BARC Labs

📢 Thinking About a Career in Conservation? 🎨🔬🏛️ Hey guys, it's me, Diana, the founder and principal conservator of BARC Labs. As a conservation practitioner in Singapore, I’ve often reflected on the different paths into this field—especially in a place where there are no formal conservation schools. How do we develop a sustainable profession and place for conservation in the arts here? As a profession, the conservator's responsibility is much higher than we often realise -- it's not just about wearing a lab coat or swabbing away on an artwork. Increasingly, there is a growing interest in the profession, with more enquiries each year. While many pursue studies overseas, understanding the realities of conservation work and career pathways is just as important. That’s why we host internships—not for hands-on treatment, but to offer exposure to the field through shadowing our conservators, supporting artwork documentation, and understanding preventive care. Swipe through to see the different roles in conservation, what they involve, and the education needed to get there! 🚀 💡 Our internship applications close on March 15! 🔖 Save this for future reference! 📩 Have questions? DM us!

chuggy on a mission 🚀 @sgheritagefest @stpi_singapore

always look forward to see them every day 🥹

come along with us as we booth at @uas.sg recent career fair! To those who stopped by, thanks for saying hi! We hope everyone had fun playing our snakes & ladders and learnt something new about conservation in Singapore 😎

We’re opening our studio doors again! Each year, our internships bring students and emerging professionals into the BARC studio to experience conservation work up close. From examining artworks and documenting condition, to supporting ongoing treatments and joining us on offsite work, our internships offer a behind-the-scenes look at how conservation happens in practice. If you’re curious about the science, care, and responsibility behind preserving artworks, we’d love to hear from you. 📅 3 months between April–August 2026 🕚 5-day work week, 11am–5pm Note: This internship is observational and supportive in nature. Interns will assist with studio tasks and documentation but will not be carrying out conservation treatments on artworks. The programme runs for three months and includes a one-month probation period. Apply by sending a 30-second introduction video, your CV, and a short note about your intentions to: 📩 [email protected] Applications close 31 March 2026. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for an in-person interview.

𝗨𝗽-𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝟮𝗘𝟯: 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝘆 Up-Front is a podcast where we speak with guests about their creative practices. In the second season, we feature the work of art practitioners, and learn how they get things done. Today’s guest is Dr Diana Tay, Principal Conservator and Founder of BARC Labs (@barc.labs ), a fine art conservation studio based in Singapore. She has over 15 years of experience in museums and collections around the world, and leads a team dedicated to redefining how art is cared for, understood, and sustained. Through BARC Labs, she continues to build a growing ecosystem that bridges research, education, and conservation. In this episode, hosted by Nadya Wang (@nadyawang ), we learn about her journey from civil service to entrepreneurship, how she is in the business of trust, and her plans to make conservation more accessible. Click on the link in profile to watch the podcast. Up-Front is brought to you by Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial and programming services. It is co-hosted by Director Nadya Wang and Curatorial Lead Ian Tee, with production by Isaiah Cheng and visual design by Sharrona Valezka.

𝗨𝗽-𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝟮𝗘𝟯: 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝘆 Up-Front is a podcast where we speak with guests about their creative practices. In the second season, we feature the work of art practitioners, and learn how they get things done. Today’s guest is Dr Diana Tay, Principal Conservator and Founder of BARC Labs (@barc.labs ), a fine art conservation studio based in Singapore. She has over 15 years of experience in museums and collections around the world, and leads a team dedicated to redefining how art is cared for, understood, and sustained. Through BARC Labs, she continues to build a growing ecosystem that bridges research, education, and conservation. In this episode, hosted by Nadya Wang (@nadyawang ), we learn about her journey from civil service to entrepreneurship, how she is in the business of trust, and her plans to make conservation more accessible. Click on the link in profile to watch the podcast. Up-Front is brought to you by Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial and programming services. It is co-hosted by Director Nadya Wang and Curatorial Lead Ian Tee, with production by Isaiah Cheng and visual design by Sharrona Valezka.

From apprentice days to new adventures 🇰🇷 So grateful to have Xuedi as part of the team before she heads off to Korea to further her studies! Bonus points if you can guess what the hand signs spell 🫣

Illustrations for BARC Labs' (@barc.labs ) The Art Detective, a workshop where participants got to investigate a damaged artwork through an unfolding casefile! This was a lovely experience, and as a mystery fiction fan I had a lot of fun drawing these. I learned a lot about art conservation through the storyline and reference photos. Thank you for the opportunity :) #Illustration #ArtConservation

🔍 The investigation is complete! A huge thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for The Art Detective, our participatory lecture with BARC Labs as part of Singapore Art Week. Close to 50 attendees comprising from staff of Mapletree, students from @lasallesingapore , @nafa_sg , @UAS.sg and members of the public were present at Mapletree Business City Town Hall for the event. From scrutinising “crime scenes” to piecing together clues hidden in artworks, participants stepped into the shoes of forensic art sleuths and uncovered how observation, context and curiosity can completely transform the way we see art. Participants also learned to identify common causes of deterioration, explore the investigative tools of conservation, and weigh ethical decisions faced in practice. The session concluded with an interactive take-home gameplay element, extending the experience beyond the lecture. Here’s to more creative learning experiences that spark new ways of thinking. 🕵️‍♂️✨

From studio benches to museum walls to a plane to the Philippines — our days as conservators take us everywhere! ✈️🚗 Each of us can be working on something completely different at the same time, and that’s what makes this job so fun! New places, new challenges, new art to care for. And even though we’re often on our own missions, nothing beats the days we’re all in the studio together making the magic happen. ✨💃🏻 —— #dayinthelifeof #barclabs

Cameras rolling. Brush in hand. This time, the cameras weren’t ours. Home to He(art) documented the incredible custodial effort behind preserving this monumental painting, a journey that spanned years, institutions, and many steady hands. We came in at the final leg, where the focus shifted to stabilisation and retouching before its installation. Being filmed while working added another layer of intensity; there’s little room for hesitation when every move is recorded. But it was a privilege to contribute to the closing chapter of such a collective undertaking. Conservation often happens quietly, unseen. This project reminded us how much collaboration and care go into keeping artworks alive, and how every team plays a part in that story. So fortunate to be given an opportunity to be a part of this! Learn more about the preservation of Chen Wen Hsi murals in the link in bio.