Alison Hopper Bishop
Name and job title
Alison Hopper Bishop, Museum Conservation Officer
What I do
I'm in charge of the Museum's Conservation & Technical team, responsible for all aspects of caring for the collections. For example, I set priorities for storage improvements as well as organising treatment of objects for display and loan.
How I ended up at RAMM
'Exeter - what a great place to work for a couple of years', I said in 1990, when I saw a job advert for a conservator at RAMM. So it proved! Almost 20 years and many challenges later, I'm still here, and now I run the department......
Best part of my job
Lots - seeing RAMM's collections moved from attics and basements where they'd been crammed since the 19th century into a new, environmentally-friendly store was a real highlight.
A funny thing happened...
When we conserved RAMM's life-sized lacquer buddha, the top-knot from his head was missing - presumed lost decades earlier. We made a replica. 10 years later we found the original in store, in a box marked 'Odd Clock Parts'
What I'm looking forward to seeing/doing in the refurbished museum
Showing visitors more of what we do behind the scenes in conservation
If you see me in the museum, ask me....
Why we have to spend so much time conserving things when they've been in the museum for so long.
