Sustainable development is the most important common theme of human development. Environmental protection and energy conservation and emission reduction are a basic national policy of the mainland, and a major measure to implement the scientific concept of development and build a resource-saving and environment-friendly society. In the field of museums, we should also rely on the construction of conservation-oriented, applicable, green and efficient museums to promote sustainable development [1]. There are many temporary exhibitions held nationwide every year, and in 2020, under the influence of the epidemic, 5,535 museums registered across the country still held more than 29,000 exhibitions[2]. Among them, a large number of disposable non-recyclable materials are consumed, which is not only detrimental to environmental protection and sustainable development, but also involves safety issues such as preventive protection of cultural relics. Different from the emergency protection of direct intervention in the cultural relics body, the preventive protection of cultural relics aims to curb the harm of the environment to cultural relics, so that cultural relics are in a "stable and clean" safe environment, so as to achieve the purpose of long-term preservation of cultural relics [3]. Preventive protection was first proposed at the Rome International Conference on the Conservation of Antiquities in 1930, when the focus was on the control of the cultural heritage environment. Today, this concept includes, but is not limited to, constant temperature and humidity in the preservation environment of cultural relics, air pollution prevention, and also involves cultural relics extraction technology, packaging materials, etc. [4]. Compared with the field of cultural relics preventive protection equipment, which has been widely concerned and developed rapidly in recent years, insufficient attention has been paid to the issue of preventive protection in exhibits and equipment.
As an indispensable auxiliary product in the exhibition, the current significant problem in the design and production of exhibits is the emphasis on form and the contempt for the connection with the preventive protection requirements of cultural relics. Taking the exhibition block as an example, due to the limitation of funds, it is usually the large core board, MDF, etc. that are glued or nailed together, and then decorated with mounting linen. Due to the large amount of adhesive used in the production process, the plates used often release harmful gases such as formaldehyde. There are many types of linen cloth used, the quality is uneven, and most of them have not been deacidified, which is not suitable for direct contact with cultural relics. At present, there are many domestic temporary exhibitions, and many customized exhibits are left behind when the exhibition is withdrawn, which is often difficult to use. After each dismantling, a large amount of non-degradable garbage is generated, which increases energy and capital consumption, but also increases garbage emissions, resulting in a greater environmental burden. Statistics on the consumption of resources and materials have not yet been seen in the museum field, but in the field of commercial exhibitions, statistics show that the Canton Fair, as one of China's large-scale exhibitions, has to remove more than 600 vehicles and as many as 3,000 tons of decoration garbage from the exhibition hall after the closing of each period [5]. The same problem exists in the packaging of cultural relics. In line with the rapid development of cultural relics protection technology in the mainland in recent years, the backward technology of cultural relics packaging materials and the shortage of related talents have become a common problem faced by the cultural relics protection community in the mainland, which is far from meeting the packaging needs of the preservation, transportation and exhibition of excavated cultural relics [6].
One
The museum's requirements for cultural relics exhibits
Ensuring the safety of cultural relics is a top priority in the museum's work. The design and use of exhibits should first ensure the safety of the cultural relics placed on them. In the traditional sense, the safety of exhibits is usually understood as ensuring the stable placement of cultural relics and avoiding accidental slippage and damage. This is only the most basic requirement for the safety of cultural relics. From the perspective of the concept of preventive protection of cultural relics, the safety of exhibition tools should also include the safety of production materials and processes. In addition, the museum also put forward the following requirements for exhibits.
1. Good adaptability and sustainable use of the exhibition environment
There are many temporary exhibitions in the museum, and the customized exhibits of this exhibition are difficult to meet the needs of the next exhibition. To improve the adaptability of the exhibits to different spaces, it is necessary to make their size and angle adjustable, and the texture and color are versatile. This also increases the sustainability of the use of the exhibits and facilitates their recycling in the constantly changing temporary exhibitions.
2. Easy to disassemble, reduce storage and transportation costs
In cities with little land, expanding space to store mountains of exhibits will undoubtedly require huge investments. Cleaning up exhibits in a timely manner has become a common way to reduce the pressure on museum storage. The large footprint and bulky exhibits mean high transportation costs. Therefore, effectively reducing the storage and transportation costs of exhibits, that is, significantly reducing their weight and storage volume, is an important factor conducive to the recycling of exhibits and reducing waste.
3. The production process is environmentally friendly and reduces pollution
The production of temporary exhibition equipment is often carried out in the exhibition hall. If the production materials and processes cannot avoid dust scattering and release harmful and pungent gases, harmful substances entering the air conditioning system are often "slow release" throughout the exhibition period. Even if the premises are equipped with hardware related to prevention and control, the non-environmentally friendly production process undoubtedly increases the load of the corresponding equipment and increases the operating costs of the premises. Therefore, the environmental protection of the production process of the exhibition tools is not only necessary for the micro-environment regulation of the small environment in the exhibition hall and the storage of cultural relics in the cabinet, but also to take into account the sensory experience and health of the visitors.
4. Easy to process, easy to maintain and low cost
In the past exhibition equipment design and production practice, the author has made custom brass exhibition brackets for cultural relics and written related articles[7], but the technology cannot be standardized and modularized, and it is difficult to adapt to the requirements of temporary exhibition tools. Limited to the limited hardware, funds and personnel of most museums, the materials for the production of exhibits should be relatively easy to obtain, the difficulty of processing is small, and the requirements for hardware equipment and personnel skills should be low, so as to effectively reduce costs and facilitate implementation.
5. Weaken the pursuit of form
Formal beauty as an artistic pursuit is beyond reproach. However, for the product design of cultural relics exhibits, the form should follow the function, not the opposite. The design of the exhibits should first consider the safety of the exhibits, and pay attention to the use of functions within the safety red line, such as easy to watch, easy to set off cultural relics, and finally take into account the beauty of the form. Take the use of wood as an example, its excellent texture and favored by designers. And from the requirements of cultural relics protection, the use of wood should be restricted. First of all, it is necessary to avoid deformation and cracking due to changes in temperature and humidity, endangering cultural relics; in addition, the combined wood should also be sealed to prevent the harmful substances that may contain in the wood from eroding the cultural relics. Woods with a hard texture and high density, such as rosewood, are more suitable and need to be sealed with microcrystalline paraffin or acrylates. This makes the production and post-processing of wood exhibits expensive and not suitable for heavy use. If not necessary, it can be replaced with a more secure and cost-controllable material.
Two
Museum exhibits
Design production and use cases
Comprehensive concept of the above, the production materials of the exhibits require good safety, environmental protection, light weight, easy to obtain, easy to process and controllable costs, acid-free corrugated paper as a widely recognized material in the field of international museums today, in line with the requirements of the preventive protection of cultural relics, is an ideal temporary exhibition tool forming material. At present, the common use of acid-free corrugated paper is to make acid-free capsules, and the usual forming process is to use acid-free ultra-white glue that meets the requirements of preventive protection of cultural relics to bond several acid-free corrugated paper parts into a stable overall structure. In order to improve the easy disassembly and maintenance of the exhibits, in order to achieve sustainable use and the purpose of convenient storage and transportation, it is necessary to avoid irreversible structural connection methods such as bonding and nailing as much as possible, and replace them with the installation combination of plugs to achieve repeated disassembly and assembly of the exhibits, and then cooperate with the modular and standardized design of the components to achieve the high scalability and strong adaptability of the exhibits.
Case 1: Acid-free paper docking bracket with adjustable angle
In recent years, the Sackler Museum of Archaeology and Art of Peking University has successively held a printmaking exhibition donated by Professor Donald Stone, and the following problems have occurred: the angle of the light source in the printmaking cabinet is not adjustable, and the glazing of the frame glass is easy to form; the inclination of the front row of paintings is unreasonable and obscures the back row, affecting the viewing experience. In order to solve these problems, the angle and size of the acid-free paper docking bracket was designed and produced to replace the common fixed-angle slope wood booth. This angle-adjustable docking bracket is shaped by a 3 mm thickness acid-free corrugated (B-laminate) mat with slopes of 30°, 35°, 40°, 45°, 50°, 60° (Fig. 1). The slope surface is equipped with a special standardized snap to allow for connection to other expansion parts. When assembled, parts 2, 3 and 1 can support the slim paintings shown in 4; when assembled, parts 3, 5 and 1 can support the square paintings shown in 6. The rubbing mounting modules shown in 7 and 8 can also be assembled with 1 so that the rubbings can be displayed at an adjustable angle. 9 The bronze mirror and wooden display bracket shown can also be matched with this bracket. Other exhibits that need to be designed and produced for future exhibitions, as long as the back is equipped with standardized special buckles, can be matched with this adjustable angle bracket, so that the same bracket can adapt to the needs of changeable exhibits and exhibition environments.
Figure 1 Adjustable angle bracket and its use scenario
This adjustable angle bracket is well concealed, and the structure of the bracket is obscured by the painting, which minimizes the interference to the audience and the exhibition effect of the painting is good. In terms of structural design, each component adopts a flat design (Fig. 2), bends and inserts each other, and assembles a body support. After the exhibition, all its parts can be disassembled non-destructively into flat, lightweight and space-saving, easy to manage at the same time, greatly reducing storage and transportation costs. Compared with the traditional glued or nailed integral display, this exhibit has good disassemblyability and can be repeatedly disassembled and assembled. Due to the modular components and standardized connection structure, the components are easy to combine and expand at any time, and after some parts are defaced, it is easier to maintain, only replace parts, without having to scrap the entire display. After the structural design is done, the exhibition designer hands over the template to the builder as a general technical person, and he can complete the standardized and modular display parts without complex creative mental labor. While reducing talent dependence, we ensure production efficiency and product quality.
Fig. 2 Structure of each component of an adjustable angle bracket
Case 2: Use of acid-free paper plug-in forming exhibition space to build a system
"Jijin Yaohedong - Shanxi Bronze Civilization Special Exhibition" is a large-scale temporary exhibition held by the Sackler Museum of Archaeology and Art, and there is no information such as the precise size and weight of the exhibits when the exhibition is prepared, and it is impossible to determine the suitable exhibition angle of thin exhibits such as Tao Fan. The cultural relics arrived in the museum, and the exhibition time was short, and the personalized display could not be realized. This requires pre-design and production of slope blocks with diverse angles, variable baffle height, and sufficient support strength to prepare for the occasional need to arrange the exhibition, ensure the safety of cultural relics, and improve the exhibition effect. At present, the common slope unfolding blocks are mostly made of acrylic and wood, and the angle and baffle position are not adjustable, which is an integral structure. The display blocks made of wood such as MDF also have the problem of the release of harmful substances such as formaldehyde, which does not meet the requirements for the preventive protection of cultural relics. Slope spreads formed using 3 mm thick acid-free corrugated (B-laminate) inserts (Fig. 3) provide 30°, 45° and 60° slopes. Height-adjustable baffles are provided on each slope of both types of blocks to ensure that the exhibits placed obliquely on the slope do not slip off. After the compression test, at 60% of the ambient humidity, the baffle can withstand at least 10 kg of static pressure for 24 hours without damage. The modular and modular design of the block components allows most of the components between the two types to be universal, and only by replacing the parts 1 and 2, 5 and 6, the 45° block can be converted into a 30° and 60° block (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 Slope unfolding blocks at different angles and their docking structures
If the exhibition requires the slope to change color or the slope is defaced, only part of the part can be disassembled and replaced, and the entire display block does not need to be recreated. After the expansion baffle of the exhibition block is removed, it can be replaced with a plug-in connector, so that the expansion and change of the size and shape of the display block are realized. Using several 45° slope blocks to plug each other in, you can get a variety of use scenarios of the display (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Multiple use scenarios for slope blocks
The baffle can also be adjusted to a single, double or non-bezel according to the needs of the exhibition. The slope display block adopts standardized and modular design, which is a single composite structure, which can assemble several single bodies into a display tool with variable shape and size, and can but is not limited to providing a variety of slope stable support for thin exhibits such as pottery fans and books for display. The exhibition also uses square blocks, which are shaped using the same paper inserts described above to create multi-layered booths and variable spatial layers (Fig. 5).
Figure 5 Use scenario of a detachable square kiosk
Compared with the current commonly used MDF mounting display block, the environmental protection indicators of this acid-free paper insertion block and the safety index of preventive protection are significantly improved. Material consumption and waste production are significantly reduced compared to traditional wooden blocks. After compression test, the top surface of the block can withstand at least 50 kg of static pressure (24-hour test cycle, 60% ambient humidity). This acid-free paper plug-in display block can be designed using professional software, processed by cutting machine, or only with a pen, ruler design, and then with wallpaper knife with rubber pad cutting parts, low design and production cost, rapid forming, no dust, no odor, no noise in the production and assembly process, in line with strict environmental protection standards. When it is necessary to make a batch by hand, as long as the general technician gets the design template to trace and copy it. At the end of the exhibition, the slope tiles that are not used for the time being can be disassembled without damage and restore the flat shape, and the classification and stacking according to the standardized individual components greatly reduce the storage space (Figure 6) and reduce the transportation cost.
Fig. 6 Stacking of flattened parts of a disassembled exhibit
In addition, it should be noted that the safety of the materials for the production of exhibition tools is relative, and it is necessary to know its scope of application. Acid-free paper is safe to contact bronzes and paper, but it is not suitable for contact with silk fabrics. Buffers are added to the production process of acid-free paper to make it weakly alkaline and avoid rapid acidification of the paper. Silk fabrics containing protein are sensitive to alkaline materials, such as direct contact with exhibits made of acid-free paper, which is subject to erosion. When using the above-mentioned acid-free paper inserted and formed exhibits to exhibit organic cultural relics such as Chen silk fabrics, neutral paper can be used as a padding and isolated from acid-free paper.
Three
Museum fittings are in design
Preventive protection and environmental protection
The equipment described here refers to the inner packaging of cultural relics, mainly for the protection of cultural relics from dust, ease of safe handling in the museum, and stacking and saving space, which is different from the outer packaging (transport packaging) function of impact resistance and environmental change. The safety of materials for the production of cultural relics has been widely concerned, and it is currently widely recommended that acid-free corrugated paper be widely recommended. In addition to the safety of material selection, the forming process also needs to be paid attention to, and when using the glue paste process, acid-free ultra-white glue that meets the requirements of preventive protection of cultural relics should be used. Some packaging requirements in a long service life or regular turnover of transportation, still maintain structural stability and avoid degumming, should pay attention to the use of plug-in forming process. In addition to the safety requirements of materials, processes and structures, there are many other requirements for the daily use of museums.
(1) Ensure the safe extraction of fragile cultural relics
Taking the common heaven and earth lid carton as an example, its top surface opening is difficult to remove the cultural relics from the bottom, and the lifting part does not meet the operation specifications for the extraction of cultural relics. Especially for university museums, as teaching specimens of cultural relics, daily observation, research and extraction frequency is high, the demand for cultural relics packaging is higher, which requires the design to take into account the cultural relics packaging structure to the guidance and restriction of user behavior, reduce the probability of cultural relics safety accidents, and prevent improper packaging structures from causing hidden dangers to the safety of cultural relics. The solution is that the packaging can be designed with openings in both the top and side walls, the fragile artifacts can be removed or placed by the operator with both hands, and the high-fit cushioned foam module is easier to place than the traditional heaven and earth lid carton (Figure 7). For example, the installation and packaging method of Yu Ding, the collector of the Sackler Museum of Archaeology and Art of Peking University, is a fully unfoldable structure (Figure 8:1-4), so that this fragile cultural relic can be clearly observed without shifting on the packaging in the process of high-frequency daily teaching and use, and only when it is exhibited, it needs to be unpackaged and moved into the display cabinet. Under the premise of ensuring the effect of use, reduce the number of cultural relics removed from the packaging, and reduce the improper contact of cultural relics observation and use personnel to cultural relics.
Figure 7 Packaging that facilitates the safe extraction and storage of cultural relics
(2) Reduce storage pressure
Traditional adhesive cartons are stable, but take up a lot of storage space when formed. As mentioned earlier, museums must consider storage costs. Glued cartons and traditional trays using self-locking structures[8] cannot be disassembled back into a flat structure after forming, and even if the packaging is temporarily unused, it will consume more storage space. As a result, the cartons that can be disassembled and assembled repeatedly can significantly reduce the storage pressure in the warehouse. For example, the box is made of two long strips of paper, which can be inserted into a structure that can be opened on both sides by detachable snaps, which can be disassembled non-destructively into a flat shape when not in use, and can be reassembled when used again (Figure 8:5-6). Shu Yu Ding packaging is made of one long strip of cardboard and two pieces of square small format cardboard and a number of long strips of tongue insertion, which can be disassembled into several flat shapes when not in use, which is convenient for storage. The above two types of packaging, because of its easy disassembly, and make it both easy to maintain, once any part of the package is damaged, only the corresponding module can be replaced, without the need to remake the entire package.
Figure 8 Cultural relics packaging of plug-in structure
(3) Environmental protection and reduction of material waste
In the process of making common cartons, a large amount of scrap materials need to be cut off, and only the common size of 30 cm long and wide and 27 cm high "heaven and earth lid" packaging box body on the market will consume a piece of acid-free corrugated paper with a length of 130 cm and a width of 85 cm, and the four corners of the cardboard will become a waste of no small size (Figure 9:1). Each piece of cardboard has a part of the area that does not play any social benefits to be recycled, which includes wood cutting, human and material resources, transportation, fuel consumption and carbon emissions, and the more equipment is made, the more shocking the waste. Effective technology is needed to "apply them according to their aptitude" and to achieve "innate necessity". The above two plug-in types of paper trays allow the rational use of slim paperboard scrap (Figure 8). The new structural design allows for the efficient use of smaller scraps (Fig. 9:2-6). Simply cut out a number of unique structure units (Figure 9:2), you can insert into a paper tray that is not limited to the size and shape of the paper tray shown in the figure, but also can be set in any way and position according to the actual needs, and even can be inserted into L-shaped, cross-shaped and other special-shaped paper trays. This structural design not only reduces material waste, but also solves the limitation of the size of the paper tray in the face of the commercially available cardboard width, and can use the limited format of paper to plug in larger fixtures.
Figure 9 Paper-saving mating tray
The above several types of plug-in shaped cultural relics structure and foam structure three views (Figure 10) are painted on acid-free corrugated cardboard, and then cut with wallpaper knives to obtain various parts (if possible, professional machines can be used, efficiency and accuracy are higher), and then completely rely on docking, without the use of any adhesive, you can make acid-free corrugated paper cultural relics. The resulting assembly has good durability, complies with strict environmental protection standards, good mechanical stability, and when the packaging is not in use, these parts can be stored as flat parts, saving storage and transportation costs.
Fig. 10 Three views of the flat layout structure and foam structure of several mating formed cartons
(4) Modular design and connection with transportation business
When cultural relics are exported, it is necessary to provide a comprehensive cushioning foam for the cultural relics in the packaging box to prevent the cultural relics from shaking and ensure safety. Because the conventional packaging box is opened in a single way, it is difficult to smoothly remove the high-fit foam blocks that provide a comprehensive buffer for the cultural relics, so it is usually necessary to leave a large margin between the foam layer and the cultural relics, and then fill the liner material (common such as cotton pads, broken foam blocks) to fix the cultural relics. There are also some irregular practices that use a large number of materials with unknown safety and even toilet paper to wrap cultural relics to prevent earthquakes. These practices can easily damage fragile artifacts. The copper pot packaging mentioned above uses a modular comprehensive buffer structure (Figure 7), which has a high degree of fit with cultural relics, and the foam block material is physical foaming, which meets the requirements of preventive protection of cultural relics. Because the buffer module is used in combination with a box with top and side openings, the buffer module can be smoothly placed and removed block by block without roughly rubbing and squeezing the artifacts. Even fragile artifacts will not be accidentally damaged during the packaging and disassembly process. After the lid of the box is covered, each buffer module is limited and will not fall off, ensuring the stability of cultural relics in transportation. Each buffer module is marked with a layer mark and a relative position mark to ensure that it is not misplaced in subsequent uses.
Four
Functional integration of exhibits and fixtures
The concept of integrated design of exhibits and fixtures is to "make cultural relics safer and make future series of work easier". Exhibits with good disassemblyability and recoverable flattening, requiring less storage space, can be stored as exhibition modules and cultural relics together in packaging, easy to manage, and easy to quickly carry out and connect a series of work when exhibited again. At the same time, it can reduce the probability of accidental damage caused by multiple measurements and contact with cultural relics in the process of repeated production of exhibits, and it is easier to ensure that the selection of exhibits meets the needs of preventive protection of cultural relics. In addition, the amount of disposable FMCG exhibits is reduced, the cost of exhibition production is reduced, and the waste of resources and funds is reduced.
Fig. 11 The display bracket is integrated into the installation
The bronze mirror display and adjustable angle bracket can be integrated into the heritage packaging after disassembling into a flat shape (Figure 11). Another example is the use of a glue-free mounting method for small three-dimensional rubbings to make a rubbing mounting module (Figure 12:1), which is equipped with a standardized snap on the back that can be used with an adjustable angle bracket (Figures 1:7, 8), and can also be used with a simple bracket module to display at a specific angle (Figure 12:4). When dismantling the simple bracket, the rubbing mounting module and the bracket module can be disassembled into flattening (Figure 12:2-5), and the rubbing mounting module is stored in acid-free packaging together with the simple bracket module (Figure 12:6-8).
Fig. 12 Mounting, display and storage system of rubbings
If the modular buffer of the copper pot in the previous article is stacked in reverse order, it is a support for the daily maintenance and maintenance of cultural relics, and the cultural relics can be safely and stably placed upside down on it, which is convenient for the cultural preservation personnel to protect it again (Figure 13). Cultural relics should not only meet the storage function of cultural relics, but also consider the business connection and collaboration with other links of the museum when designing and producing, so that the decoration has diversified functions and the safety of cultural relics in all aspects of work is taken into account to the greatest extent.
Figure 13 The interior packaging of cultural relics with integrated cultural relics maintenance brackets
Five
Dilemmas and countermeasures
The museum's energy conservation, environmental protection and preventive protection is a systematic project, which is reflected in many aspects such as exhibition display and collection management. Since the work of the museum requires multi-party collaboration, there are still many places that need to be run-in. After the cultural relics management and protection personnel of the museum do the corresponding work according to the above ideas and ideas, it is bound to involve cooperation and cooperation with transportation, insurance and exhibition companies. For example, the outreach of cultural relics requires professional transport companies to provide collaborative services, and the transport company personnel usually provide disposable transport packaging themselves, if the packaging prepared by the museum is used, a cultural relics damage occurs during transportation, and it is easy to have disputes over the division of responsibilities. If the cultural relics packaging is remade each time, the more the chance of contact with the cultural relics, the greater the possibility of accidental damage, and a series of problems such as material safety, environmental pressure, waste of resources and funds are inevitable. How to solve these practical problems, but also rely on the state and related industries to introduce more and more perfect standards and rules, so that the service industry involved in the work of the museum to reduce the pollution and damage to the environment, to ensure that materials and processes meet the requirements of the preventive protection of cultural relics to achieve seamless docking with the museum.
P.S. The exhibits and fixtures mentioned in the article have applied for patents of the People's Republic of China. Among them, "a glue-free pluggable cultural relics acid-free packaging box" was authorized on October 12, 2018, patent number ZL 2018 2 0333235.6; "a mounting structure" was authorized on May 11, 2021, patent number ZL 2020 2 1213851.1; "an environmentally friendly plug-in cardboard packaging box" was authorized on March 16, 2021, patent number ZL 2020 2 1232207.9; "a kind of exhibition bracket" Granted on March 16, 2021, Patent No. ZL 2020 2 1233722.9; "A Fully Openable Pluggable Eco-Friendly Packaging Box" granted on March 16, 2021, Patent No. ZL 2020 2 0887809.1; "A Cardboard Plugged Eco-Friendly Packaging Box" on March 16, 2021, Patent No. ZL 2020 2 0887812.3.
Notes (omitted)
Original title: Museum cultural relics exhibition and fixture design based on the concept of environmental protection and preventive protection
Author: Liu Yanqi Cao Hong Wang Weihua Lu Jing Shang Chenwen
Author Affilications:School of Archaeology, Peking University