Reorganizations within the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the home of the ECPA ever since its foundation, forced the ECPA Board to consider whether to continue on another footing, or bring the work to an end. Given the profound changes in the field over the past decade, it was concluded that the new environment requires its own new networks, and restructuring the ECPA to meet these needs was not the best option. The ECPA was never meant to live forever, and so now is the time to wrap up its activities.

Over the years the ECPA has been involved in such diverse subjects as microfilming, deacidification, photographic collections, digital preservation and audiovisual collections. It has taken part in many conferences and seminars, produced a list of publications, maintained several websites and organized a variety of training courses.

All of this would not have been possible without the support the ECPA received over the years from many institutions and colleagues. The ECPA Board and staff wish to express their sincere gratitude to all those who supported their work and cooperated with them in many different ways.

The websites of the ECPA will remain on air for some time, and all the information resources have been transferred to several other organizations, who will use them for their own activities. The mailing lists of the ECPA, EPIC-LST, Inkcorrosion-L, SEPIA-LST, and TAPE, will close at the end of July.

The email address ecpa@bureau.knaw.nl will be functioning for another month or so.

European Commission on Preservation and Access (ECPA)
c/o Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
P.O. Box 19121, NL-1000 GC  Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Visiting address: Trippenhuis, Kloveniersburgwal 29, NL-1011 JV  Amsterdam
T ++31 - 20 - 551 08 39  
F ++31 - 20 - 620 49 41
http://www.knaw.nl/ecpa/

Re-creating Mediaeval Colours used in Manuscript Painting

Location and date:        Montefiascone, Italy, 28^th July - 4^th August 2008

Course tutor:                Cheryl Porter

Contact:                       cporter@monteproject.com

Website:                       http://www.monteproject.com/

Cost:                            £ 345

Content:                      

This course introduces you to all aspects of colours used in Mediaeval manuscript painting. Original recipes will be used to recreate the colours and the participants will be able to work with them as part of the workshop. No special knowledge is required to attend the course.

The Romanesque Book in Spain and Northern Europe

Location and date:        Montefiascone, Italy, 18^th August - 22^nd August 2008

Course tutor:                Ana Beny

Contact:                       cporter@monteproject.com

Website:                       http://www.monteproject.com/

Cost:                            £ 345

Content:                      

This course introduces you to the Romanesque book, known as a very qualitative book structure. The courses involves studying the structure of the book and the differences between the Spanish and Northern European versions. For this course some previous knowledge of bookbinding is essential.

This year the prizes have been awarded in 4 main categories: Conservation, Research, Dedicated service and last but not least Education, training and awareness-raising.

Six top prizes were awarded this year: three for conservation projects in the Czech Republic, Greece and The Netherlands, one for research in Spain, one for dedicated service in The Netherlands and one for education and training in Romania.

Furthermore twenty-one second prize medals were awarded in the same four categories, 18 for European Union countries and 3 for non-European Union countries.

As Belgian conservation organization we are proud to mention that a Category 1- Conservation medal was awarded for the conservation of the "Tour and Taxis" site in Brussels, a former customs clearing and storage building for commercial goods. It has now been turned in modern offices and a multi-purpose area. The conservation succeeded in combining the commercial interest of the building with its historical and cultural value and it is now a much visited site well known for its cultural activities.

Less well known but very important is the initiative of the Walloon Institute for Cultural Heritage. It concerns awareness-training classes for youth between 12 and 15 year. The classes go by the name "Classes d'éveil au Patrimoine et à ses metiers" (Awareness raising classes for Cultural Heritage and its Professional trades) and are held at the "La Paix-Dieu" centre in Amay, Belgium. The aim is to interest young people in conservation of cultural heritage by bringing them together for a short time in a Cistercian abbey from 1244 that is currently conserved. There they can see for themselves what conservation is, explained to them in the field by conservation experts and professionals. This outstanding initiative, attended already by more than 5000 students and hopefully a breeding ground for future conservators, has been awarded a medal in Category 4 - Education, Training and Awareness-raising.

Conservation Web vzw hereby congratulates both laureates with their outstanding merits.

More information on the Awards and the Laureates is to be found at http://www.europanostra.org/

Apart from the need to relocate nearly 30.000 people, the project has also an effect on cultural heritage. The site houses about more than 30.000 rock carvings and inscriptions that will be submerged when the dam is completed. The Ministry of Culture asks a special budget for technological equipment to save as much carvings as possible and also other means to photograph, scan and record all the remaining threatened ones, before they disappear under the water by 2016. More than 50.000 rock carvings have already been recorded along the Karakoram highway in the Northern Area of Pakistan. These carvings contain 39 different inscriptions and languages.

This is a good example of the difficulty to match human and cultural interests in some cases. Although a lot of work has been done in documenting the carvings, loosing them to the water would be a serious setback for cultural heritage.

However, as demands for energy, water and other resources continue to grow every year, cultural heritage may become more and more threatened in its survival. Climate change can only add to this situation.

In times of prosperity it is much easier to save cultural heritage, but when survival dictates the day, cultural heritage will probably have to receed for primary needs. Or as the Romans said "primum vivere, deinde philosophari" (survival first, philosophy afterwards).

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Jing Kong, one of the researchers involved into the development of the paper claims that the paper can be cut and print just like any ordinary paper. The raw material used is not cellulose but potassium manganese oxide nanofibrils.

The interesting thing about this paper is, that when coated with a special polymer it is capable of absorbing oil and could be used to clean up oil spills after environmental accidents.

The researchers are planning to develop the paper commercially and it is expected to cost less than 5 US dollar a kg.

A group of other scientists, amongst others from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the Faculty of Engineering in Kobe, Japan have developed a Nanopaper using cellulose as initial raw material. They broke it down with enzymes, treated it and made paper out of it. The result is a paper that is about 7 times as strong as normal wood pulp paper.

Imagine this new paper becoming readily available for printing. What would be its effect on paper mills, publishing and printing companies? Would we finally have a paper that withstands time?, a permanent paper for archival collections and printed works of art? Is this paper biodegradable or could it become another environmental problem? Well I cannot answer the questions, because at this time there is few information available about its resistance to chemicals, pollution, biological and other deteriorating influences.

To us conservators the development of such a kind of paper should be good news. In the end it might provide us more time to read the books instead of having to conserve them :-)

Publication:

Henriksson Marielle and all, Cellulose Nanopaper Structures of High Toughness, American Chemical Society, Biomacromolecules 2008, vol 9, pp.1579-1585.

The paintings were robbed in broad daylight on the 22^nd of August 2004 by two armed thieves, in the presence of visitors and museum staff. The thieves were allowed to escape with the paintings to avoid a life-threatening situation for the visitors.

It took more than two years of police work to find the paintings back and they were returned to the museum on the 31^st of August 2006.

The paintings had sustained quite some damage, being cut from their frames at the time of the robbery. The conservation staff using microscopy, X-radiography, IR- and UV reflectography examined the damages. Samples of pigments and binders were taken and thoroughly examined.

 Conservator Gry Landro at work on the "Scream"

Damaged edge of the "Scream"

Comparison of test results with documentation prior to the robbery allowed estimating the recent damage that the paintings had sustained. Tests had to shed more light on the risks of further deterioration over time. The resulting information allowed the conservators Gry Landro and Jin Ferrer to work out a conservation treatment that was based on minimal intervention, material and aesthetical stability and reversibility. A publication concerning the conservation of the paintings will be one of the papers published at the time of the exhibition.

Jin Ferrer and "Madonna"

Damage on "Madonna"

The painstaking research and conservation took about two years to complete and funding was provided, amongst others, by a firm called Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS, proving once more that companies can play a major role in the conservation of art and cultural heritage. A television documentary by Nordisk Film AS about the whole event will probably raise awareness about the security issues concerning art objects.

The conservation of the paintings allowed some new insights into the dating of the "Scream". An article with more information about the whole issue will be available from the museum's website on Wednesday the 21^st of May, http://www.munch.museum.no/

We would like to thank Jorun Christoffersen, from the Agency of Culture in Oslo, Norway for the information and for permission to use the photographs above.

The church is a historically important building, protected as cultural heritage in 1976 and recently restored in 1995. The church still contained some original parts from the 13th and 14th century. The building featured some beautiful church furniture from the 18th century, amongst others the altars, the confessionals and the beautifully carved pulpit. Fortunately some other art objects have stayed untouched because they were kept in other premises.

The mayor of Galmaarden, Pierre Deneyer, would like to have the church rebuild again, but it is not sure yet if this is possible, since the damages are quite extensive.  An expert advice will be given by members of the Monuments and Landscapes service.

But even if the church can be restored, the unique furniture will be lost forever. This occurrence  proves once more how vulnerable cultural heritage is, and how difficult it remains to protect it, regardless of all precautions taken.

It is not the first time that rockets cause fires with a tragic ending. In Belgium it is forbidden to fire rockets in the streets and even for use in one's garden the mayor has to issue a permission.