25
years ago today marks the day that I founded International Conservation Services (ICS). Well, not quite, in that it was originally called
Campbell Conservation before morphing into ICS in 1991. Back in 1986
a wonderful man called Chick Campbell, who owned and ran the Campbell
Group, was prepared to back my hunch that there was an opportunity in the Australian market for a multi-disciplinary conservation company, and the rest,
as they say folks, is history.
On
the face of it, the journey at ICS has been about how to keep a commercial
conservation operation viable. There have been times when this has been
challenging, for all sorts of reasons. However, one of the enduring
challenges has been the conflict between the passion to conserve, and the
reality of commercial existence. Fundamentally, as conservators, we are
in this profession to conserve objects. And most of us are
passionate about that. Yes, we know that we need to earn a living to
survive, but making money doesn’t drive us the way caring for objects
does. The journey at ICS has therefore been about focusing that
critical passion we all have for this extraordinarily privileged position we so
often find ourselves in, so that our business can at least operate
sustainably.
It
has also been about providing an opportunity for more than 100 conservators to
develop their skills, ply their profession, and indulge their passion, whilst
conserving (we estimate) some 40,000 artworks and objects in that time, thus
ensuring their stories can continue to be told to future generations.
What I
realise that these 25 years have not been about is a series of ethical
dilemmas. The decision not to get involved, for instance, in treating
a painting from which a client wanted to remove an unloved sister, or a
rare textile which a client wanted to cut up into cushions, has never been
hard. Happily, these have been very rare occurrences.
Instead, the
decisions on how to treat an object have often been technically taxing,
but as a result, frequently exhilarating. I think particularly
of Tasmania's Hamilton Inn Sofa, which took us on a fascinating
journey to ensure the treatment both respected its history and reflected its
uniqueness as a decorative arts object.
So
now for the next 25 years, folks! I purposely did not name the company Bickersteth
Conservation (not sure that has much of a ring to it anyway!) as I
wanted to ensure that what we collectively built could live on past
individual careers. No sign of the passion dulling on my part, but
planning for the future will be one of the challenges for the next 25 years.
Julian Bickersteth
Managing Director
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