programme that she successfully completed herself.