As we prepare for our upcoming Capital Redevelopment Transforming Crawford Art Gallery, we have started to decant over 3,500 works of the National Collection housed at Crawford Art Gallery. These works will be moved to secure storage, and to other institutions for Touring and Sharing. One of the major projects in our decant was deinstalling the works in our iconic Sculpture Galleries. With some works having never been removed in the 140 years since the construction of the Galleries, read below to find out more about the process behind this monumental task!

To map out our deinstall, we first consulted with external companies such as Taylor Pierce Ltd and Sculpture Form Ltd. 25 pasters casts and marble sculptures with weights up to 3 tonnes needed to be safely moved from the Galleries, requiring detailed planning, specialist lifting equipment, and coordinated, expert handling.

Image: Ellie O’Byrne

To safely remove the sculptures from their plinths, heavy lifting equipment including forklifts and a mobile gantry were utilised. The process required meticulous planning to ensure stability and prevent any risk of damage to the delicate artworks. Trained technicians operated the machinery, allowing for controlled movement to the packing areas.

Image: Chloé Griffin

The next step is the creation of custom made, bespoke storage crate for each work. This allows the sculptures to be braced into the crate for extra protection during the moving process.

Image: Lost Studios

Once the crates are carefully sealed, they are ready to be moved to secure offsite storage until they return to a newly renovated Crawford Art Gallery!

Image: Chloé Griffin

To watch our Production Manager Kathryn Coughlan describe this process in more detail, watch the below video!