The Preservation of the photographic collection of the extinct Rede ferroviária Federal S.A. IPHAN-Pr Project, Brazil.

Abstract

The research deals with a preservation project, applied in a photographic collection with the theme of the construction of Rede Ferroviária Federal SA - RFFSA. This collection was found by IPHAN-Pr in a headquarters of the extinct Rede Ferroviária Federal in the city of Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. IPHAN-Pr, through the Material Cultural Heritage Policy (PPCM), aimed at carrying out the project to safeguard the collection. After the physical inventory, the collection presented a problem of a large number of items, totaling 16,775 photos, dating from 1880 to 1885. After carrying out the diagnosis of the collection, it was found that the photographs have several formats, different techniques and presented deterioration problems, such as: generalized dirt, losses and acidification of the support, tears, folds, creases, and inadequate interventions. The methodology applied followed the following steps: diagnosis, conservation, restoration, digital scanning, survey of historical information present in the photographs, adaptation and insertion of the information within a free ABCD software, in order to carry out the digital inventory. The project was carried out by a team of professionals composed of: conservator/restorer, historian, conservation technician, scanning technicians and librarian. In addition to the techniques adopted, the collection was conditioned and stored in a sliding file. The project was executed and concluded in four years, and the photographs are located at the IPHAN-Pr headquarters, in an air-conditioned room, with the possibility of fulfilling its function of accessing the railway heritage.