- Client
- Pacific Cultural Institution
- Location
- Pacific Islands
- Period
- 8 months
The Challenge
A Pacific island cultural institution suffered significant damage to its archive holdings following a cyclone that overwhelmed its storage facilities. Approximately 30% of the collection was assessed as lost or severely damaged in the immediate aftermath. The institution had no disaster response plan and limited capacity to assess the extent of the damage or triage what remained.
Our Approach
Victoria Pearce led the initial recovery assessment, deploying within two weeks of the event to assist the institution in triaging the surviving collection and establishing priorities for stabilisation. Andrew Pearce provided remote technical support for the most complex conservation decisions.
Following the recovery phase, the engagement extended to the development of a comprehensive continuity plan — storage upgrade, environmental controls, disaster response protocol — designed to be implemented with the limited resources available to the institution.
Technical Detail
The recovery assessment identified and stabilised approximately 70% of the surviving collection within the first six weeks. A triage methodology was developed that the institution's own staff could apply under supervision, building local capacity alongside the immediate recovery work.
Outcomes
The institution completed the recovery phase with a clear account of what had been lost, what had been stabilised, and what the collection's ongoing conservation requirements were. The continuity plan has been adopted as the institution's baseline emergency preparedness document.
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