from The Guardian
This epic Earth
go to article

When artworks reach the scale of the monumental and beyond, then the question of conservation treatment becomes somewhat irrelevant. And this raises an interesting relationship between size and conservation methodology. It can be surmised that the scale of construction of an artefact would affect and impact on the choice of conservation treatments. However, to what extent? And more specifically - how? Such an explanation or exposition could perhaps help to make sense of the diverse concerns in the field of conservation such as museum artefacts, architectural, sites, monuments and even intangible heritage and digital materials.

from The New York Times
Who Should Tell History: The Tribes or the Museums?
go to article

from Justice Talking
Who Owns Art?
go to program notes
listen to program (Windows Media Player required)

Following on from an earlier post on the Elgin Marbles debate, 2 other perspectives on how museums influence (or some might say distort) history.

from Discovery
Elgin Marbles Dispute Takes New Twist
go to article

When a museum makes claims such as: "Only here can the worldwide significance of the sculptures be fully grasped", it can only signify a blindspot which fails to appreciate that the debate on "where historical artefacts should be" will always turn against the museum, as that is the place with the least connection and resonance to the actual context of most, if not all, historical artefacts.

from BBC News
Bidders to snap up mobile photos
go to article

from Yahoo News
Nokia: Connect to Art!
go to article

from Wired News
Cell Phones Work as Tour Guides
go to article

The increasing prominence and use of the mobile phone in art- and heritage-related activities must definitely signal the coming of age of the mobile phone generation.

from The International Committee for Museums of Ethnography (ICME-ICOM)
Museums and Intangible Heritage
go to listing of papers

Several online papers that were presented during ICOM 2004 in Seoul are made available on the above web-page. It is also interesting to see how the concept of "Intangible Heritage", which is the theme for the ICOM meeting in Seoul, has begun to take off with increasing references made to it.

from The New York Times
Magic, Music and Toys That Talk Back
go to article

What a fascinating collection of mechanical musical instruments and automatons! A magician removing his own head while a music box tinkles underneath, a magnificent peacock which shows you real feathers when you wind it up, chickens that lay eggs and moving rabbits and bears...All these are part of the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection that the Morris Museum in New Jersey recently acquired.

Much to my amusement and thought, the author of the article asked:

A collection of this scope and style raises questions about the nature of collecting itself. Who are these collectors, and what causes them to gather material like buttons, Barbies and Beanie Babies? Are they visionaries, engaged in everything from historical search and rescue to the scientific cataloguing of objects, or obsessives and pack rats who use the cachet of collecting to disguise hoarding and greed? Who needs all these music boxes, and what drives someone to buy them?

Later he muses:

The world is riddled with anxieties, and each day brings enough evidence of global horrors and local traumas to darken our dreams and dim our ideals. Some go mad under the pressure, others shut themselves off to avoid it. Still others take an active role in the attempt to transform their world, creating institutions or functioning in public life. But some people - and I suspect that Guinness was among them - deal with it all by creating a perfect imaginary world of order and control, where the collector is a kind of god...

So how do we relate to our collections and what is it that we are relating to at museum exhibitions?

SENI 2004 Festival of Arts

The SENI 2004 Festival of Arts, held in Singapore, is a visual arts festival of contemporary Southeast Asian and Asian art aimed at creating open channels of dialogue between Singapore and international artists.

Its symposium comprise of rousing dialogues that provides much food for thought as Singapore works towards the Singapore Biennale 2006. Some articles from the speakers at the symposium that could be downloaded at the SENI website :

Chaitanya Sambrani: Location and desire: siting the contemporary in Indian art

Desmond Hui: Defining the Contemporary: Public Art and Architecture

John Philips: The Contemporary

Jim Supangkat: Session III: Biennales, Institutions and State

Jose Tence Ruiz: Exchange, Accomodation, other Lubrications

Juliana Yasin: Conditions of Practice: Translocality and Simultaneity

Paul Rae: Deadweights of the Body Politic: Art, Space and the Contemporary

Rajeev S. Patke: Panel on ‘Looking Critically: Perspectives and Prospects’

from The New York Times
Devastation, Now Salvage, Page by Page
go to article

A sad reminder of how a tiny spark can set off a whole disaster and the importance of good disaster-salvage planning. A fire, set off by a electrical short at the Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany, has caused irreparably damage to about 10 percent of the library's collection of a million books.

"The texts in Weimar were of a special nature in that they had their own history," said Michael Knoche, the library's director since 1991, emphasizing their personal connections with the greats of German literature. "They were used by Goethe, Schiller and Wieland. They wrote on the book covers, or margins." Goethe was himself administrator of the library, which was established in 1691.

At present, the Library is preoccupied with concerns for rebuilding the Baroque library building and the book collection and the restoration of the damaged books. The immediate treatment of the damaged books is being carried out by the Center for Book Conservation in Leipzig and further restoration would depend on possibilities of financial support.

from Radio Singapore International
Touring the Lion-City : Heritage Conservation Centre
go to programme notes - Part 1 and Part 2 (in Chinese)
go to recordings - Part 1 and Part 2 (in Mandarin)

Two short radio programme in Mandarin featuring the work behind the scenes at the Heritage Conservation Centre.

from Smithsonian Magazine
Tunnel Visionary
go to article

from New York Foundation for the Arts Quarterly - Fall 2003
go to interview

If one can be allowed to stereotype, then it can only be a New Yorker who is willing to devote a better part of her life to documenting urban ruin and dereliction as heritage. As Julia Solis new book (see a selection of images here) and web-site, Dark Passage, attest, it is both fascinating and mind-boggling to be engaged in this seemingly Herculean project of contemporary urban archaeology.

Julia Solis is also the Founder and Executive Director of Ars Subterranea which seeks to promote a greater understanding and awareness of the historic urban fabric of New York by organising creative projects. Aptly, Ars Subterranea has as its tag-line:"The Society for Creative Preservation". One of the recently completed project is a photographic presentation, entitled The Garden of Crumbling Delights, which is both an effort "to document America's rapidly vanishing ruins" and "a celebration of the beauty inherent in architectural decay" at the same time.

from Popular Science
The Enlux LED light
go to article

from World Changing weblog
LED Light Bulbs Real Soon Now
go to article

from Detroit Free Press
New light technology promises longer life and lower costs
go to article

The technology of lighting is moving steadily towards the replacement of the incandescent and fluorescence light bulbs that we are familiar with today. Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are more energy efficient as the same level of brightness can be achieved using a lower energy level. And they outlasts light bulbs easily by a factor of 10. When LEDs become the de facto light source (in homes and in museums), would we, as conservators, know enough of this technology to have a ready answer as to the (positive or negative) effects that this light would have on materials?

from The New York Times
Art Fuses With Urbanity in a Redesign of the Modern
go to article

After two and a half years, the MOMA is back with a new look! This article describes in detail how this new museum architecture is a work of art in itself and in the way it embraces the surrounding landscape and past & present traditions. Also interesting is two audio slideshows given by a curator and an architectural critic. The curator, John Elderfield, gave a brief but very interesting account of the process (exhibition design, conservation etc) that has gone into these two and half years to prepare for MOMA's re-opening.

from BBC News
Restoring Calcutta's crumbling heritage
go to article

This article speaks of conservation efforts towards British buildings in Calcutta, India. There are disagreements about which buildings to conserve, to what extent it should be conserved among the various conservation groups. The term "Cultural Colonism" has even been thrown out which brings to mind that sometimes architectural and/or historical significance of artefacts big or small, portable or non-portable can be pretty subjective.

More information about the issues of building conservation can be found in a earlier post.

from New York Times
Even Digital Memories Can Fade
go to article

Yet another update from the digital preservation front. Sometimes the alarmist tone of how unprepared we all are in terms of saving our digital resources for the next generation can mask other interests. Note, for example, near the start of the New York Times article, that the person who said: "To save a digital file for, let's say, a hundred years is going to take a lot of work" is actually the president of a consulting firm which deals with (digital) media management - surely it would not be in his interests to say that digital archiving is easy. For another argument on why digital media will not be that easily "lost" if stored in the most commonly used digital format, see this older article by Simon Garfinkel, "The Myth of Doomed Data ".

from The Times
Don't sell our lost treasure on eBay, begs museum
go to article

from The New York Times
Museum Asks EBay to Block Some Sales
go to article

and

from The Sunday Times
Forbidden City's tacky shops sent packing
go to article (PDF format)

When commercial interests override heritage preservation concerns, it can only be an indication of a larger underlying callousness for heritage as a collective social good. Cultural heritage is seen to be worthy of effort because of its financial returns. That indeed would be the low point of human civilisation!

from The Guardian
Time to turn back tourist tide in Valley of the Kings
go to article

from BBC News
African rock art under threat
go to article

Another 2 reasons why "Humans" should be classed as a top factor of deterioration of cultural heritage - if not the top factor of deterioration.

from Wired Magazine
Atomic Detective
go to article

An interesting hand-held device which uses X-Ray Fluoroscopy (XRF) to detect and differentiate the presence of metal elements. This will come in handy for the identification of metal sculptures and may even be possible to gauge the type and ratio of alloy metals present. There is more on how the technique of XRF works on the manufacturer's web-site.

from The New York Times
The End of 1960's Architecture
go to article

from Pixel Points
What's (No Longer) New
go to weblog post

A couple of (unintended) rejoinder to the earlier announcement by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore) that more recent architectural structures will now be under consideration for conservation.

In the New York Times article, the difficult and often thankless task of deciding which building to preserved is clearly laid out. Two points that are worth reiterating. One, is that the approach to preserving buildings differ significantly from that of preserving portable artefacts. This is due to the obvious fact that buildings cannot be stored and must always remain functional even when earmarked for preservation. This leads to the second point, which is that buildings that are well-maintained and in good condition would stand a better chance of being considered for preservation, even over-riding considerations for the architectural significance of the building itself.

Another significant factor in the selection of buildings to be preserved is mentioned in the weblog post:

"The successful preservation of an aging building usually depends upon the building attracting some sort of constituency, some sizable cohort of citizens who'd miss the place if it were gone and who are willing to lobby for its survival."

Instead of some high ideals of architectural principle as a selection criteria.

Mention is made of 2 organisations closely affiliated with architectural preservation - Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement (DoCoMoMo), which has a more international outlook with country and regional chapters; The Recent Past Preservation Network with a primary focus on the American context.

Browsing the DoCoMoMo web-site, there is an article on Singapore and the trend of building styles, very much dictated by public building works then (go to article - PDF format).

from PC World
Could Your CD Contain Corn?
go to article

from Yahoo! News
Eco-friendly disc to store data on corn
go to article

First there was the paper DVD, now there is the corn disc - coming in the CD version, as well as the more advance Blu-Ray DVD version. What might pass off as novelty news items, should also point to an urgent need for digital preservation efforts to keep up with the larger technological strides made in the research and manufacture of digital storage devices and media.

from BBC Radio 4 Material World
Art Fraud
go to programme outline
listen to programme (needs RealPlayer)

The first 15 minutes of the latest BBC Radio 4 science programme Material World highlights the investigative work done to detect art forgeries. The use of Raman Spectrometry was mentioned as a precise method to detect specific chemical composition (or "fingerprint") of different pigments. Combining that information with historical information on the use and manufacture of pigments, fakes could be determined with greater confidence then in the days of just relying on art connoisseurship.

from The Australian
British library starts email archive
go to article

from Thirteen/WNET New York
New Public Television Partnership Receives Major Program Preservation Award from the Library of Congress
go to news release

It is always encouraging to learn of the launch of digital preservation projects, this time on either side of the Atlantic, pointing to an increasing awareness of such a need in our present-day technology-driven culture. Much of the effort in this area is presently led by government organisations, which is indicative of the resource-intensive nature of archiving the tremendous amount of digital content out there. However, the undoing of such digital preservation efforts might well be the other increasing trend of litigation based on a fallacious interpretation of the notion of "copyright". A good starting point in understanding this debate (from an American persepctive) would be Peter Hirtle's "Digital Preservation and Copyright".

from Wired News
Preserving Art by Zapping Bugs
go to article

Using advances in DNA analysis and biotechnology, biochemists in Venezuela have managed to customise target toxins to get rid of specific pest species without harming the original heritage material. And pests are a constant problem in the tropical climate of Venezuela, much like Singapore.

Something about blue...

Just want to share a wee juicy bit of information from Victoria Finlay's book "Colour" about the Ultramarine blue pigment which is derived from the semi-precious stone Lapis Lazuli.

"Lapis Lazuli is a complex clump of minerals, including hauyne, sodalite, nosean and lazurite. In the best grades there is more sulphur, the yellow element curiously making the stone more violet, and in the worst grades there is more calcium carbonate, turning it grey.

Ultramarine blue used to be a very expensive blue pigment in Europe. During the Italian Renaissance, it was touted as the only blue good enough to paint the Virgin Mary's robe. This pigment originate from Chile, Zambia, Siberia and Afghanistan. The synthetic version of it was found in France by a chemist in 1828, henceforth the name "French ultramarine".

Finlay in her book found out from her Afghanistan guide that there are three main colours for grade one lapis lazuli.

"The most common is rang-i-ob which simply means 'colour of water' and is a general word for blue. This stone is the darkest, the shade that sea goes when there is nothing but deep sea beneath it...The second is rang-i-sabz or green...they looked as if shreds of bright lettuce had got caught in the teeth of the blue...But the greatest of the three is the extraordinarily named surpar or 'red feather'. It was puzzling and beautiful that the best blue should be described as red. It was an ex-miner who gave the most poetic explanation. 'It is the colour of the deepest moment of the fire..the very heart of the flame.'

The history of colours is a beautiful story that excites the mind and fires up the imagination. I wonder whether I'll approach my paintbox the same way again after reading these 'stories'...

from Paints and Coating Industry
A History of Pigment Use in Western Art
go to Part 1 and Part 2

A very readable account of the development of painting techniques and pigments over the centuries, beginning with prehistoric art up till the late 20th century, using the European context as a focus point.

from The Straits Times
Parts of Changi Prison 'exported'
go to article (PDF format)

Introducing a "new concept" in the preservation of monuments - the distributed site, with original components disbursed across the oceans and seas. To say that it is indeed a strange concept would be understating the case, obviously. It makes one wonder what exactly had been promised and agreed away from public eyes. Or perhaps the historical significance of Changi Prison is not considered "Singaporean" enough to remain intact here?

from The Guardian
Unesco's 'blue berets' to rescue cultural treasures
go to article

The new UNESCO set-up of "cultural protectors" would be a welcomed enhancement of the work of the International Committee of the Blue Shield, which was set up in 1996 - also considered as the cultural equivalent of the Red Cross - and has as its mission : "to work for the protection of the world's cultural heritage by co-ordinating preparations to meet and respond to emergency situations."

from The Guardian
Museums losing to sport, says Tate head
go to article

Artists rally to Tate's cause by donating major works
go to article
go to Tate's press release

Donations gratefully received
go to article

When faced with the daunting possibility of a prolonged funding deficit, one can draw inspiration from the example of the Tate Gallery in how not to wallow in self-pity. Instead, get cracking, get creative, and ride on a strong relationship with the artist community to rally together to help. This can only be good as the ever diminishing pool of museum funds can be used for other areas, such as exhibition, programming, and conservation.

from Archive Awareness Campaign, UK
“Britain’s most-wanted” reveals secret hiding place!
go to press-release (PDF format)

This year's Archive Awareness Campaign follows from a successful run in 2003. Extending from a 1-month programme to a full 3-month programme in 2004, this looks like a massive and well-coordinated programme aimed at making public and private archives in the UK accessible to the general public.

from KCRW
Politics of Culture
go to audio programme

The recent resignation of the director of the Getty Museum has caught the attention of the museum profession, especially in America. Observers ponder and speculate on the reasons behind the sudden announcement of departure (see links to related stories below). However, one common thread which cuts across these stories is the struggle over the vision of what a museum should be. Although, the context is specific to the Getty, it has very real implications for museums in general.

At the risk of being simplistic, it would appear that at the core of the dispute is a gap between the necessary vision of a museum which focuses on collections and scholarship as its primary function; and the equally compelling vision of a larger social organisation which encompasses other non-traditional functions of a museum, such as education, preservation, and in the unique case of the Getty, grant-making.

It is also a search for a basic and essential identity - "What is it that a museum must absolutely do?" - in the present climate of even rising pressures on resources. Although the Getty might be immune somewhat to such financial uncertainty (due to the sheer size of its endowment), it must nevertheless face the issue of prioroitisation of programmes, just as every other museum must. And when a museum pays lesser attention to its collection and museological functions, can it still be a "museum" even if its other programmes are producing tremendous social good?


Related news items:

"Will Barry Munitz find the courage to listen to his critics?"
KCRW, Art Talk (26 October)

"Director of Getty Museum Steps Down"
Los Angeles Times (19 October)

"Citing Conflicts, Getty Museum Director Quits"
New York Times (20 October)

"Getty's Director Is Latest to Leave"
NPR, All Things Considered (21 October)

from The New York Times
It's Just Daylight, but It Has Endless Shades
go to article (PDF format)

Very often in the present-day context of museums, we tend to think of acceptable lighting as primarily artificial ones. However, there is a recent trend in museum design which looks back to the original way the interior of museums are illuminated - using daylight. It was also found that users react more favourbly to day-light in buildings, museums being no exception. And if it is the business of museums to reach as wide an audience as possible, could then the use of appropriate natural day-light in museum galleries be an important (human) consideration in "inducing" repeated visits, conservation concerns notwithstanding?

This to That
go to web-site

An interesting web-site which helps in the selection of the appropriate glue to use in sticking one type of material to another. Although the choice of adhesives are not entirely "preservation-friendly" in some instances, it still contains a wealth of information about commercially available glues out there. There is also a "Glue-of-the-Month" page (although not updated since August 2003) and news page on stories related to the adhesive in general, amongst other online resources available on the site.

from The Straits Times
Sentosa bid to buy ... sunken Tang treasures
go to article (PDF format)

This latest story of how Singapore's foremost tourist resort island sees the uses of heritage is a sobering counter-point to the idealism of heritage preservation and presentation as we know it. Increasingly, the larger issue (and very real problem) of sustainability of heritage preservation outside a mass-market paradigm cannot be simply ignored. It also points to the utter bankruptcy of ideas for funding heritage efforts, if not for the mass-market option.

Also, if anyone else had noticed that the story involves a Chinese cargo bound for the Near East, shipwrecked off the coast of present-day Indonesia, salvaged and sold by a German company, to be purchased by Sentosa Development Corporation of Singapore, which has an American as its CEO. Perhaps, the global underpinning of such a story is inevitable (or is it deliberate?) given the core (tourism) business of the potential buyer of the sunken cargo.

from Conservation : The GCI Newsletter
Heritage Charters and Conventions
go to Summer issue

The latest issue of Getty Conservation Institute's Newsletter, providing an overview and discussion of the various international charters that are in place to protect cultural heritage around the world. There is a particular article looking at the specific challenges in Asia.

from Singapore Heritage Mailing List
Fort Tanjong Katong Dig Call For Volunteers
go to e-mail call (PDF format)

A call for volunteers for a new archaeological dig at Katong Park (see map), which is seeking evidence of Tanjong Katong Fort. Some early pictures (here and here) of the park found on the National Archives of Singapore PICAS database.

This dig follows on from the earlier dig at St. Andrew's Cathedral. A (PDF format) report of that earlier dig can be found on NUS Asian Research Institute web-site.

Please pass the word around!

from Discover
Bring Back the Buddha
go to article

Following the wanton destruction of a unique heritage site by the Taliban, international efforts and proposals to restore the over-sized standing Buddhas of Bamiyan have not been in short supply. After such a drastic turn of events, would any restoration effort do justice to the violent past of the site? Or would an empty niche be the more "authentic" and evocative approach?

from The New York Times
An Unmoveable Feast of Hemingway History Struggles to Survive
go to article

A stark reminder that petty political squabbles can often derail the best of international efforts in heritage preservation. What more that the perpetrator of such narrow-mindedness is supposedly the greatest freedom-fighting nation of all times.

from The Guardian
Britain's 'worst building' to be demolished on TV
go to article

A cheeky adaptation of BBC's earlier successful series Restoration. The BBC series, which is in its second run this year, would feature various architectural conservation project plans over several weeks and allows television viewers to vote (aka Big Brother House) in the finale for that one "deserving" project to bring home the prize-money. In the process, viewers get to know more about the architectural heritage of Britain as a whole and be inspired to preserve it.

Turning the idea of preservation on its head, the rival television station Channel 4 aims to do its civic duty by targeting a building that is such an eye-sore that it will be demolished live on TV at the end of the series.

URA 2004 Architectural Heritage Awards
go to press release and speech
Straits Times articles here and here (PDF format)
Business Times article here (PDF format)
Streats articles here and here (PDF format)
ZaoBao article here (PDF format)

In conjunction with this year's Singapore Architectural Heritage Awards, featuring 5 winning projects, it was also announced that a slate of post-war buildings (built in the 1950s and 60s) will be earmarked for conservation. This marks a significant shift of what is considered an appropriate cut-off date for a building to be considered part of the nation's heritage.

There is also a book launch of past conservation projects undertaken by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and an exhibition featuring this year's Award winners at the URA Gallery.

Singapore Stuff
go to weblog

A new weblog which has posts that link to various online resources about the history and culture of Singapore and the region. Well worth a browse! A link to the weblog has also been added to the sidebar of this weblog.

from The Guardian
Nauman's rehashed sounds reverberate around the Tate's emptiness
go to article

Coming after an earlier attempt to (re)create the sunset in the large Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern, this latest sound work by Bruce Nauman has been described by an art critic as an "invisible sculpture". Now, how does one preserve something that one cannot see? Or would this count as intangible heritage?

from The Art Newspaper
UK museums face controversial Ethiopian legacy
go to article

Yet another reminder of the murky legacy resulting from the plunder of heritage materials belonging to other cultures - under the guise of colonial expansion and conquest. This recalls an earlier post.

from The Guardian
Unknown Goya painting discovered
go to article

A clear case of how proper painting restoration can increase the value of a painting many times over - not in the usual sense of improving the appearance or stabilising physical materials, but in uncovering the evidence of a more famous hand having painted the picture.

from Wired News
Oral History on the Go
go to article

An interesting project which captures oral histories using limited resources in a highly effective and engaging way. Using digital recording technologies in a mobile setting, the intangible aspects of a community's shared history are recorded, archived and selections shared via local public radio broadcasts. There is also less of a top-down approach but relies on the active involvement of the local community in deciding what is significant.

from National Geographic News
Dictators "Defacing" Famed Burma Temples, Editor Says
go to article

How historic sites of a country are treated can often be taken as a proxy barometer for measuring the social "well-being" of a society. The political upheaval and subsequent curtailment of political freedom which happened in Burma is obviously having a negative impact on significant heritage sites in that country.

from The Rolex Awards 2004
An ancient art as a modern model
go to online article
go to PDF article (21.5 Mb)

An inspiring example of how the revival of a traditional craft - which could also be understood as a form of restoring an intangible heritage - becomes a social and economic good. In this particular case, it is putting the traditional art of silk textiles in Cambodia back into production again.

from The Toronto Star
Culture club dreams of an un-museum
go to article

It is always encouraging to see efforts in re-vitalising the functions of the museum. However, when the label of a museum conjures up the image of "some stuffy old-fashioned place dealing with artefacts from the past" - to the extent that a new museum-like institution will not be called that because of the negative image - then it must signal a larger problem, both in the larger political administration and in the community.

from Slate
The National Museum of Ben Nighthorse Campbell
go to article

When a new museum doesn't resonate with the larger community, there is a lesson to be had, even if it happened half-way round the globe.

from node
The Node Explorer v.2
go to web-page

An nifty device which combines a portable hand-held computer (designed for outdoor rugged use) coupled with wireless technology. The idea is to provide interactive content for users of historic trails and parks. This is already in place in city of Bristol in the UK and there is a web-based demonstration with some documented case studies of the technology at the above web-page.

from The Guardian
Vatican wants £2m to restore Michelangelo's last frescos
go to article

This latest story about the effort to restore a significant fresco of Michelangelo raises an interesting issue. That of the balance between the preservation of a historically significant masterpiece as a public interest issue (even if carried out with private sponsorship) and the private ownership and exclusive enjoyment of the artwork. And if as conservators, we do not take such issues into full consideration, we might run the risk of blind-siding ourselves. Even as we adopt the stance of maintaining professional ethics by insisting that artefacts are conserved irrespective of their (real or perceived) value, we need to take pause and consider the deeper implications of such an approach in the context of finite resources. As much as we wish to treat all artefacts as equivalent, this happens only in the realm of the ideal. In the rough and tumble world of the "everyday", what gives?

from BBC Radio 4
Restoring the Cutty Sark
go to programme web-page

also

from BBC news
Landmark ship 'faces collapse'
go to article

The latest from BBC Radio 4 Material World explores the thinking and preparation which goes into the conservation of the historic ship, Cutty Sark, currently dry-docked in Greenwich, UK. The conservation plan behind the full-size ship involves complex computer-modeling for physical movements and changes as the ship is being treated using electrolysis to extract sodium salts from its iron hull. It is also interesting to note that the 2 key personnel being interviewed on the BCC Radio 4 programme are not conservators - perhaps, a sign of things to come as conservation projects no longer remain the sole domain of the "conservation" profession, but more as a cross-disciplinary enterprise?

from Modern Art Notes
Museum Ethics
go to Part 1
go to Part 2
go to Part 3

In a climate of increasing pressure on museums in securing funding avenues, it could lead to actions which might tether in between that grey area of unconventional idea and outright unethical.

The particular instance being highlighted involve a set of "popular" paintings - 21 Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet belonging to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts - which went on loan (or "rental", as some would see it) to a private gallery in Las Vegas in return for a purported fee of US$ 1 million.

As the private gallery was not an accredited museum or gallery, concerns were raised when there was a subsequent city-wide power failure lasting for up to 3-days. The display conditions became less than optimal and risk of damage was significantly increased. In spite of assurances being put out by the private gallery and the museum on the condition of the artworks, questions remained on the wisdom and even professional ethics behind such a loan, which appeared to be motivated by commercial gains to a large extent.

from The Guardian
Hidden Picasso goes on show
go to article

An example of investigative work on paintings using X-radiography, which in this case helped to reveal and visualise a painting under an existing one that would impact on the study of art history.

from Chrisitan Science Monitor
Preservationists raid the pantry
go to article

A timely reminder that the selection of appropriate conservation materials begin from the basic principle of understanding material science and behaviour, instead of relying on an unquestioning acceptance that specially formulated materials must somehow always be the "best"!

from Metropolis Magazine
Tending a Legacy
go to article (PDF format)

Preserving an architect's legacy entails the conservation of actual buildings and structures. What if it is the legacy of a landscape architect, where creative output takes the form of growing fauna and the ambience of a specific place?

from The Straits Times
Cleaning walls? No sweat - just add sunlight and rain
go to article (PDF format)

This is an interesting development in Singapore for a coating technology which self-cleans by taking advantage of the chemical reaction on organic grime activated by ultra-violet radiation in sunlight and titanium dioxide. It might not be long before we actually see outdoor sculptures which require minimal maintenance here!

from The New York Times
A Building Is an Eyesore and Must Go? Grade it X
go to article

An interesting idea which seeks to identify buildings so hated and vilified that they must be destroyed, in order to preserve the urban fabric from aesthetic ruin. These buildings will be accorded a Grade X to differentiate them from those listed for preservation.

"What makes [the] proposal timely is that it also offers food for thought to cities, above all in Asia, that are engaged in wild construction booms, accompanied at times by the destruction of traditional neighborhoods. The skyline of the future is being drawn now. So will skyscrapers heralded today deserve an X rating tomorrow? Will today's daring designs look dated tomorrow?"

What's laudable in such a proposal is that it puts the issue of preservation squarely back into the value-ridden realm of selection and meaning-making, instead of an exercise which claim to operate outside the sphere of subjective values.

from Noticias.info
UNESCO to Publish Handbook on Language Preservation and Documentation
go to article

There is always something ennobling about grassroot efforts, and the preservation of intangible heritage in the form of endangered languages is no exception. Imagine if this ground-up approach to preservation could be extended to all efforts in preservation - where we see non-specialists volunteers from all walks of life working together with specialists in documenting, condition checking and even working on simple conservation treatments. Now, that would truly shift the sense of ownership and responsibility of heritage to a wider group of people, thus making long-term preservation efforts more sustainable.

from New Scientist
First practical plastic magnets created
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If this technology advances and matures, then we might have a novel way of displaying paper artworks and textiles which are held onto a metallic wall by way of a single sheet of clear magnetised plastic - something akin to just having a piece of Perspex in front of the artefact without any frames or hanging implements. What's more interesting is that strength of the plastic magnet can be made to measure!

from The Straits Times
A touch of old Kampong Glamour
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An update on the soon-to-be completed Malay Heritage Centre, and with it bringing back a sense of place to an urban community which had continually faced the twin pressures of infrastructure development and displacement.

from The Washington Post
New Athens Subway Showcases Artifacts
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It is heartening to know of efforts which try to balance urban development with heritage preservation and awareness. In this story, the building of the underground subway system in Athens for the 2004 Olympics had encountered various delays due to the presence of archaeological artefacts being unearthed during construction. However, these historic finds (and associated information) were incorporated as displays into the final subway building, turning what would probably be a nondescript urban feature into an unique experience and attraction in itself.

from BBC News
Is music safe on compact disc?
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A pick up of a previous story on the same subject - but with a more populist implication in the sphere of personal music collections. If there is enough general concern, then it can only lead to a better understanding of the limitations of using optical storage media for data archiving purposes.

e-PRESERVATION Science
go to on-line journal

A new electronic journal which focuses on material research in the field of preservation including "studies in stability, environmental studies and condition assessment of cultural heritage, and studies of materials and procedures used for its conservation and preservation."

from
Artist from Meleka
http://www.charlescham.com/
An artist I came across during my trip in Melaka, he runs a shop/studio selling hand painted T-shirts and his work of art. I believe he is more well known as the orangutan painting! Happy viewing of his website featuring his painting.

from Bernama
A National Heritage Board In The Pipeline, Says Dr Rais
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Some policy-level development on the Malaysian front regarding heritage preservation efforts.

from MLA News
Thatched Church, Thai Demons, Dust-busters and Digital Archives Win UK's Premier Conservation Prizes
go to press release
go to Pilgrim Trust Conservation Awards web-site

Perhaps a similar award for conservation efforts in the Southeast Asia could serve to spur a greater level of professional and public recognition in the region.

from The Straits Times
Cash crunch at heritage havens
go to article part 1, part 2 (PDF format)

Though the lack of funds is a very real problem in the preservation of large and complex heritage sites, a far greater problem is the lack of will - and usually at the political or bureaucratic level which matters the most. It does not speak well of a society when the call for preservation (whether from neglect or from unsustainable tourism) comes from external parties rather than from the local communities. This is a strong indication of the social and political disenfranchisement of these communities.

from The Independent
Afghanistan's Buddhas may rise again
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Still very much shrouded in confusion on whether the destroyed historic sites should be restored - and if to be restored, to what degree of finish. One cannot deny the senseless destruction wrought by the Taliban regime, but is restoration the only option in preserving the site?

from The Australian
Cultural shift by conservators
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An interesting development in the teaching of the subject of conservation in the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne.

"Part of the course is a subject called Respect, in which experts from various communities will lecture students on indigenous culture and traditional law, with the aim of fostering greater depth of understanding."

from The New York Times
Hubert von Sonnenburg, a Leading Conservator of Paintings, Dies at 76
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An obituary for the long-serving (since 1959) paintings conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What caught my eye was the following passage which intimated at the connoisseurship of conservation, which is seldom discussed in today's conservation forums.

"When restoring a painting," he once said, "the question is not so much which solvent and chemicals or which new scientific methods and high-technology tools to use, but how the picture should look. Of course that is a matter of taste, tempered in part by the condition of the picture, but even more, it is a matter of understanding the art and the artist."

from Channel News Asia
Singapore's Heritage Conservation Centre carving a niche for itself

For those who missed the news section on Channel News Asia, here is the transcript (in PDF format).

from BBC News
Bone return consultation launched
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An update on the Working Group on Human Remains in the UK which has been tasked to scrutinise the legality of human parts being kept in public museums and collections in England and Wales. There is a strong lobby for the return of such human remians on the one hand, but also strong reasons for not returning on the other from the scientific and museum community. This debate has often times generated extremely heated and polarised arguments (see an earlier post here).

Reading this together with the previous stories on the clamour for the return of heritage artefacts to their (rightful) country of origin, it appears that even with the best standards of stewardship in caring for these historic and cultural items, it is still not enough justification for keeping something in a museum collection. How would this impact on the work of conservation and collections care? Is doing one's work to one's best ability and matching high standards enough, then? Or does one need to be doing right, as well?

from BBC News
UK exhibits seized in Australia
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Aboriginal artefacts, including two early bark etchings, have been seized in Australia while on loan from two British museums. The members of the Dja Dja Wurrung tribe have secured an emergency order preventing the items being returned to the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Gary Murray, of the Dja Dja, said:

It's not British culture we are talking about here, we are talking about our rights as a first nation... We believe strongly that they connect us to our country, our culture and ancestry...If you haven't got a past then you haven't got a future and it is our future at stake here."

How about the view point of the lenders? The Royal Botanic Gardens and the British Museum definitely want their artefacts back and reiterate the importance of continuing to lend objects to exhibitions around the world.

"Exhibitions of this kind, bringing rare material from collections throughout the world, provide invaluable opportunities to make available to the world public the latest research and interpretations of the objects and the human cultures that produced them...The Emergency Declaration puts at risk the very legal framework that allows such exhibitions to take place drawing on loans from Europe and America."

BBC is doing an opinions poll on this issue "Who should own historic artefacts?"and the comments posted so far are very interesting!

from Xinhua Online
HK to air new radio program on heritage
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What started out as a public consultation exercise in Hong Kong on urban heritage preservation policy evolved into an on-air collaborative oral history project. One cannot help but draw the conclusion that this is what community relevance and public outreach in heritage preservation is positively about.

This project will enjoy joint-support from government agencies as well as a non-government organisation, The Conservancy Association. Interestingly, The Conservancy Association, has as its mission to preserve both the natural environment, as well as the cultural heritage of Hong Kong.

from National Heritage Board
The Heritage Journal
go to journal site

The Inaugural Issue of the Heritage Journal (published by the National Heritage Board, Singapore) has been launched, featuring "research articles on the history, culture and the art practices of Asia, with an emphasis on material culture, cultural resource management and museum practice". Happy reading!

from The New York Times
Shift at Historical Society Raises Concerns
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A significant historical document collection was "deposited" with the New York Historical Society along with its lenders joining the board of the society. A concern arise: Would the society henceforth be subjected to the influence of its two wealthy and powerful members? Already, some members within the society who refuse to give their names seems to hint at a "shady" decision process as to the society's exhibition focus and directions. On the other hand, the influx of these new members and the collection has also pushed the society beyond its usual scope, facilitate academic pursuits and sparked off other positive developments.

The same concern arised last year which lead to Catherine B. Reynolds' eventual withdrawal of her $38 million gift to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History when loads of criticisms poured in. The concern according to "The Times": "What was controversial were the terms of the plan which would have granted her [Reynolds] and her foundation inappropriate influence over curatorial decisions."

Looks like there is really a potential conflict of interest over the influence of powerful donors/lenders. Well, with regards to the NYHS, time will tell...

from Getty Conservation Institute Newsletter
Preventive Conservation
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The focus of the latest issue of the GCI Newsletter is on preventive conservation - tracing the inter-disciplinary development of the field, the challenges of application and featuring 2 specific areas in lighting and climate controls in historic buildings.

from The New York Times
Along the Silk Road, China Begins to Guard Its Heritage
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As China ascends in terms of economic wealth, its heritage wealth becomes even more of a touristic draw and reaching potentially unsustainable (and self-destructive) levels. Hence, the efforts of the Getty Conservation Institute to put in place a set of China Principles.

"The China Principles, which generally update existing international conventions, enshrine conservation principles and mandate an interdisciplinary management process. They require a master plan that, for example, researches and sets visitor capacity limits. These guidelines have now largely been disseminated to the provinces, which are responsible for most heritage sites."

from BBC News
Museum has flush of inspiration
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This is a funny one. London's Science Museum is thinking of recycling toilet waste to generate power so as to help in the upkeep of the museum. Jon Tucker, the museum's owner, made this comment "Poo power is certainly something I would consider if it were practical." Mm...poo power, any other takers?

from BBC Radio 4 - Connect
Dust to dust
go to programme synopsis
listen to programme (Real Player needed)

It boggles the mind to think of something as unassuming and ubiquitous as dust could contain information (when properly analysed) which can yield traces of history spanning many decades or even centuries. But, the question remains: "To clean or not to clean?"

from ST Recruit
For art's sake
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An earlier article focusing on two jobs, amongst others, at the Heritage Conservation Centre. And for the record:

"Every day is exciting. Every problem is different. The approach and decision-making process are different. That is what keeps us going. It can be quite laborious but we are not doing this for ourselves, or even for the museums. It's for future generations."

from New York Times
Where Pagodas Draw Tourists, Concrete Is Unwelcome
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A curious development in heritage preservation in Luang Prabang - the former royal capital of Laos - whereby the traditional is associated with being poor. Hence, as the economical situation improves, the demand for new architectural materials (especially concrete building) increases, which is at odds with the stipulations for maintaining the site on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site. It also points to a larger problem of misaligned perspectives:

"For many residents, the outsiders' passion for the old is misplaced, a cultural misunderstanding that refuses to respect their desire to spend a newfound wealth that has been a long time coming."

And especially problematic when the dichotomy is drawn between locals and foreigners - with the latter seen as "impeding" the material progress of the local community in the name of heritage preservation (and probably with good intentions).

from BBC Radio 4 - Material World
Painting Conservation
listen to programme (fast forward to 15m 30s; Real Player needed)
go to programme synopsis

A quick auditory "glimpse" into the work at the Conservation Department of the National Gallery in London. In particular, the discussion on the rise of de rigueur scientific analysis of materials in the conservation profession and the increasing interest in technical art history, much served by the former.

from The New York Times
New York's Bizarre Museum Moment
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An interesting update to what's happening in the museum scene in New York. The author of the article has brought out certain interesting points for pondering in a honest and humorous way. In view of the changes that some museums initiate to stay current or to reach out to the masses, he observed "that museums don't all still trust art to excite people on its own; they increasingly think it needs to be packaged, marketed and diluted. Does the public also think so?"

from The Observer
Mummy's mystery unravels in 3D
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from The Telegraph
Dodgy embalming in ancient Egypt
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Another example of how advance imaging technologies are helping towards a better understanding of heritage artefacts without causing further material damage. As the primary use of such technologies are not specifically geared towards use in heritage preservation, hence, it is necessary to actively seek out and be informed of new technological advances in imaging technology. And on the horizon, there is the next generation technology using tetrahertz radiation for detecting hidden objects.

from BBC News
World heritage sites 'threatened'
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from The Guardian
Cologne cathedral threatened by tower blocks
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Man builds; man destroys (intentional or otherwise). Perhaps the destructive nature of human endeavours should be listed prominently as a factor of deterioration of cultural heritage materials - in addition to light, humidity, pest, careless mishandling etc.

from The Straits Times
Past It Forward
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go to article (with images; in pdf format)

An article featuring fellow colleagues at the National Heritage Board and their work.

from Art Museum Network News
Smithsonian to Open "Visible Conservation Center"
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Having conservation work always on view may sound like a good idea in the context of a museum display - but it must be added that just viewing the conservation work processes alone would not make much of a sense unless accompanied by some intelligent form of commentary and explanation. Without this added component of interaction and dialogue, conservation work can actually appear rather boring and uninteresting in itself. The other question would be whether is there no other way to present conservation to the public, other than being on constant view? Would we next ask for a glass-fronted office design for all museum curators so that visitors can understand the creative and often complex processes that go into the making of an exhibition?

from The Art Newspaper
Versailles: feud jeopardises interior restoration but gardens are completed
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At the risk of gross generalisation, it could be surmised that the spirit of the best of heritage preservation efforts are primarily driven by a deep-seated sense of public service, which can often be at odds (or in direct conflict) with a profit-driven enterprise approach. Perhaps this latest news from the French front could serve as a harbinger of things to come in 2 recent developments posted earlier.

from NPR
U.S. Base Damages Ancient Babylonian Temple
listen to audio report

War and heritage preservation simply do not mix. No further comments.

from BBC News
Effort to save UK's web heritage
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go to press release
go to web-site

Another effort in the string of projects to preserve digital culture and heritage.

from The Guardian
End the exile
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This is the latest salvo in the long-running and extremely polarised debate on the return (or not) of the Parthenon (or Elgin) Marbles. However, lost amongst this current raging argument is a previous cleaning controversy - which happened more than 60 years ago - in the more technical world of conservation/restoration. That controversy was also publicly debated with the various documentary records and artefactual evidence scrutinised at the British Museum in 1999.

from Wired News
Twisted Tale of Art, Death, DNA
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from New York Times
Use of Bacteria in Art Leads to Federal Inquiry
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from The Guardian
Art becomes the next suspect in America's 9/11 paranoia
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from Pittsburg Post-Gazette
Ex-CMU art prof entangled with Feds
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First they come for the artist who uses "biotechnology" as part of his work - next will be the conservator who uses bacteria to grow marble?

from Conservation Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University
METHODS OF CONSERVING ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL
FROM UNDERWATER SITES
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This on-line conservation manual has attempted to present the current state of conservation of archaeological material from marine environments.
This link consists of 16 conservation files, topics are

1.OVERVIEW OF CONSERVATION IN ARCHAEOLOGY; BASIC CONSERVATION
PROCEDURES
2.ADHESIVES AND CONSOLIDANTS
3.CONSERVATION OF BONE, IVORY, TEETH, AND ANTLER

and many more... Hope it is a good reference.

from The Art Newspaper
Come buy our palaces
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Oligarchs line up to buy listed buildings ...
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Two parallel developments from Europe on the "privatisation" of the preservation of heritage. In both instances, it is clearly recognised that preservation endeavours entail vast amount of resources - financial, expertise knowledge, time and other intangible contributions from the community at large. However, the sad decision made in both situations were to reduce the solution to one of approaching the problem from a narrow financial perspective - and mistaking that as the utmost priority. This will surely have unintended consequences in time to come, and most likely negative ones.

from The New York Times
A Computer That Has an Eye for Van Gogh
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Using a computer to compare sections of an artist's known works from a database of images, it is claimed that certain tell-tale signs in the use of materials or techniques can be determined, almost like "invisible signatures". All this for the purpose of authentication. It would be interesting to see how much of restoration or overpaints on a painting would return a "fake" result during analysis?

from Science @ NASA
Bacterial Integrated Circuits
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go to technical paper (pdf format)

Indoor air pollution poses a real and harmful threat to heritage artefacts if left unchecked (see article by Morten Ryhl-Svendsen). The standard method of monitoring is to use the technique of sampling of the indoor air and having that sample analysed.

The new detection method being tested by NASA researchers would provide a real-time detection system, combining micro-biology and photo-electronics, called Bioluminescent Bioreporter Integrated Circuits (BBICs). Monitoring for pollutants would also be much cheaper and simpler than on-site chemical sampling methods that are currently possible.

These BBICs are useful on Earth, too. They can detect formaldehyde emitted by pressed wood furniture or hard-to-detect molds often implicated in sick building syndrome. "If this device works as planned, it could turn out to be a very inexpensive kind of monitoring system," says Sayler. "You could go to your corner drugstore, buy one of these, take it home and stick it up on your wall. It could tell you whether your carpets are degassing, or whether you've got problems like black mold."

The circuit chips can also be customised for the detection of different particulate, gaseous or biological pollutants - and even ultra-violet radiation! - depending on the type of microbe that is bio-engineered. The size of the chip is also extremely small and inconspicuous - 2 mm by 2mm - hence, perfect for museum display use.

from UNESCO: Culture
Cultural Pluralism
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=12321&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Conservation can be controversial. Why do we do what we do? A decision may appear more acceptable to one but less appealing to another. Understanding a culture perhaps could be one good way in first learning to comprehend and empathise the whys.

"People invent, refine and embellish their cultures through contact with and by borrowing from other cultures. Cultures are ways of living together".

from BBC news
Eco glass cleans itself with Sun
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Imagine a world where there will be no more cleaning of window glass panes! This is achieved by depositing an extremely thin coating of titanium oxide on the glass surface, which will react with the surface dirt in the presence of ultra-violet radiation (plentiful in sunlight). With the subsequent arrival of rain, the surface dirt is easily washed away in a uniform manner. Now imagine if this technology can be applied to outdoor sculptures or heritage structures!

from The International Herald Tribune
Architecture: Saving a jewel of Shanghai
go to article
and
from The New York Times
Salvaging Jewish Heritage in China, Block by Block
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Yet another story of urban development standing in the way of heritage preservation. Or is it the other way round - depending on whose side one is on?

from The Guardian
Down with this access pottiness
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When an argument is made in favour of "art-for-art's-sake" by a government minister, no less - no longer being merely justified as a social implement to enhance the quality of life of citizens; nor as a means of social inclusion or forging of a national identity; nor as an economic cash-cow, in the case of the Creative Industries - then it must be recognised as an unmistakable sign of a significant arts policy shift. Yet again, the UK has shown its leadership mantle in the arena of arts and culture.

It is a case of quality being of far, far greater importance than quantity, in the case of arts and culture. Quoting James Fenton in the Guardian article above:

What [Tessa] Jowell [Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport] says in her document, although not precisely in these words, is that there is no point in fetishising access, if access means access to crap. "Access to the substandard is access to disappointment which will translate into an unwillingness to keep paying. It will not inspire or raise levels of aspiration, and in the end is not worthwhile. That is why excellence has to be at the heart of cultural subsidy, and that is what we must insist on."

Hear, hear! Now politicians can go figure.

from Voice of America
American Philanthropists to Return 'Forbidden City' to Former Glamour
go to article
go to audio report (RealAudio format)

A praiseworthy effort to reach across cultures by funding a large-scale preservation project, which otherwise might not materialise. However, one cannot help but wonder whether national pride would come into the picture? Or is the historic complex a mere curious cultural relic (and a tourist trap) in present-day China which has done away with dynastic monarchism?

Perhaps, what is most curious is the selection of the particular restoration site - a retirement lodge of the Emperor Qianlong, who had been credited in opening up the Middle Kingdom to the influx of Western (imperial) influences. The lodge had previously functioned as a private theatre pavilion and contained an admixture of Chinese ornate motifs and Italian paintings executed in the 18th century. It makes one wonder whether the decision to select the site for this worthy cause could have been an unconsciously (or consciously) "political" one?

from ARTNews Online
Moving Mountains, Walking on Water
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When the outdoor environment is the work of art - much of what has been termed as Earthworks or Land Art - it is perhaps an understatement to say that the conservation of such art is a daunting task, indeed. Perhaps, it is pertinent to clarify: "Why are we considering the conservation of such sites in the first place?" A previous New York Times article discussing Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty raised the particularly vexing question of whether conservation or restoration is even necessary at all, although the work is indeed "deteriorating":

But the idea of doing anything to this artwork worries some people. And the intentions of the artist, who died in a plane crash at 35 in 1973, are not clear.

"When refurbishing earthworks, you don't want to create a Tussaud's wax sculpture," said Robert Storr, a former senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and a professor at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts. "Earthworks were not made to last forever. There is a danger when restoring them to make a more perfect thing than was originally done."

from Xinhua Online
Digital tech in use to preserve Dunhuang
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This is yet another use of digital imaging technology to re-create a heritage site in order to "preserve" it. This recall similar attempts here, here and here. The need to re-create a virtual replica, however imperfection that solution might be, throws into sharp relief the 2 conflicting trends which plague most, if not all, successful historic and heritage sites.

On the one hand, with the spread of information about the site, visitors would arrive in increasing numbers. And in tandem, accelerated deterioration of the site would usually accompany this increase. Limiting access appears to be the preferred compromise. And with the help of present-day digital imaging technology, much can be achieved in terms of providing an accurate visual representation.

Although much welcomed, in terms of slowing deterioration, this digital act of copying also appears to contrast sharply with the way the act of copying is understood in the Chinese context in achieving a good level of "restoration". In particular:

"But copying is also learning. During the process of copying, one has to give inputs of research, grasp the laws and rhythms of the painting in question and perfect the technique. Only then can the reproduction capture the spirit of the original. Therefore the copiers should have a rich knowledge of the tradition as well as profound expertise and skill; otherwise the reproduction will not transpose both the visual and spiritual excellence of the originals." [see reference article here]

And with limited access, it remains unclear what ramifications that will have on such an approach to restoration work.

Another recent news item also confirms this trend towards restricted access (even for personnel working to conserve the site) as a means to slow deterioration of the Dunhuang site, especially the Mogao grottos or caves. Working together with the Getty Conservation Institute, the University of California has developed very tiny and inexpensive sensor chips - otherwise known as Smart Dust Motes - that can be scattered within the grottos. Using wireless technology, data from all the sensors are then be collected, thus providing a viable means of remote-sensing the real-time environment conditions of the entire space without having to step foot in it.

from The New York Times
Michelangelo's 'David' Gets Spruced Up for His 500th Birthday
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from The Guardian
Thin grey veil lifted from Michelangelo's David, as restorer confounds critics
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from The New Scientist
Michelangelo’s David revealed after clean-up
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Finally, the saga of the cleaning of Michelangelo's David reaches a conclusion of sorts - in good time to mark the 500th anniversary of the placement of the sculpture. It is also interesting to note that one of the criteria held up to mark the success of the restoration project is: "a restoration that does not look like a restoration". If that be the case, then what does it look like? Or is the remark symptomatic of a certain "fear" of criticisms, even of well-intended restoration efforts?

from The Guardian
A renaissance in peril
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Nicolas Serota's brief commentary on the state of UK museums is timely, and especially resonant on the occasion of the International Museum Day (18 May). It is also interesting to recall Serota's earlier comment on the need to avoid "national or social chauvinism" when determining acquisition priorities - in the case of significant paintings in danger of being sold and hence leaving the country.

However, would not the plea for greater funding support for British museums be a kind of "national chauvinism"? But one wouldn't think so, probably. Perhaps, it is inherent in the function of culture (and arts) to, firstly, distinguish - and some would say "discriminate" - that which is culture (or art) and that which is not; and secondly, to differentiate the "good" from the "bad", or what might be termed as connoisseurship - and some would say "elitism". The parameters might shift with historical and social contexts, but the essential function remains.

Efforts to expand these parameters, so that they are more inclusive (such as folk art) and less discriminating (as in social history), are obviously praiseworthy. However, that will be relative in terms of degree, but will not demolish the fact that culture (and art) is essentially about categorisation and connoisseurship, which would entail a sense of judgment and comparison.

from The New Yorker
A Picasso Face-Lift
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A short article on the on-going conservation work carried out on Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d’Avignon" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is also interesting to note that the decision to conserve the painting was taken after it went on show in a blockbuster show, and didn't look too good besides other paintings.