The central theme of the congress – the needto involve the public more in the

conservation profession – proved to bestimulating food for thought. In the words ofSimon Cane, chair of the Public Awareness Task

Force: “Conservators need to make sure thatthey are there at the forefront, that the benefit of what they do can be seen. We are trained torepair, clean and restore – but we need to raiseour gaze from the objects more.”Cane’s words were echoed by many speakers inthe Congress Centre in The Hague, amongstthem director general of the Dutch Ministry ofCulture, Judith van Kranendonk. According toher, in today's multicultural society “an activeknowledge of heritage can no longer be takenfor granted. This means experiencing art andhistory becomes more important. Conservationprofessionals must actively convey the intimatestory of their work.”During the sessions, it also became apparentthat the target of raising public interest can beachieved in different ways. In The Netherlands,

1

growing cultural interest of the masses – as thismay have its drawbacks. Henriëtte van derLinden, director of the Netherlands Institute forCultural Heritage, said “the many feet tramplingthrough a museum’s rooms and corridors mightactually pose a threat to the preservation of theworks exhibited. One of the subjects that needfurther research, is this visitor impact.”Apart from discussing integrated risk analysisand preventive conservation, around 150 paperswere presented at the conference, covering alldisciplines of professional restoration. One ofthe subjects which stood out was thebreakthrough in research carried out on inkcorrosiveness and parchment preservation: newfindings may save historic works by the likes ofBach, Rembrandt and Da Vinci.Still, while giant steps continue to be made indeveloping new restoration techniques, thebattle to win over the public has just begun. Itbecame clear this week that to effectivelyconserve our cultural heritage, it is essential forconservators to convey the magic of theirprofession to the public. “Personal relations and collaboration are easilyestablished at the ICOM-CC congress,”chairman Jørgen Wadum remarked. So, to makeour cultural past our future, the next step for thetrade is to establish a personal bond with thepublic. Or, in the words of Mexican conservatorBlanca Noval Vilar: “Conservation only makessense if we develop a sense of belonging to thecultural heritage amongst our people.”

The Hague 12 - 16 September 2005ICOM-CC 14TH TRIENNIAL MEETING

FRIDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2005

Content

Opening Ceremony 1, 2

Involvement of Society in Conservation of

Cultural Heritage

Alexander Stille 2

Amareswar Galla 3

Mohamed Touré 3

Some Dutch Cases

Frans Grijzenhout 4

Liesbeth Helmus 4

Museum Forum 6, 7

Working Groups 5, 9, 13, 14

Excursions 10, 11

Tim Whalen, Triennial Lecture 15 public restoration projects in several museumsindicate that the general public is eager tofollow the work of the conservator more closely.But, although hungry, this audience is not large.As Frans Grijzenhout, from the Netherlands

Institute for Cultural Heritage, stressed: “Thechallenge of the next decennia is to draw in agreater part of the general public.”

DIRECT INVOLVEMENT IN CONSERVATIONPROJECTSThis challenge is certainly being addressed indeveloping countries, where it is has becomeclear that cultural heritage can only survive iflocal people become directly involved inconservation projects. “Here, we must get ourfingers into the dirt,” said Amareswar Gallafrom Canberra University. “When UNESCOadopts a World Heritage Site in developingcountries, it doesn’t ask the local people what itmeans to them. We should listen more carefullyand be more engaged.”On the other hand, some conservators fear the

Learning how to share more of the magic Congress marks increasing public awareness among conservators

Agrowing need to show the mysteries behind works of art to the public, and a clearacknowledgement of the central role conservators play on the cultural world stage. This

was the dominant feeling during the 14th Triennial meeting of ICOM-CC in The Hague,where 900 restoration professionals from over 75 countries met to discuss and exchangenew ideas and research results.

JØRGEN WADUM, chairman of ICOM-CC,

stressed the importance of personal bonds and

exchange of knowledge between professionals in

restoration around the globe.

“The Hague meeting will greatly assistICOM-CC in its aims to promote

investigation and analysis of culturally andhistorically significant works and further thegoals of the conservation profession.”Wadum mentioned, in particular, the 22 ICOM-CC working groups, which will continue to playa central role during the conference. Here, said

Establishing personal relations and collaboration

Jar with cover, Delft 1650-1669, MUSEUM VOOR

MODERNE KUNST ARNHEM, on loan from the

Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage,

Rijswijk/Amsterdam

“The challenge of the next decennia is to draw in a greater part of the general public”

‘OUR CULTURAL PAST – YOUR FUTURE!’

Jørgen Wadum, chairman of ICOM-CC (left),

and congress chair John Leighton, director of

the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Our PhilosophyIn this congress newspaper you will

find 7 objects, the symbols of this

congress. They illustrate the wide

variety of objects and materials that

make up our cultural heritage. Each

object represents the diversity of

choices that need to be made in the

process of researching, conserving

and restoring them for the future.

Wadum, “personal relationships andcollaboration are easily established andinformation helpfully exchanged across borders,continents, languages and cultures.”Over the past 20 years, 1200 papers withcutting-edge research and innovative techniqueshave been presented at the Triennial meetings,said Wadum, who is head conservator of theStatens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. Thisweek another 150 papers will be added. Currently, as the largest of the internationalcommittees of ICOM, the ConservationCommittee has over 1500 members worldwide.Wadum particularly welcomed two newmembership groups: the Friends and StudentFriends of ICOM-CC, as well as 25 granteesfrom Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. As to the theme of the conference, ‘Our CulturalPast – Your Future!’, Wadum underlined that itremains essential to involve the public toeffectively conserve our cultural heritage.

2

Van Kranendonk stressed in her speechduring the opening ceremony that in the

present-day multicultural society, “an activeknowledge of heritage can no longer be takenfor granted”. This means experiencing art andhistory is becoming more important – andrestoration professionals must actively conveythe story behind the work of art.“There are many tales of the intimacy involvedin conservators’ work,” Van Kranendonk said.She mentioned Jørgen Wadum, who said he feltprivileged to be able to restore Vermeer’s ‘Girlwith a Pearl Earring’.Apart from emotions and excitement, the job of the restorers also requires a great deal ofresponsibility, Van Kranendonk said. This wasdemonstrated by the Barnett Newman affair.After Newman’s painting ‘Who’s afraid of Red,Yellow and Blue’ was damaged with a knife by amadman, the restoration seemed even moredestructive. The conservator broke the code ofethics by rolling on a layer of paint which couldnever be removed.

“The public emotion and criticism whichfollowed was a huge setback for the craft,” saidVan Kranendonk. In this context, the recentappointment of Anne van Grevenstein asprofessor in restoration ethics is an importantstep forward. “Restoration professionals mustcontinue to involve the public in their craft.Here too, exchange in expertise is vital.”

Opening Ceremony / Involvement of Society

Let the public look over the conservator’s shoulder

It is vital for the future of curators and restorers to bring their work more into the publiceye, said Judith van Kranendonk, director general of the Dutch Ministry of Culture.

An institute for art and crime

As a world centre for both art and international jurisprudence, The Hague wouldmake a great place to combine the study of both, in an institute devoted to the

changing face of heritage-related crime.

alderman for Cultural Affairs, welcoming theICOM-CC delegates.She noted that the city was a good choice ofvenue for two main reasons. “The city is well-blessed with art and culture, beginning in the17th-century Dutch Golden Age, when thegovernor Frederik Hendrik and his wife firstestablished an art collection.” Today, the city isrichly endowed with museums. “Secondly, thereare the international juridical institutions basedin the city: the International Court of Justice andthe International Criminal Court.”Internationally-organized robbery and lootingfrom museums have been increasingly in thespotlight during the trials of war criminals andin dealing with the international consequencesof conflict. “The rapid growth of the last tenyears has made The Hague an internationaljuridical crossroads,” said Van Dijk-Staats. Sheput the suggestion to UNESCO and otherorganizations about the possibility of creating a‘think tank’ for the legal aspects of protection ofculture, to look at issues like international tradein artefacts and war looting.

Judith van Kranendonk, director

general of the Dutch Ministry of Culture:

“There are many tales of intimacy about the

conservators work.”

Else van Dijk-Staats, deputy mayor of

The Hague and alderman for Cultural Affairs.

The public influences the preservation of our heritage

Attracting as many visitors as possible is core

business for most museums, but success in

this area has its drawbacks. The many feet

trampling through a museum’s rooms and

corridors might actually pose a threat to the

preservation of the building and collection.

Henriëtte van der Linden, director of theNetherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage

(ICN), referred to the Museum Amstelkring inAmsterdam, housed in a 17th-century canalhouse, to give just a minor example of thedamage museum visitors could inflict oncollections. The museum had to close one of itsold wooden staircases out of fear it would suffer unacceptable damage (see the picture onpage 9).“The public influences the preservation of ourheritage – often not consciously,” Van derLinden explained. “Exhibiting involves risks but‘freezing’ collections and making theminaccessible is not the solution.”Van der Linden called on experts to start lookingfor ways to actively involve the public inconservation. “What role can a museum visitorplay in conserving our cultural heritage?” sheasked. “How do we go from public awareness topublic involvement and participation?” She pointed out that her institute, ICN, canprovide the technical and scientific know-how,enabling conservators to make sound decisionsregarding their conservation approaches. Forthe Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, forinstance, ICN conducted research into thepotential damage to paintings caused byvibrations produced during loud pop musicconcerts that are regularly organized at a nearbycity square. Van der Linden said this type ofresearch is just one of the expressions of theincreased need she noticed for “integratedpreventive conservation and risk management”.

CULTURES UNDER PRESSUREYet, despite the waning dominance of theprinted world and the shift to video culture andcomputers, there was the paradox thatcuneiform clay tablets from Mesopotamia arestill in good shape and legible, while thecomputer data generated during the Apolloflights of the 60s and 70s is stored on computertapes that may no longer be recoverable.He believes this problem is most acute in thedeveloping world, where traditional cultures arecoming under increased pressure from acombination of rapid economic growth and alack of cultural preparation, citing China as oneof the most dramatic examples. In successiverevolutions, China came to rely increasingly onWestern industrial building techniques,producing a technological shift that has seen amillennial tradition of conserving by rebuildingfall apart. Stille urged specialists in conservation “to thinkbroadly, to understand the importance of yourfield and its intimate connections to the largerproblems of the day, and to think broadly inyour solutions, beyond the merely technical. Theconservation of memory is crucial in many waysthat we may not have appreciated. And you mayfind that you have allies in fields you neverconsidered related to your own”.

“Our cultural heritage is one of the mostprecious cultural commodities, where

the work of our forefathers is passed onto ourchildren and children’s children,” said Else vanDijk-Staats, deputy mayor of The Hague, and

According to some philosophers andphysicists, time does not exist; there is no

past, only the present. What we consider ‘thepast’ are the remains of old monuments andartefacts that exist in the present, often in a verydifferent form from their original conception. Yetacts – from the Taliban destruction of the

Buddhas to the reaction to American troops inSaudi Arabia – make it clear that thepreservation and destruction of culturalpatrimony and identity is anything but a merelyacademic pursuit. This was the central theme ofjournalist, author and professor of InternationalJournalism at Columbia University, Alexander

Stille’s plenary talk, received as a hand-out whenpersonal circumstances forced Stille to miss thecongress.Technology, according to Stille, is creatingunprecedented opportunities for preserving andstudying the past while, at the same time,destroying the past, wiping out traditional

cultures, customs, belief systems and artisticpractices that had accumulated over centuriesor millennia. The Internet, for example, gives usinstant access to infinite amounts ofinformation – but there is also a risk of ourbecoming a society with little historicalframework in which to set all the information.

In a post cold-war world, ideology and class war appear to have been replaced by identity politics,

in which the struggle for control of the past is central. Alexander Stille believes the problem of

preserving cultural traditions is a “central part of the world drama”.

The struggle for control of the past

Stille: Conservators are on the front line of cultural adaptation

Clay tablets from Mesopotamia are still in good shape and legible, while the computer data

generated during the Apollo flights of the 60s and 70s is stored on computer tapes that

may no longer be recoverable

Henriëtte van der Linden,

director of the Netherlands Institute

for Cultural Heritage.

John Zvereff, ICOM secretary general (above)

and Jan Buijse, chair Local Organizing

Committee, ICOM-CC Congress 2005 (below).

3

During his lively and inspiring plenaryaddress, Professor Galla took his listeners

on “a little journey” through heritage projects inSouth Africa, India and Vietnam which he hasbeen involved in over the past 11 years. Hestressed Western cultural heritage institutionsand professionals should consider morecarefully how to involve local people inconservation projects. “When the Darjeeling Railway is adopted byUNESCO as a World Heritage Site, what doesthat mean to the local people? Nobody asksthem. We should listen more carefully and be

more engaged. We must get our fingers intothe dirt – although we conservators do not liketo do this.”According to Galla, conservators should pay

more attention to ‘intangible heritage’ too, suchas local living traditions. An example hementioned was the town of Hoi An in Vietnam.Here, the 19th-century villas in the Frenchquarter have been placed on the UNESCO sitelist. But instead of just looking at architecture(“we have to deal with our edifice obsession”),Western cultural institutions should focus onthe population. “The local woodcrafters, the silkspinners, the fishermen – they are all notincluded in the World Heritage area.”

LOVE ON A STURDY BOATA good example of a heritage project where thelocal people, especially youngsters, are moreclosely involved, is the floating ecomuseum inCua Van, a Vietnamese fishing village in HaLong Bay. “Vietnam has the youngestpopulation in the world, due to the American

War in the Sixties,” Galla pointed out. “Manyyoungsters are illiterate and have nograndparents. So how do we explain heritage tothem? You have to train them to becomecurators and educators themselves.”The floating museum, which is unique in theworld, will open in January 2006. It shows thetraditional life of the local fishermen to localschoolchildren and foreign visitors. “Peoplearen’t only interested in masterpieces, but insimple things too. How do they cook on thesea? Do they use salt water? One Americanasked me: how do they make love on a boat likethis? I said: the boats are very sturdy.They don’t sink.”

Involvement of Society

“Listen better and get your fingers into the dirt”

Galla pleads for new approach in developing countries

We must fundamentally rethink how to deal with heritage conservation, especially insustainable development areas, said Professor Amareswar Galla from Canberra

University. Providing meaningful projects in developing countries and creating employmentbased on the strengths of local heritage values can also alleviate poverty.

Setting up pilot cultural centres indeveloping countries

Developments in African literature could be taken as an example

Mohamed Touré hopes that in the new millennium, Africa’s cultural heritage will no longerbe exported but will be preserved – and cherished – on the continent. He has a plan to

help accomplish this goal.

Amareswar Galla, director of the

Sustainable Heritage Development

Programs at the Australian National

University, Canberra: “When the Darjeeling

Railway is adopted by UNESCO as a World

Heritage Site, what does that mean to the

local people? Nobody asks them.”

René Boitelle,

conservator in the

Van Gogh Museum,

Amsterdam.

Conservators should pay more attention

to ‘intangible heritage’, such as local

living traditions

For centuries, conservation of African culturalheritage was, for the most part, an activity

taking place outside of Africa. During the yearsof colonialism, pieces of African art were

transferred to museums in Western capitalsand, due to poverty, many African nations sincethen have not been able to establish a thrivingmuseum sector. Efforts to increase publicawareness of conservation in Africa, therefore,must start with creating awareness about therichness and value of Africa’s cultural heritageamong Africans. Mohamed Touré, writer and former director ofthe organisation for sustainable industrialdevelopment UNIDO, made concrete

suggestions as to how to meet this challenge.Inspired by the awakening of the African literaryworld in the mid-20th century, Touré, whopublishes under the alias of Alioum Fantouré,proposed to establish cultural centres in Africancountries. He envisions pilot centres that wouldoperate flexibly, and serve as clearing houses forartists and their audiences. The centres wouldstage temporary exhibitions, provide onlineaccess to art collections and be open to allmembers of the public.

ISLANDS OF SOLITUDEThis effort, Touré pointed out, should coincidewith a project aimed at evaluating the currentcultural problems, taking stock of nationalcultural riches, and seeking the commitment ofgovernments to cultural heritage conservation.“Poverty is no excuse,” he stressed. “Theircommitment is a moral duty of governments totheir people.” Many developing countriesalready have museums, but these institutionsare ‘islands of solitude’ and attract very fewvisitors.According to the Guinean author, setting uppilot museums could be a major step towardstrengthening the cultural sector in developingcountries. It would also be a step towardpreservation. “It is my hope that in this newmillennium, the protection and conservation ofcultural heritage will take place in thegeographical region the works of art originatefrom.”

Developments in African literature could betaken as an example. “40 years ago, schoolsand universities in Africa only taught Europeanand colonial literature. Then, African writersbegan to respond to local aspirations andstarted to depict their own societies. And afterindependence, governments, with the help oforganisations such as UNESCO, starteddistributing books at accessible prices. Little bylittle, as a result of these developments, a literary audience arose.”

Mohamed Touré, writer and former

director of the organisation for sustainable

industrial development UNIDO: “Poverty is

no excuse.”

“It is my hope that the protection and conservation of cultural heritage will take place

in the geographical region the works of art originate from”

“Showing a wider audience what restorationentails is not only an obligation for

publicly-funded institutions, it’s also fun,” saidRené Boitelle, one of Amsterdam’s Van GoghMuseum’s conservators. “We have a specialsection where the results of restoration effortsare on show. There is huge interest for thissection among our visitors. There are alwaysmany people hanging out and their feedback isvery positive.”Boitelle pointed out that exposing restorationefforts to the public is part of the museum’spolicy. He also stressed he believes it is themuseum’s obligation, as the keeper of one ofThe Netherlands’ most precious art treasures,to show the public how it treats and preservesits collection. In addition, many visitorsappreciate information about specific resultsand new insights derived from restorationefforts. “People love to hear, for instance, thatVan Gogh’s ‘Potato Eaters’ can’t be cleanedbecause he used extremely sensitive materialsfor this particular painting.”

Luiz Souza & Kuka Soares Wider scope of ICOM-CC conference

René Boitelle “Visitors appreciateexhibitions on theconservators’ work”

“What I notice here in The Hague is thatthe conference has a wide scope: it is

not limited to restorers and conservators. Otherprofessionals from the museum sector, such ascurators and administrators, participate as well.I feel that this characteristic is a heritage of theICOM-CC conference of three years ago in Riode Janeiro,” said Luiz Souza, a scholar of theFederal University of Minas Jerais, Brazil, andone of the organisers of the event in 2002.Souza said the ICOM-CC conference in Rio hada long-lasting impact. Strengthening exchangeand cooperation across continental borders hasbeen one of the major outcomes. “It was verygood for our self-esteem to notice that we, as acountry in the Southern hemisphere, couldcontribute. We could build on our ownknowledge and had something to offer to people from the developed countries.”Kuka Soares, of the Cultural Ministry/FundaçãoCasa de Rui Barbosa, added that it was also aneye opener to experience that, to some extent,experts in all parts of the world are dealing withthe same problems.

Luiz Souza, scholar of the Federal University

of Minas Jerais, Brazil (left) and Kuka

Soares, of the Brazilian Cultural Ministry.

4

Throughout the ages, the ‘garden’ has servedas an image of completeness, peace and

recuperation. Secret gardens are popularthemes in children’s literature, and a dream ofmany adults. “Many institutes for restorationthroughout the world are located in pastoralsettings, closed off from sight,” noted FransGrijzenhout, head of the Education Departmentof the Netherlands Institute for CulturalHeritage. “They may be the best forconcentration, but can be enticements tohermitage and isolation.”

The other image is of the alchemist, again shutoff from the world – a view reinforced by thespeed of technical developments in a field whichhas become “more scientific and less artistic,again to the detriment of public understanding”.Curators and conservators are trying more and

more to impress their needs on the public andput the magician/alchemist image behindthem, said Grijzenhout, illustrating with recentDutch initiatives that restoration in public (orsemi-public), can be very successful.

PREACHING TO THE CONVERTEDThe restoration of ‘The Goldfinch’ by Fabritiusin the Mauritshuis in The Hague was closelyfollowed – sometimes daily – by many, andresulted in far more visitors (75,000) than hadbeen anticipated. ‘The Art of Keeping’ in theRijksmuseum Twente, showed techniques ofrestoring paper and ceramic etc in public andeven allowed the visitors to speak with therestorers. Deventer Historical Museum allowedthe public to adopt an art work and behonoured on its website. And the DordrechtMuseum even went so far as to poll the publicas to what restorative measures should betaken – whether to restore or remove a strip onAelbert Cuyp’s ‘The Shepherdess’.Noting the increasing numbers of films, TVprograms and websites about restoration beingmade as evidence that people are interested inthe subject, new-found public enthusiasm isgratifying, but is it enough, he concluded. “Is itpreaching to the converted, or even ignoringthe fact that, even now, the majority of thepublic are not actually that interested? “This isthe challenge of the next decennia.”

Some Dutch Cases

Restoration in public can be very successfulTo work in splendid isolation or in the public gaze

Restoration and conservation can take place in solitary bliss, but is this the best path to sharingthe results? Other people should be allowed to behold the miracle, reckons Frans Grijzenhout.

Frans Grijzenhout, head of the Education

Department of the Netherlands Institute for

Cultural Heritage.

‘The Shepherdess’ by Aelbert

Cuyp, with a strip that was added to

the top of the painting. The Dordrecht Museum asked members of the

public whether the strip should be removed or not. The result of the

voting was indecisive. After conducting scientific research, confirming

that the strip had been added at a much later date, the museum

decided to remove it.

“Many institutes for restoration

throughout the world are located in

pastoral settings, closed off from sight”

Art history as a detective storyMuseum in Utrecht exhibits art and technical information seperately

Exposing a museum’s restoration and

conservation activities to visitors requires an

engaged and resourceful curator. Liesbeth Helmus

explained how her museum tries to combine

exhibiting the technical and educational aspects of

restoration work with unhampered exposure of the

art works themselves.

The Centraal Museum of the Dutch city ofUtrecht has a long tradition in the field of

innovative conservation. The museum’s curatorof Paintings, Drawing & Sculpture, LiesbethHelmus, said the institute was one of the first in

the world to apply infrared technology as part ofresearch into the art historical background ofpaintings. The museum was also among thefirst to share the story about these techniqueswith the public, in an exhibition in 1977. As themuseum quickly discovered, visitors are veryinterested in this kind of information.“Restoration still has a magic aura, especiallywhen it is able to reveal a drawing under thepaint, as is the case with x-ray research.”The Centraal Museum developed a style ofexhibiting educational and technical aspects ofconservation that would also leave room forunhindered enjoyment of the works of art. At anexhibition in the late 1970s, which showed theresults of research into several paintings of‘Mary with the Christ Child’, the technicalinformation was presented on tables in theexhibition room, away from the walls where thepictures were hanging. Curators of an exhibitionon the Dutch painter Saenredam in 2000 puteducational material in a separate museumroom.

RESEARCH EXCITES MORE THAN ARTHowever, in some cases, scholarly informationabout research seems to excite museum visitorsmore then the art it was focused on. In 2002,Helmus was commissioned to research intohow a painting, ‘The Burning of Troy’ (originallyattributed to the 16th century Dutch painter Janvan Scorel, but later attributed to Lambert

Suavius), related to three other paintings ofcontemporaries conveying the same dramaticstory of Aeneas. “The painting is not amasterpiece and difficult to appreciate. Yet,telling the story behind the paintings madethem very interesting to visitors,” Helmusexplained. The exhibition shared one of the arthistorical problems: who of the masters copiedwho? “We explained how we found out the truthby using infrared technology. In this case, arthistory was presented as a detective story. And I can assure you – it works!”

Liesbeth Helmus, curator of Paintings,

Drawing & Sculpture, Centraal Museum,

Utrecht.

Lambert Suavius, ‘The Burning of Troy’

(ca. 1550). Centraal Museum, Utrecht. The

story behind the painting made it more

interesting to the public.

An important issue at this Triennial meeting isto further professionalize the ICOM

organization. One example of this is the newmembership rules in the Working Group Glassand Ceramics, which is coordinated by LisaPelosi.“ICOM consists of different nationalcommittees, which all have their own rules formembers,” said Pilosi. “But we have noticedsome people in the working group are not trulymembers. They don’t pay their fees, but theyenjoy privileges, such as publications andnewsletters.” The biggest advantage of ICOM-CC membership is free entrance to virtually allmuseums all over the world.Pilosi considers this situation “unfair to theones who pay their dues”. So, starting fromOctober, only full members of ICOM-CC will beallowed complete website access. From January2006, this will also apply to membership of theworking groups.“I’m very happy with the way the membershipmatter is now being addressed,” said Pilosi.Those who find membership too expensive – thefee varies from country to country – can alsobecome a Friend of ICOM-CC. Pilosi added thatmembers from developing countries receive afurther discount in their fees.

Lisa Pilosi,

conservator

at the

Metropolitan

Museum of Art

in New York and

coordinator of

the Working

Group Glass and

Ceramics.

Lisa Pilosi Glass and ceramicsmembership rules tightened

Theo de Mooij,

director of Jeol

Netherlands.

Theo de Mooij Research with a gun

“What I find extremely fascinating aboutthe latest technological developments

in my area is that the newest techniques notonly do a lot more, a lot faster, they are alsomore simple to use than their predecessors,”said Theo de Mooij, director of Jeol Netherlands,a company specializing in analysing equipment,such as SEM-TEM, NMR and MASS. What used to be done in laboratories filled withglass tubes and distilling flasks, can now bedealt with in a matter of seconds in a clean,office-like instrument. Cutting-edge innovation,De Mooij pointed out, is taking place in the areaof preparing samples before they are submittedfor analysis. “We have developed an instrumentwhich is able to make cross sections of sampleswithout influencing its morphology andstructure.” The instrument, called a CrossSection Polisher, uses an ‘Argon gun’ to makethe finest possible cross section of a sample.The cross section is then put under themicroscope for analysis. De Mooij saidenlargement technology also continues to evolveto remarkable levels, making it possble to viewsamples as close as at the atomic level. “Thisenables restorers to assess – with absoluteaccuracy – what substances are present in asample and make informed decisions regarding restoration work.”

opportunity for members to learn about newmethods, and an exchange of research findings.The workshop focused on two new analyticaltechniques. The first technique, directtemperature resolved mass spectrometry(DTMS), has been around for at least ten years,but it is only recently that conservationscientists have been applying it to the study ofworks of art. The second technique, secondaryion mass spectrometry (SIMS), enables the

conservation scientist to obtain spatialinformation on material such as binding mediaand organic additives. This can be very useful,for example in paint samples made up of anumber of layers. Rather than separate thelayers mechanically, as is done traditionally, theSIMS ‘chemical microscope’ can examineindividual layers in an intact cross sectionsample.A meeting of MaSC was held following the

5

During the last triennial period the WorkingGroup Metals (WGM) decided to promote

research projects on four themes. The first is research done on preventiveconservation issues. Topics covered go from thein situ conservation of artefacts from subaquaticand terrestrial sites to the storage or exhibitionof museum objects. One of the most exciting projects to fall underthis theme is the Protection of Metals (Promet)project funded under the EU INCO-MPC1

Programme. Promet enables conservationprofessionals from the Mediterranean area towork on metal artefacts including silver, copperand iron-based ones, that suffer from severeweather conditions and lack of maintenancedue to lack of funding. The countries involvedin the project are Algeria, Czech Republic,Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Malta,

Morocco, Spain, Syria and Turkey.The project has two parts. One is thedevelopment of innovative portable non-destructive analytical tools (microXRFspectrometer) and micro Laser InducedBreakdown Spectrometer to study artefacts insitu in order to avoid their transportation.The second part is about the development ofinnovative protection systems of coatings andcorrosion inhibitors that would suit specificallythe requirements of Mediterranean countries.Most of the work will be performed onartificially manufactured coupons that willsimulate the behaviour of real artefacts and thatare exposed to different museumenvironments. After one year of exposure innatural conditions, the coupons will beinvestigated and cleaned as if they were realartefacts, and the most effective protectionsystems will be applied and tested for anotheryear. The innovation does not come only from theprotection systems themselves but from theway the monitoring is performed. In Malta thePromet team is developing a RemoteMonitoring Photo Capturing (RMPC) systemthat would allow them to take pictures of thecoupons on a daily basis to follow theprogression of the corrosion process.

NEUTRON RADIOGRAPHY REVEALSINTERVENTIONS The second theme being promoted by the WGMis research on better knowledge of the object.The WGM is experimenting with newtechnologies which give access in a non-destructive way to information that was notavailable a few years ago. For example the use of neutron radiography seems to be verypromising in complementing the traditional Xradiography to reveal organic elements and pastinterventions. The application of synchrotronradiation to the study of microsamples gives theWGM the possibility to sample more onartefacts in order to get a better knowledge ofcorrosion products developing on metalartefacts.

Under the third theme, researchers areencouraged to bring to light a betterunderstanding of conservation treatment. A lotof work has been performed in the last years on

Working Groups

Four main themes

WG Metals focuses on preventive conservation and better knowledge of the object

Many WGM members are involved in a metal protection project, specifically suited to the requirements of Mediterranean countries. Working with composite metal

artefacts also brings scientists from different working groups together.

Testing of the Remote Monitoring

Photo Capturing (RMPC) system,

that allows to take pictures of metal

coupons on a daily basis to follow the

progression of the corrosion process.

“Previously, we were working blindly with these techniques, without knowing whether

or not it would work; today such approaches are unacceptable”

Sideboard 1928, H.G. Wouda, Museum

Het Catharinagasthuis Gouda, on loan from the

Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage,

Rijswijk/Amsterdam

Chemical microscope

WG Scientific Research wants to attract scientists from other fields

A‘chemical microscope’ to examine paint

samples that are made up of several layers;

direct temperature resolved mass spectrometry,

that is now being applied to the study of works of

art – these are some of the analytical techniques

recently discussed by the Users’ Group for Mass

Spectrometry and Chromatography (MaSC),

operating under the umbrella of the WG Scientific

Research.

The Users’ Group for Mass Spectrometry andChromatography (MaSC) was established in

March 2003 at the workshop on ‘Binding MediaIdentification in Art Objects’. The workshopfocused particularly on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS) and was funded bythe EU Programme LABSTECH. The aim ofMaSC is to facilitate an exchange of informationamong conservation scientists on samplingstrategies and protocols, preparation ofsamples, chromatographic and massspectrometric analysis, and data treatment andinterpretation of results.MaSC recently held its second workshop on 7and 8 September, which provided the

workshop on 9 and 10 September. Participantspresented a series of lectures discussingresearch on artworks and archaeologicalartefacts, as well as forensic science.

DATABASE OF MASS SPECTRAThe new users’ group currently operates underthe umbrella of the ICOM-CC ScientificResearch Working Group (SRWG), and aims toorganise a meeting every one or two years.

Whenever possible, these meetings will bearranged to coincide with interim and triennialmeetings of ICOM-CC or similar organisations.The group is hoping to attract scientists workingin other fields such as archaeometry, as theyhave much common ground.Following the successful model of the Infraredand Raman Users Group (IRUG), MaSC issetting up a database of mass spectra ofmaterials found in artistic and cultural objects.

“Such databases already exist,” said Klaas Janvan den Berg, joint co-ordinator of the group,“but this database will have information that isdirectly applicable to our particular research.”The group has also set up a website and isapplying for legal status as not-for-profit group.

“Such databases already exist, but this database will have information that is directly

applicable to our particular research”

electro-chemical techniques in order to bettermonitor the processes developed during thetreatment of artefacts. The plasma technique isbenefiting too from further research in order toperfectly control the reactions taking placeduring the cleaning and stabilisation ofartefacts. It is clear that conservation professionals needto understand the effect of any conservationtreatment applied on cultural heritage artefacts.“Previously, we were working blindly with thesetechniques without knowing whether or not itwould work and hoping for the best,” saidChristian Degrigny, co-ordinator of the WGM.“Today such approaches are unacceptable andwe have the knowledge and the means toperform much safer interventions.”The fourth and final theme being promoted isthe conservation of composite artefacts such asthose composed of metals and textiles, ormetals and wood, usually marine artefacts. Thistheme is an essential one since it exposes theWGM to other materials and it favourscollaboration with other ICOM working groups.

Christian Degrigny during one of the

sessions in The Hague.

6

A more holistic, multi-disciplinary approachPreparedness for emergency situations is inadequate

Museums can face all kinds of disasters – from an earthquake to a leaky roof. Several speakershighlighted different aspects of disaster risk and recovery, whilst all having in common a

call for greater, wider communication and longer, more holistic, multi-disciplinary approaches.

ICOM secretary general John Zvereff opened theforum on museums and emergency situationsnoting that, although it was only the secondsuch ICOM meeting on this topic, the subjectwas likely to be a permanent fixture – withconservators becoming part of a wider, multi-disciplinary approach to tackling disastersituations.Indian architect, planner and conservationconsultant, Rohit Jigyasu, made the case for an

integrated approach to disaster management inmuseums, as in the Museum EmergencyProgramme (MEP). “Disasters are happening allthe time,” he said. “New Orleans, the ChiangMai floods in Thailand, the Tsunami. And theirfrequency seems to be increasing. They are notonly natural but also man-made – theconsequences of war and terrorism.”The main challenges, he said, were lack of

awareness (there is a need for education andtraining), ineffective public policy andinadequate resources. We are also ‘hazard-centric’, focused on dramatic events likeearthquakes. Yet there are also ‘slow’ risks too: a leaky roof, a termite infestation.A holistic view demands that we look at risks tocollections, buildings, visitors and staff, theimmediate setting, the social and economiccontext, and the intangible aspects – especially

in a developing world, where there are many‘living museums’ and therefore a differentperception of risk.

EXPERTS ON FAULT ZONESNevra Ertürk, a research assistant at the YildizTechnical University’s Museum StudiesGraduate Program in Turkey, has writtenextensively on earthquakes, which, “though

unavoidable, we can prepare for”. She pointedout that “96% of Turkey is in a quake zone, sowe have all we become experts on fault zones.” Ertürk presented her World Bank-funded projectwhich looks at the non-structural elements ofdisasters (lighting, air-conditioning and othernon load-bearing aspects), specific to the needsof 40 public and private museums in Istanbul.Common risks include broken glass, andfreestanding objects falling over. Additionally,lighting may fall from a ceiling, showcases maybreak and ceilings may collapse. Mitigationmethods included fastening moving showcases,putting sand or lead weights in objects, usinganchors and bracing, and boxing orcompartmentalising objects. Theserecommendations have already beenimplemented in the Topkapi Palace and AncientOrient Museum in Istanbul; several othermuseums are preparing, and encouragingothers, to do the same. Additionally, thegovernment and municipalities have started aprogram – the Disaster Preparedness EducationProgram to provide support to all Turkishmuseums.

IDEAL STORAGE MECHANISM FORCOLLECTIONSAgnes Brokerhof of the Netherlands Institute forCultural Heritage opened with a scenario from'the 24th century', the era of ‘Star Trek – TheNext Generation’, when humans replicators areable to create objects at will – be it a cup ofcoffee or a Van Gogh ‘Sunflower’.Brokerhof specifically mentioned the episodewhen Data (an android), is kidnapped by an artcollector. “It prompts questions like: why collectobjects when we can reproduce anything? It isto do with the uniqueness of the original; aboutauthenticity. It's not about the materials used,but the value within those materials.”“We can see cracks, and micro-cracks andelectron micro-cracks – all of which lead us tobelieve that change is bad,” said Brokerhof. “Sowe set up guidelines and procedures to reduceand minimize change, or to restore the effectsof change. But how much value is lost bychange – such as micro-cracks in the varnish –compared to the destruction of a quake? Thereis a conflict between the micro- and macro-worlds. We need to cross the next frontier, frompreventive conservation to collection riskmanagement.”

Nevra Ertürk: “96% of Turkey is

in a quake zone.”

Hanna Pennock, museum

inspector for the Dutch government.

“The frequency of disasters seems to be increasing. They are not only natural but also

man-made, the consequences of war and terrorism”

Museum Forum

The best plans can be overwhelmed

Members share experiences of emergency situations

Disasters, both man-made and natural, seem

to be on the increase – and no country is

immune. How do you prepare for this? The need

to share experience is a pressing one.

“Disasters are very democratic,” notedJohn Leighton, who moderated the

discussion on museums and emergencysituations, together with ICOM programmespecialist Christina Menegazzi. “They affect usall. But good preparation can reduce theirimpact. My question is: what can you do on theissue of risk management?”

A conservator from the Getty Museum said thatthey toured their galleries once a year and wentthrough various safety protocols, i.e. made surethere was an emergency toolbox in each room.“It’s a painful, but necessary, process.”The head of an African museum commentedthat there is more information in the press thanever before. “But once the event has left themedia spotlight, interest in heritage is lost. We’dlike a reconstruction phase that puts more focuson our work, and more long-term efforts.”Els van der Plas, from the Prince Claus Fund,mentioned the setting up, in 2003, of the Dutch

Cultural Emergency Response to look at how tohelp libraries, archives and museums etcaround the world. So far, it had been active inBaghdad, Palestine and Aceh. “New Orleans had many disaster relief plans –and none of them worked,” said David Grattonfrom Canada. “The best plans and preparationscan be overwhelmed.”Diane van Breeden, from the Library ofCongress and Smithsonian Insitution, said thiswas a very timely topic for the US. “We havedisaster plans on the Net at the Smithsonian. Atthe Library of Congress, I was hired to deal withplanning for a terrorist attack. We followed UNguidelines and also prepared seven scenarios –

Hanna Pennock is a museum inspector forthe Dutch government. She examines

whether museums properly manage securityand preservation of their collections. Pennock isalso a board member of ICOM’s InternationalCommittee for Museum Security (ICMS). She isalways on the look-out for trends in research,hoping to gain insights that might improve amuseum’s risk management practices.“I’ve heard interesting cases at this congress.British research, for instance, has shown that itis not safer – contrary to common belief – tostore a painting parallel to the flight directionduring air transport. It might just as well beplaced perpendicular to flight direction. Thismay look like a trivial detail. But these kind ofrevelations are important. They free up time andenergy to deal with the really critical securityissues.” She added that international exchangeis extremely useful, for exactly this reason.Pennock is currently involved in a Dutch projectaimed at gathering real-life examples of securitybreaches and ‘near misses’. The cases will bestored in a national ‘incident database’. “Ouraim is to learn from mistakes, as well as fromsuccesses.”

Hanna Pennock Sharing new insights on art’s air safety

Christina Menegazzi

during the discussion.

Behind her, from left to

right: Rohit Jigyasu, John

Zvereff, Nevra Ertürk and

Agnes Brokerhof.

but, inevitably, the thing you don’t plan for is thething that happens.”“Hurricane Katrina is the first national approach,due to the size of the disaster. We have weeklyconference calls – with 20-plus conservators andgovernment representatives – as an example ofwhat we can do. And doing this has shown howlittle we know, and how much we need advice.”

Discussion with the public,

moderated by John Leighton.

R70-56, J.J. Schoonhoven , 1970,

The Netherlands Institute for Cultural

Heritage, Rijswijk/Amsterdam

7

Mexican researcher and conservator BlancaNoval Vilar emphasized in her address

that it is not the objects themselves, but theirmeaning to the people, which are crucial inkeeping our cultural heritage intact. “Thesubjects should be approached from theanthropological angle,” she said. “People needto be able to identify with both the movable andimmovable heritage – through meetings,discussions and active participation.”

Another approach to attract the public tomuseums on a regular basis was presentedduring the session by Feroza Verberne, pictureconservator at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in theDutch town of Enschede. In her discourse,entitled ‘Communicating Conservation’, shedescribed how, between 2002 and 2004, the

Rijksmuseum Twenthe had staged a largeexhibition on conservation. “We decided to giveconservation a permanent place in the

programme of our museum, and called it ‘DeKunst van het Bewaren’ (The Art ofConservation). We wanted to target a broadgeneral public, work ethically, and createinteractive elements and educational projectswhich were related to various objects.”

One example of this was that schoolchildrenlearned how to unpack and handle art, and weretrained to use and read x-rays. “Looking back,it’s clear that the project was labour intensiveand required immense communication skillsfrom the conservators,” said Verberne. “But itwas also a great success.”Verberne said the key to the positive responseto ‘De Kunst van het Bewaren’ was due to threefactors. “Firstly, the project was the museum’ssole responsibility. Secondly, a foundation wascreated for public engagement. And thirdly, wewere in a permanent dialogue with all thedifferent institutions involved.”

FEELING LIKE A MONKEYDuring the ensuing debate on publicengagement, one French participant remarkedthat conservators needed training incommunication in order to learn how to engagewith an audience. “There are some conservatorswho view the public as sort of an enemy. Theysay: we don’t want to be monkeys you can lookat.”While some participants reacted byemphasizing the need for conservation studentsto be trained in the art of listening, othersvoiced worries about the necessarycommunication training conservators wouldhave to follow. Who will pay for this, especiallyin a time when most museum budgets are notgetting any bigger? Simon Cane, coordinator of the ICOM-CC TaskForce on Public Engagement, reacted by sayingthere are opportunities to find solutions for this.“There are many levels of engagement, butlistening to the audience is essential.” Canecited an example of one British museumconservator he knew, who was unwilling toshow a certain record to a person. “I thoughtthat was wrong. They are taxpayers and areentitled to have access to cultural heritage.”Another British participant remarked she wasafraid the public would interfere too much withher work if they were able to enter herworkplace. “Conservators are being used moreand more for fundraising events where thepublic is brought in. How can this beregulated?” she asked. Moderator John Leightonhad a brief but clear answer to this: “The publicis first, the money is second.”

Museum Forum

The public is first, the money is secondVaried opinions on public engagement in conservation

Does engaging the public always work to the advantage of conservators? And when theaudience does get closer, will this interfere with conservation work and will it affect the

budget? During the plenary session introduced by Nicholas Stanley-Price – which focused onmuseums and public engagement in conservation – it became clear that opinions on publicinvolvement can vary considerably among conservators.

Feroza Verberne during her presentation.

Behind the table, from left to right: Blanca

Noval Vilar, Simon Warrack, Nicholas

Stanley-Price and Simon Cane.

“Conservators are being used more and more for fundraising events where the public is

brought in”

Coconut cup , South Netherlands 2nd

half of 16th century, Museum Boijmans Van

Beuningen, Rotterdam

Ta Reach – sticking together a community Simon Warrack restored a religious statue at Angkor Wat

Restoring works of art which have a special

meaning for a community necessitates

certain responsibilities and can have a huge

impact on people. British stone conservator,

Simon Warrack, noticed this in Cambodia, where

he worked on the restoration of Ta Reach, an

important religious statue at Angkor Wat. “We

weren’t just sticking together stone, we were

sticking together a community.”

During his ten years at Angkor Wat, one ofthe most intense projects he worked on

was the restoration of Ta Reach, Warrack told afascinated audience. The 11th-century temple isthe largest religious building in the world, and atthe heart of Cambodian identity. “AllCambodians want to go there at least once intheir life,” Warrack said. “I don’t know of anyother country which has her cultural heritage onthe national flag.”

Ta Reach holds a special meaning for theCambodians. “All visitors to Angkor Wat stop atthe statue and leave either small or largedonations – for us conservators too.” The statueis important for the local animistic religion, one

which believes in the spirits of ancestors.“Because of its religious significance, wedecided it was necessary to speak to the local

religious leader in the nearest village before westarted restoring it,” Warrack said. “He wassurprised to see us, but happy to offer advice.He asked us to use local sandstone for therestoration – because it was possessed by thesame spirits. This was just what we had alreadyplanned to do.”For the restoration of Ta Reach, Warrack alsoasked local mine-clearers to check for any metalwithin the statue. Then, after its eight arms hadbeen restored, one last thing needed to be done:put the head back on. “It had disappeared yearsago but was eventually found at the Royal Palacein Phnom Penh. The government feared it would

Larry Cruz, conservator at the National

Historical Institute in Manila, the Philippines.

“One of the major conservation issues myorganisation is dealing with,” said Larry

Cruz, conservator at the National HistoricalInstitute in Manila, “is the mishandling ofobjects by visitors. Philippine people can bequite unruly at times. They ignore signs atnational landmarks restricting where they’resupposed to walk or what they’re allowed totouch. In addition, staff overseeing these sitesoften lack the knowledge required to ensureproper maintenance.”Cruz’s institute is responsible for the promotionand preservation of the Philippines’ historicalheritage, and consists of national shrines,statues, flags, colonial textile collections, andancestral houses. For Cruz, the ICOM-CCconference is an opportunity to help solvepractical conservation issues. “A major asset ofthis conference is the abundance of technicalinformation on conservation,” he said. “Adiscussion on how to deal with white bloomingon leather objects, for instance, has been veryvaluable for me.”The Philippine conservator, a chemical engineerby profession, said he hoped for moreopportunities to network and meet fellowconservators in his own region. “We would, ofcourse, welcome the ICOM-CC conferencetaking place in Asia. It would boost exchangewithin the region.”

Larry Cruz An abundance of practicalinformation

be stolen again, so it was arranged that it wouldbe transported in secret, without anyoneknowing.”Still, on the day the head arrived, villagers atAngkor Wat had found out and held animpromptu religious ceremony – which lastedhours. Only then, was Warrack allowed to putthe head on the statue and complete his work.

The head of Ta Reach, which was

missing for years. On the day it arrived

back, villagers at Angkor Wat had found

out and held an impromptu religious

ceremony – which lasted hours.

“He asked us to use local sandstone for the restoration – because it was possessed

by the same spirits”

8

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9

The Working Group Preventive Conservation(WGPC), established just nine years ago,

has been focusing increasingly on integratedpreventive conservation of entire collections,whereby various schools of knowledge anddifferent types of procedures are pitted togetherin order to determine the most efficient way topreserve the entire museum collection. This newholistic approach can be described as riskmanagement of the entire collection. Last June, the ICCROM and CCI, in co-operationwith the Canadian Museum of Nature and theNetherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage(ICN), held a three week course in riskmanagement of museum collections. It ishoped that this three-week course for culturalheritage professionals will be the first of many,and will help change the emphasis worldwide,from preventive conservation with a focus onindividual agents of deterioration, to reducingrisks to entire collections. During the course, curators consider whether tobuy a new artefact for their museum, spend themoney primarily on research or on conservation,or invest in an exhibition which would generatemore money. “Risk management becomes anintegrated part of collection management,” saidAgnes Brokerhof, of the ICN.

FIXATION ON ‘SAFE’ NUMBERSThe WGPC is aiming to provide guidelines forpreventive conservation, especially museumlighting, climate control and air quality. This

should help collection keepers understand localconditions and decide on an acceptable level ofdamage. Initiatives are underway to move awayfrom universally applied magic numbers thatsuggest low risks, but that may in fact pose ahigh risk.“There is much demand for guidelines,” saidBrokerhof, “but we especially want curators toget away from their fixation on ‘safe’ numbers

and have them think about what is best for theirparticular collection, rather than blindly followguideline advice or a successful managementapproach applied by a colleague.” “There are no magical numbers which can beblindly adhered to,” she emphasised. Brokerhofis referring to threats such as how much light

exposure can an artefact endure, how muchhumidity, heat etc., as not only is each collectiondifferent, but each location is different. Otherthreats to take into consideration would be whathappens to an artefact during transport, what isthe natural humidity level and climate of themuseum’s location, what are threats posed bylocal pests and insects, and even naturaldisasters.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PROGRAMMEA new international programme, the MuseumEmergency Preparedness Programme (MEP),established amongst others by ICOM, The GettyFoundation and ICCROM, looks at the riskposed by natural disasters. It is a risk whichcannot be prevented or controlled in any way,but a museum can at least have a quick,adequate response, and take precautions notonly by building earthquake-proof buildings, butalso at showcase level.

The book ‘Cultural Heritage DisasterPreparedness and Response’, which came outthis year, gives an overview of how differentcountries deal with their disasters and prepareto reduce the impact of the disaster as much aspossible.

ICN QUANTIFIES AND PRIORITISES RISKSIn their recent study of risk assessment at theMuseum Amstelkring in Amsterdam,completed a year ago, the ICN advised that themuseum invest in a new roof as the likelihoodof water leakage posed the greatest threat to themuseum. The roof was promptly renewed andthe ICN is now rounding up its second riskassessment investigation.The Amstelkring is a small museum and one ofthe few in the Netherlands to see a steadyincrease in visitor numbers. The ICN is nowlooking into whether a new extension next to thecurrent building would reduce the risk that thelarge number of visitors pose to the buildingand the museum’s collection. Such a newextension would provide space for temporaryexhibitions and educational activities, as well assuitable services for the visitors, such assufficient washrooms, a shop, reception areaand restaurant.“Societies determine the value of the collectionsthat we keep,” said Brokerhof, “for that thepublic needs good access to the collectionbecause if they never see it, they will never valueit. This is where preventive conservation meetscollection value and becomes collection riskmanagement.”

Working Groups

Collections not items

WG Preventive Conservation provides guidelines on preventiveconservation

Hot topics in risk management of collections are safety, security and emergencypreparedness. New courses are also being set up to face these challenges which

differ from place to place.

Visitor impact: threehundred and fifty

years wear and tear of the 17th century

staircase at the Museum Amstelkring in

Amsterdam (photo ICN).

“We want curators to think about what

is best for their particular collection,

rather than blindly follow a successful

approach applied by a colleague”

“Societies determine the value of the collections that we keep. For that they need good

access to it, or they will never value it”

Harikete, Suriname c. 1927, KIT/Tropen-

museum, Amsterdam

“Conservators need to show themselves more”Suzanne Maarschalkerweerd

On 1 July 2005, a special baby was born inAmsterdam: Restauratoren Nederland

(RN), an association representing 500 Dutchrestoration professionals. RN is the result of amerger between four different associations, oneof which is VeRes, one of the organisers of the14th ICOM-CC Congress in The Hague. “Theconference comes at just the right time for us,”said Suzanne Maarschalkerweerd, director ofRN.The mission of RN is very much in harmonywith the theme of the ICOM-CC Congress, thenew director indicates. “Restorers need to showthe public who they are and what they do. Asyet, this professional group have barely beeninvolved in Dutch heritage conservation. So, forus, the motto of the conference is perfect.”Apart from joining forces in RN, Dutch restorershave taken another step to furtherprofessionalize their trade. While the conferencetook place in The Hague, the first academiccourse in conservation and restoration startedat the University of Amsterdam. From next year,

students will be able to follow a five-yearMasters degree.The academic training serves a clear purpose.“In the Netherlands, everyone can callthemselves a restorer, which can be misleadingto the public,” said Maarschalkerweerd. “Simplybeing an experienced artisan cannot be astandard for quality. We know that restorers ofpaintings are mostly patching up badrestorations which were done earlier.”However, setting new academic standards forthe profession does not mean ‘old-style’craftsmen will be left out, Maarschalkerweerdemphasized. “We need them for their expertiseand experience, as an example to the students.So, we have decided to set up a transitionalperiod of five years, wherein craftsmen will havethe chance to acquire the necessary standardsin both theory and quality.”Crucial for the future of restoration is that thepublic knows what the work implies. “Therestorer is at the end of the line, working on theartefact with his own hands. A curator looks at

the outside, at the aesthetic element. Theconservator works on the object itself, goingdeep into the material. It’s a highly responsiblejob.”

Suzanne Maarschalkerweerd,

director of the new organisation

Restauratoren Nederland.

Christian DegrignyImportant to encouragecross-pollination

Christian Degrigny, head of Diagnostic

Science Lab, Heritage Malta.

Aconservation scientist working in the fieldfor 15 years, Christian Degrigny is

passionate about interaction and transfer ofknowledge. “It is important that there is morecross-pollination. We have to encourageinteraction between the curator and thescientist,” he said. He himself has his roots inboth science and education.As the head apparent of the Working GroupMetals (he is the only candidate for the post),he feels he will be in an ideal position to pursuethis aim. It is now three years ago that hestarted to breath new life into the group. “Therewas little networking between people.” Newtools and a new approach promoting the idea ofcollaboration were needed. Now there are 28people from different countries coordinatingcollection and distribution of information, athree-monthly research bulletin and a triennialmeta conference.With new guidelines limiting working groups toICOM members, the number of members willdrop dramatically, so encouraging active peoplebecomes even more important. When he isofficially head, one of his first tasks will be tochoose five assistants to work with him, to helphim achieve his vision. “Currently, this is not socommon, but I hope Metals can take on the roleof mother hen to the other groups andencourage dialogue and networking.”

10

The G.R.A.S. Project develops educationalprogrammes aimed at teenagers in the lower

years of secondary education – preciselybecause these youngsters seldom visit amuseum. The museums taking part are the VanGogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamHistorical Museum and Stedelijk Museum. Theproject, set up between 2001-2004, is beingfunded by the Ministry of Education, Cultureand Sciences, and the Amsterdam Municipality.The project’s approach is to give specialattention to the individual pupil. For a mere 25 Euro, a group of ten students can visit one ofthe four participating museums, where they willget a tour (conducted by a special G.R.A.S.Project teacher), along with interactive learningmaterial.

In one of the programmes, ‘Haken & Ogen’(Hooks & Eyes), students are challenged to lookat the technology behind museum objects: inwhat way are they constructed, and what isnecessary to research, repair or reconstructthem?One of the participating museums, theRijksmuseum, is one of the most famous in theworld. With almost one million items, themuseum houses one of The Netherlands’

largest collections of art and history. The mostwell-known of these is its collection of 17th-century Dutch masters, which includes 20paintings by Rembrandt, and other impressiveworks from this period by Johannes Vermeer,Frans Hals and Jan Steen.Another participating museum, the Stedelijk,which opened its doors in 1895, houses worksfrom the German and Dutch Expressionistperiod, as well as a number of paintings andsculptures of ‘classical modern’ art,photographs, applied art, and industrial andgraphic design. Modern art owned by themuseum includes works by Mondriaan, VanDoesburg, Rietveld, Moore, Saura, Tajiri,Zadikine, Matisse, Rauschenberg, Ryman,Malevich, Bacon, Hirst, Warhol and Mikhailov.At present, the museum is closed for renovationand isn’t due to reopen until 2008. However, ithas a temporary location, Stedelijk Museum CS,with regularly-changing exhibitions.

Excursions

Educational programmes for youngsters

G.R.A.S. Project, Amsterdam

Four of Amsterdam’s major museums – which could all be visited during the excursionson Wednesday – are collaborating together in the G.R.A.S. Project. Aimed at teenagers,

the programmes stimulate them to think about conservation.

Students participating in the programme

‘Haken & Ogen’ (Hooks & Eyes), which

stimulates them to think about conservation.

The picture was taken in the Amsterdam

Historical Museum.

Congress participants visiting the

Rijksmuseum.

Laurianne Robinet, researcher, working

on her PhD at the School of Engineering,

Centre for Materials, Edinburgh and the

University of Pierre Marie Curie, Paris.

Portraits of De Witt brothers restored

Dordrechts Museum

Two brothers, Johan and Cornelis de Witt, were

killed by an angry mob in 1672. Portraits of

them, by 17th-century painter Jan de Baen, also

became a target for destruction. They were,

however, saved and have recently been restored.

The restoration of a series of four portraits ofJohan (1625-1672) and Cornelis (1623-1672)

de Witt and their parents, by De Baen, andbelonging to the Dordrechts Museum, has beensuccessfully completed – including theiroriginal, gold-plated wooden frames. De Baenwas born in Haarlem in 1633 and died in The

Hague in 1702. This was the first majorrestoration of his series in over 100 years. Thefour frames and paintings were restored bydifferent people.The portraits are on display in an exhibitionentitled “De Witt Brothers. Power and Weaknessin the Golden Century.” It was organised by theDordrecht City Archives and is being held at theDordrechts Museum until 15 January 2006. The history of the portraits of Johan andCornelis de Witt is as turbulent as the life of thebrothers themselves, who met with such aviolent end. Following their death, the angry

mob searched De Baen’s house, looking for theportraits – but were unable to find them.However, another portrait of Cornelis de Witt –also by De Baen – which was hanging inDordrecht’s town hall, was torn to shreds.The exhibition required specific research and

restoration to be carried out before the portraits

could be displayed. The paintings, which are

among the most important done of the De Witts,

had apparently been hanging in the home of

Johanna de Witt, the brothers’ older sister. They

were very dirty and the frames partially repainted in

black. However, after careful cleaning and removal

of the black paint, the portraits have now been

restored to their original state.

Laurianne Robinet “Open your ears – listen anddon’t just talk”

Currently embarking on the last year of herPhD, Laurianne Robinet is very enthusiastic

about the congress, “the number of people andcountries represented, the quality of the lecturesand talks, the cross-fertilization.”What she really values, however, is the chance toshare experiences and ideas. Although glasscorrosion is a small field, she’s meeting fellowcolleagues she didn’t know prior to thecongress. “Problems have always existed, butnot the science or knowledge to find solutions. Iam a scientist, constantly looking for new ideas,but we have to ask ourselves – what does aconservator want? What can a scientist do tohelp? Sometimes we forget this, doing thingsthat are not relevant.”The greatest benefit of the congress is in gettingthe bigger picture. The problem of access to –or loss of – culture and heritage was somethingthat had not occurred to her. These problemsaren’t isolated but linked together. “Peopleshould listen and not just talk – it’s importantto open our ears.”

The portrait of Cornelis de Witt

during the restoration.

Work on Johan de Witt’s

portrait.

Detail of Cornelis’ portrait.

11

The harbour city of Rotterdam is also animportant cultural centre within The

Netherlands, especially when it comes tomovies, films, their making and their history.The city also boasts an impressive photodatabase, accessible to both the public andprofessionals.

The Netherlands Photo Museum is thenational centre of knowledge and learning in

photography. The museum treats photographyas a medium with social and artistic functions.That is the reason why the photography has abroad working space that stretches from

contemporary and historical photography,professional and amateur photography tophotography as part of an image culture. Themuseum manages the collections which includeover four million negatives and photographs ofaround 80 Dutch photographers, representingan integral part of more than 100 years of Dutchphotography. Among them are Aart Klein, CasOorthuys and Ed van der Elsken. The museumalso operates a professional photo conservationand restoration studio, while offeringknowledge, insight and experience on numerousaspects of photography, both to the interestedpublic and to professionals.It was founded when the Netherlands Photo

Institute, the Netherlands Photo Archives andthe National Photo Conservation Studiosmerged in 2003. It now organises exhibitions,workshops, projects and lectures, as well asinitiating research. The museum wants to signallatest developments in photography, reflectmore on the medium, map the history ofphotography to a greater extent, and increasethe knowledge of management andconservation, applying this knowledge to PhotoCollection Netherlands. It is currently in theprocess of building a digital museum on theinternet.

VALUABLE LEARNING PROCESSOne of the projects the conservationdepartment will present during the excursion isthe conservation of the so-called Gandaraalbum, which has been a burden to the studio,but also a valuable learning process. The albumarrived for the first time in 1993, when thestudio had just been established. Two majorproblems occurred during the conservationprocess: the images could not be lifted from thepages, and the remounting of the albumenprints caused a lot of tension problems. Afteremploying the help of a trainee for six months,

Excursions

Dutch photography & cinematography

Rotterdam boasts a photo museum and a national film archivefollowed by an additional year of attempts, thestudio finally managed to make some progress.And the repasting of the prints became anindependent study into the mountingtechniques.The Rotterdam Municipality also own animpressive archive of 17km of files and has animportant historical library, as well as a largecollection of maps, images, photos, film, videoand sound material. Both the public andprofessionals are able to visit its restorationstudio, where they can see the work currentlybeing carried out and get an insight into arecent conservation project on stereopositives.

Film inspection table in the Municipality Archive in Rotterdam.

Both the public and professionals are able to visit the restoration

studio.

Congress participants

visiting the depot of the

National Museum of

Ethnology.

Spirits bottle, Japan 1660-1679, Museum

voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem, on loan from the

Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage,

Rijswijk/Amsterdam

Respect for the folds in bark cloth

National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden

Beaten tree bark was regularly used as a

material for making clothes in various parts of

Indonesia and Oceania. To this day, the cloth still

plays a prominent role in the culture of the Maisin

people and selling it has become an important

source of income for them. Conservation and

restoration require specific skills.

The National Museum of Ethnology, located inthe university town of Leiden, is home to manyunique items from all over the globe. It is aportal to other cultures, peoples and times. Inthe early 18th century – under the reign of KingWilliam I (1772-1843) – scientists were sent toremote parts of the world specifically to collectrare and unusual artefacts for study and displayat the museum. In 1816, scientists embarked onacquiring a collection of objects from China,followed in 1826 and 1832 by acquiring a

collection of objects from Japan. Today themuseum’s collection boasts artefacts fromKorea, Lapland, Greenland, India, Indonesia,West Africa, Tibet, Siberia, and the Indians ofNorth, Central and South America, to mention afew. The museum is now famous all over theworld for its well-documented collections, andworks closely with the National GeographicSociety.The museum is currently holding an exhibitionon the bark clothing of the Maisin people inPapua New Guinea. Dutch anthropologist Anna-Karina Hermkens lived with the Maisin in PapuaNew Guinea in 2001 and 2002, during whichtime she carried out research into the making

and use of bark cloth, or “tapa”. There are about3000 Maisin who live along the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea. During her stay there,Hermkens collected bark cloth and, on herreturn to The Netherlands, decided to put it ondisplay in the museum’s collection.

COMMERCIAL VALUEAlthough beaten tree bark was once regularlyused as a material for making clothes in variousparts of Indonesia and Oceania, since the 1950s,bark cloth has no longer been used for thispurpose. However, cloth does still play aprominent role in the culture of the Maisin. Theprocess involves making the inner bark of a treewet, beating it flat, and then folding it. This isrepeated several times until the material is softand suitable for making clothes. It is thendecorated using black and red dyes.Since the 1970s, the sale of bark cloth has beenan intrinsic source of income for the Maisin.The commercial value of the cloth depends onthe decorations. Another recent developmenthas been that other ethnic groups in Papua NewGuinea have been buying the Maisin tapa andusing it for their own traditional wear.Conserving and restoring tree bark in a museumrequires specific skills. While textileconservators normally use, what are at times,elaborate methods to unfold the material andremove the creases, conserving the bark clothrequires a fundamental understanding of boththe use of the particular garment anddecorations on it, as well as a knowledge of theMaisin traditions and culture. This is because

the creases and folds in their clothing are donein such a way as to show the use and status ofthe garment, and in this case actually helppreserve the material longer. It is thereforeessential that the conservator respects thesefolds, rather than try to undo them. The exhibition, which will be held until 27November, has a special presentation showinghow the conservation of bark cloth is carriedout.

Presentation of bark cloth in the exhibition.

Restoration of bark cloth.

12

Eu - ARTECHAccess, Research, and Technology for the conservation of European Cultural Heritage

Joint research activitiesThere are two joint research activities, which have the aim of developing

and assessing new analytical and conservation methods, thereby improving the quality of the facilities offered to the scientific community

through the Access section of the project:

JRA1: Development and evaluation of new treatments for the conservation-restoration of outdoor stone and bronze monuments;

JRA2: New methods in diagnostics: Imaging and spectroscopy.

NetworkingThe Networking activity aims to promote exchange of knowledge,

disseminate good practices in conservation and define common work-parameters to improve the comparability of results and quality of research.

The activity has two components:N1-Sharing knowledge and resources, with the aim of disseminating good analytical procedures, promoting the adoption of standards and

defining common research areas.N2-Methods and materials in conservation, with the aim of exchanginginformation on materials and methods used in conservation and promoting

the definition of recommended procedures.

A central part of N2 is the survey on ‘Cleaning and Consolidation methods and materials’, which has the aim of collecting information on recent

conservation treatments and common problems of conservation practice. Cleaning of stone, paintings and metals, Consolidation of stone and

mural paintings, treatment of Biodeterioration of stone, easel paintingsand mural paintings are being surveyed.

Restorers and conservators are invited to contribute by completing some simple forms on the subjects listed above, according to their

professional experience. The forms can be downloaded from the websiteor paper copies can be sent on request.

The data will be evaluated anonymously. The survey results, and a separate list of the names and affiliations of the compilers, will be

published.

To take part in the survey, please visit the project website or contact: euartech_cnr@yahoo.com

http://www.eu-artech.org

Access

Requests for access to AGLAE and MOLAB facilities from European users can be made by completing a simple proposal form. The users ofselected proposals obtain free access to the requested facility, including scientific and technical support and, for AGLAE, travel and subsistencegrants. For MOLAB, the “mobile laboratory” travels to the user’s place of

work, fully supported by the EC.

The proposals are considered every six months. NEXT DEADLINE: December 1st, 2005

The proposal form can be downloaded from the website

Eu-ARTECH offers two Transnational Access programmes aimed atpromoting the use of advanced analytical facilities by the European community of researchers, conservators and curators in the field of

studies and conservation of works of art.

AGLAEAGLAE Located in the Palais du Louvre(Paris, CNRS-C2RMF), the AGLAE

accelerator for ion beam analysis can beused for non-destructive elemental

composition studies of high sensitivity andprecision (PIXE, PIGE, RBS), in a unique

environment of art-historians, restorers and scientists with great expertise in the materials

and conservation of works of art.

MOLAB MOLAB A unique collection of portable analytical equipment, or

‘mobile laboratory’ provided by agroup of institutions in Perugia and Florence, together with competence

in the methods and materials ofworks of art. MOLAB is available for in-situ non-destructive analysis of

the materials and conservation of works of art, and can travel tomuseums, restoration studios,

churches, historic buildings, and archaeological sites. It includes IR

scanning reflectography, micro-profilometry, XRF, FTIR, Raman,

UV-VIS spectroscopy, NMR relaxometry.

Eu-ARTECH is a consortium of thirteen internationally distinguished European Institutions in the field of conservation of works of art and CulturalHeritage. The research institutions are all involved in cooperative interdisciplinary work with conservators, archaeologists and art historians.

The objective of Eu-ARTECH is to work towards a lasting interoperability between the participating institutions, establishing cooperation and exchange ofknowledge with other infrastructures in the field, with a view to building a common European research area.

The program of the five-year Eu-ARTECH project includes the following activities:1. Networking 2. Access 3. Joint Research Activities

CNR –IstitutoNazionaledi Ottica Applicata

OrmyliaArt DiagnosisCenter

Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratoridi Restauro

Università degli Studidi Perugia

ScientificDepartmentof the National Gallery of London

Laboratorio Nacional deEngenhariaCivil

Alma MaterStudiorum -Università di Bologna

Institut Royal duPatrimoine Artistique –Koninklijk Instituut voorhet Kunstpatromonium

Centre Nationalde la RechercheScientifique

CNR - Istituto perla Conservazionee Valorizzazione dei Beni Culturali

13

Conservation of textiles is a processcomplicated by the fact that the type of

textile, be it linen, cotton, silk, polyester or othermaterial, ages differently and reacts differentlyto preservation methods. For preservation of alltextiles, it is essential to know how it wasoriginally made, and where necessary, to repairit or to improve the condition it was found in,

before preservation can even take place. Forexample, oftentimes materials are found allcrumpled up, have been ruined by foldingcreases, or are dirty and simply need to bewashed. Modern technology such as X-radiography

machines are proving very useful for studying

textiles which are found all crumpled up, as this

machine can scan every nook and cranny of the

material while keeping it in the same crumpled up

state it was found in. It can then be determined

how best to uncrumple, clean and preserve it.

Recently, the Working Group Textiles (WGT) has

been doing much chemical experimentation.

Among them are: the use of chemical supercritical

fluids, mainly carbon-dioxide, for cleaning the

textiles and for improving cleaning methods; using

high performance liquid chromatography to

analyse synthetic dyes; and inductively coupled

plasma masspectrometry which was used to study

textile fragments found in King Midas’ tomb in

Turkey, dating back to 800 BC.

103 SILK FRAGMENTSIn the 1995 archaeological excavations at the

ancient harbour of Genoa, 103 different silk textile

fragments (tabby, velvet, embroidery and knitting)

were unexpectedly found. These interesting textiles,

dating from the 16th or 17th century, were of

uneven shapes and sizes, and may therefore have

been a tailor's waste. The textiles were found in

good condition, which was perhaps due to the

harbour’s clay composition that, compacting itself,

created no air bubbles. Furthermore, salt water

and sewage were present and may have acted as

bacteriostats.

Work on these textiles, to identify, clean, and

preserve them, was carried out by Dr. Paolo Bensi,

chemist, Seconda Università di Napoli, and his

colleagues in Genoa, Dr. Marzia Cataldi Gallo,

Dr. Piera Melli, archaeologist, and Claudia

Santamaria, textile restorer.

ANCIENT TEXTILES IN SALT MINEAnother interesting find were the textiles in the

ancient salt mines of Hallstatt, Austria, dating as

far back as 800-400 BC. “It is fascinating,” said

Mary Ballard, researcher at the Smithsonian

Institute and WGT co-ordinator, “that due to the

impregnation by salt and the special conditions of

the mine organic materials and textiles (leather,

fur and wood), survived 2500 years.”

The Hallstatt period textiles are fine quality wool in

a variety of weave structures: tabby, basket weave,

diagonal twill, herringbone, zigzag, and lozenge

twill, half-basket, rep ribbons and tablet weave.

Checks, stripes, and chequered designs, like

houndstooth patterns, were found. Tablet

weavings had triangles or meanders in multicolour

designs.

A team of scientists, archaeologists, curators, and

conservators comprising Regina Hofmann-de

Keijzer, Maarten R. van Bommel, Ineke Joosten,

Hans Reschreiter, Karina Grömer, Helga

Mautendorfer, Anna Hartl and Michaela Morelli,

have studied these textiles to find out more about

their condition and how best to preserve them.

They are also looking into whether they were

locally made or imported, and why they were left

in the mines.

For the conservation of tapestries, the European

Union has funded a huge multifaceted

preservation project. Conservation scientists David

Howell and Kathryn Hallett concentrated on the

silk in the tapestries, as silk is found in many

tapestries. All that is needed is a fragment of the

silk; one tiny piece of thread will suffice. The silk

fragment is subjected to size exclusion

chromatography, which gives a very good

indication of how weak the tapestry has become.

Working Groups

Unique textile finds

Exciting new textiles uncovered in Italian harbour and Austrian salt mine

In Genoa and Hallstatt excavations have turned up unexpected finds of a variety of textiles.

Archaeologists, conservators and other scientists are using the latest technologies to identify

and preserve them. Meanwhile the EU invests heavily in tapestry preservation

Detail of a prehistoric

textile fragment

(800-400 BC) from

the salt mine of

Hallstatt, Austria.

© NHM Vienna.

X-radiography machines are very useful for studying textiles which are found all crumpled

up, as this machine can scan every nook and cranny of the material while keeping it

crumpled up

Pigment revelations

WG Paintings has new findings about chemical composite andreactions of old pigments

While time is a crucial factor in reaching new

findings, it also reveals the artist’s painting

method in older paintings as they age. For modern

paintings, an artist can work with conservators on

best preservation practices.

New light has been shed on the historicpigment Malachite, a green pigment used

in older paintings. Over the years sphericalmalachite, a particular form, had been observedin some paint samples but it was not knownwhether this was a natural or a cheapersynthetic pigment. The result of recent research by G. Heydenreich,M. Spring, M. Stillhammerova, and C.M. Pina,has shown that this spherical form is not asynthetic product, but in fact occurs naturally bywater slowly dripping down onto copper ores.“Heydenreich and his colleagues took the timeto do this painstaking research and discover thishitherto unknown fact about malachite,” saidAnne Rinuy, co-ordinator of the Paintings

Working Group. “It takes a very long time to dothis kind of research and most researchers justdon’t have the time and don’t do it, so it’s goodto have young people working on their PhDthesis on the subject of older paintings, whocan spend the time needed on them.”Another pigment revelation appears in theresearch done by Petria Noble, Annelies vanLoon and Jaap Boon. As paintings age theviewer can often see more than was originallyintended by the artist. Their research has lookedat this phenomenon and they have shown that itinvolves the interaction of the lead whitepigment with its surrounding oil medium toform soaps. Their structure is significantlydifferent to the original lead white and oilmixture resulting in a more transparent layer.Sometimes this allows the under drawing orartist’s changes to be seen more easily as thepainting ages, sometimes it can lead to a tonaldarkening.

NEW COLLEAGUESThe WGP is a group which brings togetherresearchers from a wide range of disciplines,including conservators, (art) historians andchemists, and works closely with specialists inthe art market, dying industry and textilesindustry. The WGP members however, aremostly from Europe, North America andAustralasia. In the coming years, the WGP willbe looking to extend its boundaries to welcomemembers from Asia and Africa. “All countrieshave their own traditions of preservation, and itis always helpful to share our knowledge andexpertise with each other,” said JacquelineRidge, joint co-ordinator of the WGP.

MODERN WORKSNot all work done by the Working GroupPaintings (WGP) is with old paintings. The workundertaken by Tim Green looks at resolving aconservation problem when a work includescollage elements. The artist, Richard Hamilton,who completed the painting in the 1960’s hasliased closely with the conservator and curatorto work out how the balance in the colours andtones of the painting can be returned. Theagreed way forward involved applying aremovable collage element made out ofcigarette paper.

Maartje Witlox, research associate

with the Hart Project (De Mayerne

Programme).

Maartje WitloxUnderstanding Van Gogh by boilinggoatskin

Since 2002, Dutch researcher Maartje Witloxhas been reconstructing recipes for oil

painting from the 17th to the 19th century.Drawing from handbooks and manuscripts,Witlox and her colleague Leslie Carlyle haveentered 1500 recipes into an electronic database at the Netherlands Institute for CulturalHeritage. Witlox specialises in ground recipes. One ofthe artists she is researching is Vincent vanGogh. To reconstruct the ground material heused for his paintings, Witlox and Carlyletravelled deep into the Dutch countryside.They pressed linseeds from a bio-dynamicfarmer and even boiled tanned goatskin. “You have to start at the beginning to get thepicture,” Witlox said. “The glue in the groundVan Gogh used was extracted from animalskins. So you have to find one which is tannedlike it was done traditionally.”The database recipes have created moreinsight into materials used for grounds, Witloxexplained. “If a restorer encounters material ina ground which is unknown to him, thedatabase will help. It’s interesting for everyonewho wants to find out about the materialswhich were available to artists in a certainperiod: for both art historians and researchersin natural sciences.”

The Working Group Paintings during one

of the sessions in The Hague.

14

Since its inception 30 years ago, the WorkingGroup Wet Organic Archaeological Materials

(WOAM), has been working on techniques inimpregnation and various drying methods, toprevent shrinkage of waterlogged archaeologicalwooden ships, weaponry, tools and utensils. More recently, however the WOAM conservatorshave been faced with new challenges, namelythat of sulphur and iron extraction from thewood, as well as in situ preservation. One of themost innovative projects currently being carriedout within the WOAM group, is that of the Vasaship, which sunk off the coast of Stockholm in1628, during its virgin sail.The ship was removed from the seabed in 1961and was conserved by sprinkling the

impregnating agent polyethyleneglycol into thewood, to prevent the wood from shrinking andcollapsing. It took 30 years of sprinkling andimpregnating before the Vasa was deemed readyfor exhibiting. In 1990 it was put in a beautifulpublic exposition in the Vasa Museum inStockholm.

In the Summer of 2000 however, due to thehigh humidity, sulphur was discovered on thesurface of the ship’s wood. Further examinationshowed that the wood was thoroughlyimpregnated with sulphur. This was a seriousmatter, as sulphur rapidly degrades wood, andhad to be dealt with immediately. The onlyproblem was that no-one knew how to deal withthis issue as it had never come up before.Although there had been similar threats posedby sulphur to other waterlogged ships before theVasa, they were not of the same magnitude. Thelarge amount of sulphur had apparently enteredthe Vasa because of the ship’s seabed location,

which was exactly where Stockholm’s sewagewas disposed of.Furthermore, it transpired that the exhibitionactually exasperated the sulphur problem, as itused large nails, which were put into the ship’swood to hold it in place. The iron in the nailsacted as a catalyst to the production of sulphur.A pioneering group of scientists from Swedenand other European countries are now lookinginto ways of measuring the amount of sulphurin the wood and then removing the sulphurwithout damaging the ship. A report on theirresearch and results will be published at thenext WOAM interim meeting in 2007.Meanwhile, to support the funding of the Vasapreservation project, one can buy Swedishknäckebrød!

IN SITU PRESERVATIONAnother new and exciting, yet somewhat mind-boggling, development, is in situ preservation.This has come about because of the high cost ofexcavating and also the difficulty in finding amuseum willing to exhibit the ship.

Working Groups

Long-term marine hazardsWG WOAM faces new challenges in preserving waterlogged ships

Conservation of the Vasa Ship, removed from the seabed off the coast of Stockholm in 1961,

brings about unexpected sulphur problems. Scientists are also discussing new ways of

preservation: re-burying a ship in friendlier waters elsewhere.

Marine conservators determine whether a shipis already well preserved in situ, or is threatenedby its environment, by making chemical analysesof the seabed and surrounding waters, as well asof the wood itself. If the ship is found to bethreatened, rather than preserve it on land (in amuseum), it can be excavated, researched andthen buried underwater in a different place,where the conditions are more conducive topreservation. One such in situ preservationproject is that of the James Matthew vesselwhich sank in 1843 off the west coast ofAustralia.Australian seas are home to a large collection of

sunken ships, and Australian coasts are home tomany harbours. Through the building and use ofthese harbours, the water currents and shiftingseabeds can be affected as far as severalkilometres away, where these ships lie. Marinescientists in Australia are now doing greatpioneering work in chemical and biologicalresearch of the seabed, focusing on problemscaused by water currents and shifting sands.This will help determine whether the manyvessels off the Australian shores and in otherarchaeological wet sites all around the world canbe preserved in situ, or whether some arecandidates for preservation in friendlier waterselsewhere.The team of scientists from Australia, Denmark,England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, andSweden, is lead by Vicky Richards of the WesternAustralian Museum.

Delmhorst hand set and Radiometer (CDM3)

conductivity meter showing how conductivity

can be measured in samples of waterlogged

archaeological wood. The use of conductivity

and compression strength help to assess the

state of preservation.

Waterlogged ships can be excavated, researched and then buried underwater in a different

place, where the conditions are more conducive to preservation

Ink, paper and parchments under the loop

WG Graphic Documents: Research on corrosiveness of irongall ink makes headway

European scientists get funding under the EU’s

‘City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage

Programme’ to study ink corrosiveness and

parchment preservation. Their findings may save

historic works by the likes of Strauss, Rembrandt

and Da Vinci.

The InkCor project recently carried out byJanar Kolar and her team of European

scientists, studies corrosiveness of irongall ink,which consists of metals and tannins. Thisproject falls under the fifth frameworkprogramme of the European Commission,entitled ‘The City of Tomorrow and CulturalHeritage’.

The project looks at ways to measure thecorrosiveness of the irongall ink, in terms ofacid hydrolysis and oxidation of the papercellulose, and studies methods to slow down itscorrosive action to the paper. The Kolar teamused two techniques to analyse the metalcomponent of the ink. The first was scanningelectron microscopy, which was coupled to anenergy dispersive x-ray fluorescence detector. Itenabled them to study the presence of metallicink components on minute paper samples.The second technique was particle induced x-rayemission. Kolar and her colleagues had accessto this instrument in Slovenia and were happyto use it as it meant they could analyse the

artefact without having to remove a samplefrom it.Their research clearly demonstrated that thecombination of iron and copper in ink producesa synergistic effect on the oxidative degradationof the paper’s cellulose. This research couldmean old works of music by Bach and Straussto name but two, and drawings by great artists,such as Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci, maybe better preserved in the future.

DAMAGE OF PARCHMENTSAnother innovative project which falls under theEU’s ‘The City of Tomorrow and CulturalHeritage’ Programme, was the research carriedout from 2001-2004 by René Larsen’s team ofEuropean scientists, which looked at improveddamage assessment of parchments (IDAP). TheLarsen team’s main objective was to look for apossible correlation between, on the one handsimple assessment tests, and on the otherhand, sophisticated analyses to measure thestate of degradation of parchment.In Copenhagen the team developed a newtechnique called ‘micro hot table shrinkagetemperature measurement’, whereby a fewmicroscopic fibres of parchment are removed,wetted by being placed in de-ionised water, andthen heated. This reveals the shrinkagetemperature of the parchment. The moredegraded it is, the lower the shrinkagetemperature. This unique new method will help conservatorsdetermine whether or not to preserveparchment using the traditional wettingmethod. Interestingly, the team has also madeits database accessible online.

This drawing by Rembrandt, ‘Return of the

Prodigal Son’, clearly shows signs of ink

corrosiveness. It is part of the collection of the

Teylers Museum in Haarlem, which currently

hosts an exhibition on the InkCor project (until

September 25) and is one of the partners in the

research project, together with the Dutch

National Archive, the Louvre, Paris and the

Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage.

The Working Group Graphic

Documents during one of the sessions

in The Hague. On the left: the

translators at work.

15

In his lecture on Friday, Tim Whalen was toaddress the main theme of the conference:

making the conservation and restorationprofessions more transparent to the public. This is a very complex issue, he stressed in atelephone interview a week prior to theconference, as the understanding of the role ofcultural heritage varies from country to country.In order to engage the public more it isnecessary to develop different local strategiesfirst and define more specifically who the public

actually is. “Is it the common person at thesupermarket or the ball game? Who are weaddressing?” Whalen acknowledged part of the developmentsin the conservation profession have taken placeout of the public’s view. He quoted professorMatero from the University of Pennsylvania,who recently said: “Conservation has alwaysbeen about theoretical and practical matters andtheir relationship to the larger social and globalissues. But we don’t do a very good job atcommunicating that.”However, Whalen believes many conservatorsare succeeding to draw attention to their work invarious ways. “As a field we have become verygood at working out in the world, sharing ourtools and expertise, and ultimatelydemonstrating to a broad, but select, audience

the value of what we do.” Whalen mentioned several conservationprojects which have caught the public eye inrecent years. One important ICCROM projectin Africa is PREMA (Prevention for Museums in Africa), which was started in the 1980s.Museum collections in sub-Saharan Africa wereat risk because of a lack of facilities, skills andresources. A comprehensive program wasstarted, including the training of African staff in Rome. This was covered extensively by

European and African media. Ten years later,PREMA had developed into an active network of 400 museum professional in 46 Africancountries.

SUCCESSFUL COLLABORATIONAnother example of successful collaborationbetween different conservation organisationsand the media, but in a shorter time span, isIraq. Following the looting and destruction ofmuseums and archaeological sites during thewar, the Getty Conservation Institute and theWorld Monument Fund started a project incooperation with the Iraq ministry of Culture in2004. The initiative is aimed at setting updatabases with precise information on 10.000archaeological sites in Iraq, in order to identifyand address conservation priorities. Also,

training for development of tools andprofessional capabilities has been set up.A third example Whalen mentioned is EU-ARTECH, the consortium of 13 Europeanresearch institutions. Here, the goal is todevelop permanent cooperation between theparticipants, focusing on networking, accessand joint research. This project has already ledto remarkable discoveries, such as the drawingunder the surface of ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’ by Leonardo da Vinci, which is exhibited in theNational Gallery in London.

Triennial Lecture

Public interest in the conservationprofession is growing

Triennial Lecture by Tim Whalen

Cultural heritage work is much more in the public eye than some conservators realize.It is time to acknowledge the strides which have been made over the past decades to

increase public awareness of the conservation field, said Tim Whalen, director of theGetty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles.

“Clearly,” Whalen said. “A lot is already beingdone in the world.” The growing public interestin conservation work is proven by the publicoutcry over cultural sites in Iraq and thefinancial support for private and publicconservation institutions. According to Whalen,conservators could focus more on the positiveresults they are achieving. “While there is muchmore work to be done and a huge public toembrace, I think perhaps we can indeed claimthat the glass is half-full, after all – and not half-empty.”

Tim Whalen, director of the

Getty Conservation Institute in

Los Angeles.

The growing public interest in conservation work is proven by the public outcry over

cultural sites in Iraq

Girl with a pearl earring, J. Vermeer,

c. 1665, Royal Cabinet of Paintings

Mauritshuis, The Hague

Tracing of Leonardo da Vinci’s unused underdrawing for ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’,

superimposed on ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’. The underdrawing was discovered using

infrared reflectography to find two distinct underdrawings beneath the surface. Though

one drawing corresponds with the final version of the painting, another shows a

completely different picture of a kneeling figure. In order to obtain the clearest possible

image of the hidden design, the National Gallery contacted an expert team in Florence

through the European Union EU-ARTECH project. The team from INOA (Istituto

Nazionale di Ottica Applicata) and the OPD (Opificio delle Pietre Dure) brought to

London a high-resolution digital infrared scanner which forms part of the EU-ARTECH

project’s mobile laboratory. Intensive collaborative study yielded spectacular images of

Leonardo’s concealed drawing beneath the paint layers.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), The Virgin of the Rocks, About 1492-1508, Oil on wood,

189.5 / 120 cm, Bought, 1880, © The National Gallery, London.

Simon Cane, head of Collection Care of the

Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery (UK),

and chair of the ICOM-CC Public Awareness

Task Force.

Simon Cane “We need to raise our gazefrom the objects”

There is room for improvement inconservators’ understanding of how they can

engage with the public, said Simon Cane, chairof the ICOM-CC Public Awareness Task Force.“We are trained to repair, clean and restoreobjects, but we need to raise our gaze from theobjects more. In the present political andcultural climate, it’s important that we show, asa profession, that we have a role to play.”He believes this hasn’t always been donebrilliantly in the past. The role of the conservatorhas always been hidden in a back room, he said.“We need to make sure we are there up front,that the benefit can be seen, both to theorganization and to society as a whole.”

“We live in a much more culturally-awaresociety: there are many more demands onculture, more visitors coming to historic sites,more tourism in every country, so there’s agreater impact on the cultural heritage. We havethe paradox where we want diversity, but on theother hand we want equality, and conservatorshave a role to play in helping society deal withthat paradox.”Cane’s experience is that the public are generallyvery interested. “There’s often a ‘detective story’aspect, and people like this idea. Conservatorsoften find things out about objects that weren’tpreviously known – because we look at thingsvery closely – so we can reveal hidden storiesand hidden mysteries.”

Society

Gemeente Den Haag

16

COLOPHON

This newspaper is a publication of the LocalOrganizing Committee (LOC) of the ICOM-CCCongress 2005. The 14th triennial meeting ofICOM's Conservation Committee (ICOM-CC) was held in The Hague, The Netherlands, from 12-16 September 2005.

Text, Congress Photography and Graphic Design:

Congreskrant.nlProject Management: Eelke BoswijkRecruitment Advertisements and Trade Fair:

Esther NanlohyPrinted by: Dijkman Offset, DiemenCirculation: 10.000Date of Publication: 16 September 2005

LOC Project Team

The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage(ICN) has established a project team for thecoordination of the congress. This team consists of: Wim Jacobs, Project ManagerEelke Boswijk, Project Adviser Floor Kok, Project CoordinatorMarina Raymakers, Communications CoordinatorPeter van Lieshout, Financial Coordinator

LOC Steering Committee

Jan Buijse, Chair ICOM-Netherlands Jørgen Wadum, Chair ICOM-CCJan Wouters, Acting Vice-Chair ICOM-CC Paul van Duin, ICOM-Netherlands Janine van Reekum, VeResNico van der Woude, VeResLiesbeth Helmus, Centraal Museum UtrechtInge Camfferman, City of The HagueWim Jacobs, Netherlands Institute for CulturalHeritage (ICN)Alberto de Tagle, Head of Research, ICNNetherlands Museum Association (NMV)

Congress Support

Congress and Study Centre VNGPO Box 30345, 2500 GK, Den HaagThe NetherlandsWebsite: www.cs-vng.nl

Information

Congress ICOM-CC 2005Attn. Mrs Floortje KokPO Box 76709, 1070 KA, AmsterdamThe NetherlandsTel: +31 (0)20 305 45 20Email: icom-cc2005@icn.nlWebsite: www.icom-cc2005.org

Press information

Marina RaymakersEmail: marina.raymakers@icn.nl

The ICOM-CC 14th triennial meeting is madepossible by:Netherlands Culture Fund - Ministry of Education,Culture and Science - Municipality of The Hague -Getty Conservation Institute - Netherlands Institutefor Cultural Heritage (ICN) - ICOM, ICOM-CC andICOM-Netherlands – VeRes (RestauratorenNederland) - Mondriaan Foundation - NetherlandsMuseum Association (NMV)

The project team for the coordination of the congress. From

left to right: Floor Kok, Wim Jacobs, Eelke Boswijk and Marina

Raymakers. Not in the picture: Peter van Lieshout.

Welcome reception in the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague.

Welcome reception in the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague.

From left to right: Joyce H. Stoner, Norman Tennant and Hannah

Szczepanaowska.

Jan Wouters talking to Simon Cane.

John Zvereff, secretary general of ICOM (left), and Albert Scheffers

during the welcome reception in the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague.

Trade Fair.

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AATA Online is a resource developed “by the field, for the field.”

Abstracts in all relevant areas, either one time or on a regular basis, are requested.

For more information and to contribute, please contact us ataata@getty.edu

Produced by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) in association with TheInternational Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) and withICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of

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Conservation in

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Paulus Potter ‘Paarden in landschap’ (fragment) , ets, 15,9 x 23,9 cm, 1652, collectie F. van Lanschot Bankiers

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AXA Art partners research in conserving modern materials

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In the mid-nineties, we gifted a damaged Ad Reinhardt Black

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Art of the PastSources and Reconstructions

Edited by Mark Clarke, Joyce H. Townsend and Ad Stijnman

Proceedings of the first symposium of the Art Technological Source Research Study group

ART O

FTH

E PAST

Sources and ReconstructionsEdited by M

ark Clarke, Joyce H. Tow

nsend and Ad Stijnman

Arch

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ublica

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ICN Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage is a knowledge institute for management and conservation of movable cultural heritage

scientific research

advice on management and preservation of collections

education and training

managing the national art collection

information centre for conservators

www.icn.nl > enICN is part of the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science.

Modern Art - Who Cares? An Archetype reprint of the popular volume firstpublished by ICN and the Foundation for theConservation of Modern Art in the Netherlands.Edited by IJsbrand Hummelen (ICN) andDionne Sillé.

The conservation of contemporary art is an on-going process in which new media and newmaterials constantly present issues which tradi-tional conservation methods cannot addressand a continual search for new techniques istherefore required. This volume offers ten important case-studiesand articles by historians, physicists, artists andconservators on a variety of topics such as identifying plastics, packing and transport,installation, accidental damage, working withartists, ethics, training and databases. ……if your area is modern art, you will want acopy! WAAC newsletter

ISBN 1904982026. Paperback, 450 pages, 226 illustrations.

Art of the Past: Sources andReconstructions. Edited by Mark Clarke, Joyce H. Townsend and Ad Stijnman (ICN).

Proceedings of the first symposium (ICN, 2004) of the Art Technological Source Research (ATSR) study group that wasfounded in 2002 to study source material onhistorical art techniques in its widest sense.Art of the Past contains the revised and extended versions of most lectures and posters of the symposium, discussing a variety of approaches to the subject.

London: Archetype Publications with the participation of ICN Amsterdam. ISBN 1904982018. paperback, 156 pages.

ICN WOULD LIKE TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO TWO PUBLICATIONS:

The institutes main tasks are:

Both books cost Euro 50,-. Books bought or ordered at the conference cost Euro 40,-. Order your copy at: www.archetype.co.uk

20

Heritage Values in Site Management Four Case StudiesMarta de la Torre, Margaret G. H. MacLean,Randall Mason, and David MyersEdited by Marta de la Torre

Provides valuable insight into the creationand management of heritage valuesthrough the analysis of four historic sites.£26.00 paperback with CD

Issues in the Conservation of PaintingsEdited by David Bomford and Mark Leonard

A collection of texts from the past 500years tracing the development of theoryand practice in paintings conservation. £45.00 hardcover£30.00 paperback

Analysis of Modern PaintsThomas J. S. Learner

This volume outlines the techniques currently employed to analyze the syntheticresins in paints.£30.00 paperback

Personal ViewpointsThoughts about Paintings ConservationEdited by Mark Leonard

Explores the values, assumptions, and goalsthat shape the work of paintings conservators.£19.50 paperback

Alkoxysilanes and theConsolidation of StoneGeorge Wheeler

Comprehensively covers the use of alkoxysi-lanes, from their production in the nineteenthcentury to more recent contributions fromsol-gel science.£26.00 paperback

Conservation and SeismicStrengthening of ByzantineChurches in MacedoniaPredrag Gavrilovic, William S. Ginell, Veronika Sendova, and Lazar Sumanov

A summary of a four-year study to developand test seismic retrofitting techniques forcenturies-old Byzantine churches in theRepublic of Macedonia.£34.50 paperback

Solvent Gels for the Cleaning of Works of ArtThe Residue QuestionDusan Stulik, David Miller, Herant Khanjian,Narayan Khandekar, Richard Wolbers, Janice Carlson, and W. Christian PetersenEdited by Valerie Dorge

A study of the theory and application of gel cleaning systems and the residues left behind.£24.95 paperback

Conservation of the Last Judgment Mosaic, St. Vitus Cathedral, PragueEdited by Francesca Piqué and Dusan Stulik

This book covers a ten-year project to conserve the Last Judgment mosaic at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.£57.50 paperback

A Guide to the Preventive Conservation of Photograph CollectionsBertrand Lavédrine

Synthesizes both the current research andthe international standards that have beenestablished on the subject of preservation of photographic collections. £28.99 paperback

Getty Publications

AT B O O K S T O R E S O R W I N D S O R B O O K S I N T E R N AT I O N A L ( U K )

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From Getty Publications