from ePreservation Science
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A new issue of the online journal for Conservation Science with 4 articles:

A Baranski et.al.
"Mixed control mechanisms in paper degradation studies"
(PDF article)

Y Keheyan & L Giulianiell
"Identification of historical ink ingredients"
(PDF article)

U Knuutinen & P Kyllonen
"Studies of polyester composite art objects"
(PDF article)

L Rampazzi & R Bugini
"Characterization of mortars of St. Lorenzo, Milan"
(PDF article)

from ICOM News
International Journal of Intangible Heritage
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A new journal, published by the National Folk Museum of Korea, which focuses on issues relating to the preservation of intangible heritage. (Also see previous posts on the subject).

from Chemical and Engineering News
Incredible Colors
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Another article on the analysis of the use of unusual materials in the oil paintings of the 16th-century Venetian School which explained the characteristic glow and luminosity of these paintings (also see previous post here).

Print Clock: A method for dating early books and prints
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A web-site which explains in greater detail the new-found theory of dating prints (taken from woodblocks and copper plates) using image- and statistical-analysis comparing breaks in printed lines and also the difference in their thickness. This expands on an earlier news article (see previous post) announcing the research done by a biologist! There is also a more technical scientific paper available (PDF file).

from PhysicsWeb
A sensitive approach to frescoes
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from Seed Magazine
Physicists develop tool to diagnose Italian frescoes
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A new technique which measures the moisture and salt content of frescoes up to a surface depth of 2cm into the surface, without the need for sampling or removal of materials. This is achieved by a combination of using a microwave source and a detector which differentiates the resonance frequency of the reflected radiation from the materials.

This would be a definite improvement over current techniques which use infra-red radiation as a detection source - the limitation being only the very top fresco surface is monitored as well as the inability to detect salt levels, which often is the primary cause of deterioration in wall frescoes.

from BBC News
Singapore war internee's art on show
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An article on BBC News about some recently donated watercolurs displayed at the Changi Museum (see museum wesite and previous post).

[ Thanks to Singapore Heritage Mailing List ]

from wikimapia
National Monuments of Singapore

Following on from an earlier post, I have finished marking-up all the locations of gazetted national monuments in Singapore for a start.




A close-up of the city centre area, which has the majority of the gazetted monuments:



Point and click on a location, and then click the "info" button to get links to more information and images, where available online.

Next in line will be various conservation areas and also locations which have some historic significance. As the wikimapia interface is very much a collaborative one, do add on information and locations where possible.

Also, I have tagged locations on wikimapia with a general tag: "heritage", and will also be using other more specific ones such as: "monument", "museum", "conservation_area" etc.

You can change markers on the map via the drop-down menu for filtering by tags at the top-right of the map window - or leave it unfiltered to get an overwhelming sense of details!

Have a browse round and leave your comments or feedback here ...

from BBC News
X-rays reveal Archimedes secrets
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Interesting to read about the life journey of a goatskin parchment who started off from bearing Archimedes' work in the 10th Century, to being recycled by monks to record Greek Orthodox prayers around the 13th Century and finally being ornamented by forgers in the 20th Century, where gold paintings of religious imagery were added so as to try to boost the value of the tome. What a life!

Amazing how the imaging technique of X-ray fluorescence made it possible for scientists to "travel" back in time by layers and reveal this "biography" of the palimpsest...

from yesterday,sg
Post-Earthquake Cultural Resource Documentation Trip to Yogyakarta
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Highlights of a talk given at the Heritage Conservation Centre in Singapore. [ Thanks to yesterday.sg for the post! ]

from New York Times
Should Art Museums Always Be Free? There's Room for Debate
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If the argument for access to museums' collections is taken from a humanistic point of view, then charging for entry would be indefensible. Especially, as pointed out in this article:

"Museums speak of wanting to attract larger, more democratic audiences. They cannot even begin to know this audience, much less accommodate it, until they lower the barriers, at least to their permanent collections."

Roberta Smith goes on in the article to list, surprisingly, a number of American museums which stand by the principle of free access. This echoed the earlier attempt across in the UK to do away with entrance fees which saw a corresponding rise in visitorship numbers by as much as 72% in the first year (see earlier post here).

Putting it another way, mission must not be diluted in the pursuit of the bottomline. In fact, Smith argues that:

"If museums were to broadcast unequivocally that their first priority is art and the public's contact with art, their public image would improve and sharpen. And other things about them would start to change, from the people who sit on their boards, to the buildings they build."

It would be most prudent that museums not forget their social mission, even as they woo the evermore "sophisticated audience" (see earlier related post here).