The destruction of cultural heritage is always devastating to watch and when the University of Cape Town’s Library and Jagger Reading Room was severely damaged due to a runaway veld fire, it hit home―this could happen to the University of Pretoria too and would we get assistance then?

I felt compelled to support my conservation colleagues who were already giving of their time and was thrilled that some of my students in the Tangible Heritage Conservation (THC) Master’s programme likewise felt that their skills would be helpful, and volunteered. With support from the Head of the School of the Arts, Laura Esser, Daniele Knoetze, Jabulile Ntuli and I went to Cape Town, where we joined Henry Nakale, a second-year student completing his internship at Iziko Museums. The following paragraphs are penned by these students.

Upon arrival at UCT, we met with the site coordinator and the Library’s Director and following a planning meeting, we were taken through our safety induction before going on site with fellow conservators Nancy Child and Mary Minicka, both guest lecturers on the THC programme. Nancy’s role was to assist with the coordination of the salvage teams and recover as much collection material as possible. Nancy took us into the bowels of the building where volunteers were removing material. Due to the sheer number of volunteers, a human chain could be formed to take out the heavy crates of books, which were then sent to the right location to be stabilised. Even though we had seen photos and videos of the destruction of the fire and the ensuing water damage, we were shocked, and the reality of it was overwhelming. We knew there was much work to do but this was beyond any expectations and the triage tent was overflowing with damaged collection material.

Isabelle McGinn, Lecturer UP THC Programme

Working with the team from the University of Cape Town on the Jagger Library salvage was an incredible and intense real-life experience. Having lived through a pandemic for most of our studies, we have had little ‘hands-on’ experience outside our conservation laboratory. Our knowledge about books, manuscripts, and audio-visual materials in many formats was of secondary importance, especially in the first couple of days on-site at UCT where our jobs mostly consisted of running between locations that needed the most assistance.

Henry Nakale, THC Student 2^nd year

We did everything from groundwork, writing up collection numbers, condition assessment, teaching volunteers, and finding a space for everyone to have a role to play. The volunteers worked in shifts, which meant that every new group of volunteers had to be trained and directed to keep with the proposed programme. To make the most impact, our role was focused on training the incoming shift’s volunteers in the appropriate handling of the mostly soaked and damaged material to minimise unintentional damage. However, working in this high-pressure situation we realised that there is so much more to being a conservator than just the artefacts. Although the impulse is to focus on the damaged material itself, managing the volunteers, establishing operating procedures and processes, keeping the workplace tidy and organised with allocated spaces for certain activities such as wrapping, air drying, interleaving;  as well as the separation of salvaged collection material including separating incoming crates from outgoing crates of dry materials vs. crates going into cold storage, and those awaiting immediate treatment, is just as important at home in the lab as they were in the triage tent.

Daniele Knoetze, THC Student 2^nd year

During salvage work, operating procedures change all the time as processes are adjusted, improved and innovative ideas are introduced to make the work easier, more efficient, or as materials are reprioritised, depending on their condition. If there is no more space, we make space. If there are no more materials, we get creative and find a suitable replacement. This taught us agility in decision-making, as well as the importance of teamwork. A project like this needs a lot of hands and heads, and good communication and strong leadership are essential to making sure everyone is on board. To assist with this, the UP team reorganised the conservation materials for quick and easy access (whilst at the same time liberating valuable horizontal drying space), increased appropriate signage, making quick salvage reference guides available, and implementing a procedure for volunteers in the triage tent. By doing these simple things, we could take pressure off the handful of conservators trying to attend to remedial treatment, allowing them to focus on the task at hand, rather than trying to manage the volunteers. Heritage conservation is a small field in South Africa and practitioners usually work in isolation. It was heart-warming to see painting conservators, paper, and book conservators, and even an archaeological conservator all working side-by-side trying to salvage books and manuscripts. As we could only be at UCT for a week, we identified some of the more capable volunteers who could devote additional time to the salvage operation and trained them to take over once we left.

Laura Esser, THC Student 2^nd year

With the many updates on the state of the Library, the collections, and the working environment, we thought we were prepared, however, the extent of damage, and seeing the grief in the faces of the people who worked with these books and manuscripts for decades, and are now assisting in rescuing them, was intense. Working as a team allowed us to debrief and speak about the day, remind each other to pause and reflect, before diving back into the salvage work.

Laura Esser, THC Student 2^nd year

It was a great opportunity for us to learn from this experience, and an honour to work with so many amazing staff, volunteers, and conservators. Conservation is not always done in a calm, quiet setting of the lab with all the up-to-date equipment and materials; it can be tough and was a ‘get creative’ teamwork exercise. The experience cemented our commitment to heritage conservation and highlighted the need for conservation locally. Its relevance is not just reactionary when damage occurs; rather the cautious approach of preventive conservation in risk assessment and risk management is vital to preserve cultural heritage and attempt to avert damage and deterioration.

Jabulile Ntuli, THC Student 1^st year