Percepción estética y sostenibilidad en la conservación y restauración de bienes culturalesestudio en museos y talleres de restauración de la Región de Murcia y afección en el personal asociado

Abstract

The study set out in this doctoral thesis aims to investigate the environmental impacts derived from the activity of conservation and restoration of cultural property, both at a global level and in the direct environment, through the perception of the people in charge of museum institutions and restoration workshops, as well as the restoration professionals themselves. To this end, the study has been divided into two stages. In the first stage, the possible impact at a global level is investigated by assessing and exploring the knowledge of the managers of the institutions in charge of the works of art and cultural goods, both at an ecological level and in terms of the knowledge of the metabolism of the institution itself. In the second stage, the study focuses on the environment of professional restorers, investigating their occupational risks through the most frequently occurring accidents. Afterwards, their perception of sensorial affectation and its relationship with their aesthetic perception of the works of art was evaluated. The methodology used to carry out the research is based on two questionnaires, one for each stage, combining qualitative and quantitative research. The sample of the first stage is made up of a total of 28 institutions, including public and private museums and restoration centres, and the study period is delimited from 2015 to 2020. The second stage sample consists of 118 curator-restorers, and the statistical analysis of the responses was carried out descriptively by calculating the absolute and relative frequency for qualitative variables, and the minimum, maximum, mean and standard deviation for quantitative variables. The results obtained in the first stage show that 92.9% of the institutions do not have an eco-involvement plan, 82.1% have not carried out sustainability, recycling and ecology courses for employees, 85.7% do not know their energy efficiency rating, and 67.9% have never carried out audits of any kind. However, 82.1% believe that their institution acts in an environmentally responsible manner. As for the results of the second stage, it has been determined that 91.6% of professional restorers work with more than 4 different categories of cultural goods, that 39.8% have suffered allergic reactions while working and that in terms of sensitisation and minor problems, the organs that suffer most are the eyes, the skin and the respiratory system, together with 93.2% who report having suffered bone and muscle pain derived from their work practice. The restorers have determined that the sense in which they have been most affected has been sight (88.1%), being at the same time the sense with which they have most aesthetic enjoyment (100%). The main conclusions drawn from this research work are as follows: That the perception of the managers of museum institutions and restoration workshops is not in line with the results obtained, as the relevant studies have not been carried out to understand the metabolism of the institutions. Thus, they cannot have adequate ecological involvement plans or make improvements, as they do not have the primary information to do so. The most frequent problems derived from occupational hazards in the conservation and restoration of cultural goods and works of art are muscular problems and mild and moderate eye and skin problems. This could be directly related to the loss of sight and the valuation of sight and touch as the main senses of aesthetic perception, establishing an order of importance of the senses at an aesthetic level.