I have just spoken with a couple of biologists at the local University, and their feeling is that since the blood is dried, it should be safe. However, both of them strongly suggested a call to the U.S. Center for Disease Control to get their take on the subject. I think this would be wise, personally, given the nature of the artwork and the artist's apparent illness prior to his passing. As for conserving the gauze swab(s): My own first thought would be to treat it much the same as one would a textile prior to conservation efforts, which would be to store it in a dark, dry place in its own container or box. In this case, sealed and well isolated. I am not a conservator, but have had an experience of working around a work of art made with the artist's blood, who subsequently passed away. This work was purchased by a private collector so a museum wasn't involved, however his concerns were as yours. I was not privileged with the testing results of the blood, but know that it was deemed safe for display after being well desiccated. I do know the blood was tested in a lab before anyone would work with the piece, just for the safety factor. You can contact them at 1-800-311-3435, or send or send them an inquiry by clicking here: http://www.cdc.gov/netinfo.htm Best regards, Tom Bennett Anchorage, Alaska, USA ----- Original Message ----- From: Roeland Stulemeijer <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2002 6:58 PM Subject: Re: contemporary artwork with blood swaps > My apologies to all, I mean swabs, gauze with blood. > > Before the artists recent passing on, he instructed his brother and a good > friend how to assemble the work. Nobody has seen the work but what I > understand from the curator, it is his last work in which he wants to show > his hardship and battle with his illness. > As you understand there are no pictures available. > > Does this work fit in our collection? Yes, as it would be another work > done by him. (We have about 1200 of his works) > Would we buy the work anyway? I don't know > Does this work make an important contribution to society? Yes, it would be > the last work of a well-known local artist. > Does anyone on this list ever had to deal with conserving cotton gauze with > blood? If so, how did you go about doing that? > > Please ignore the question on how to display the work, as this is the least > of our worries. > > That the work could be hazardous is a big concern to us and as you > understand, we would like to safeguard our visitors and ourselves from > contagious diseases (if any). The family is not very open about any > contagious diseases that the artist might have had. > My curiosity goes towards your thoughts if you were offered a similar work. > Do you see any difficulties in accepting the work and why (yes or no). > > Excuse my English as I it is not my native language. > Thank you, > Roeland Stulemeijer > Conservator > National University of Singapore Museums > E-mail: [log in to unmask] > Tel: (+ 65) 874 8817 > Fax: (+ 65) 778 3738 > 10 Kent Ridge Crescent > Singapore 119260 > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).