Entangled in items and clothes — a discussion about restoration

Each shoe in restoration is treated with exceptional care. A few minutes of attention are dedicated to every single one of them. From the point of view of the restorer, tackling the shoe takes just a few minutes; each shoe undergoes four stages of washing, cleaning and maintenance. Then it gets dry, it is photographed, put into a small linen bag, described and placed in a bread basket, then it finds its way to the warehouse or to the exhibition.

However this work is not a mass production process, and even after several years of working experience in this Department restorers talk about difficulties connected with emotions, about entanglement into the process of restoring clothes. The shoe in their hands proves the existence and death of victims, never the sentence. It is an item which tells the story of victims, hardly ever perpetrators (unless it is from the perspective of plunder or robbery).

What connects restorers with items? How do they treat and perform their job?