Something I’m working on currently – a two-week training course on the conservation of underwater artefacts, organised by SEAMEO SPAFA, Unesco and the Fine Arts Department of Thailand. Deadline for applications is 10 April 2023.
The two-week course on conservation and restoration of underwater archaeological finds provides participants with an introduction to conservation and restoration principles and techniques. Participants will be acquainted with hands-on approaches to working with ceramic and glass, metal, wood, and other underwater organic materials. The participants will spend a few days in practical sessions with each and every one of them.
The applied training consists of both theoretical and practical segments, with the option of placing greater focus on a given segment, depending on the wishes, capabilities and knowledge of the participant. The programme will be conducted along the same points as the one-month course, but in contracted scope based on the time available. In the practical segment, participants will have the opportunity to explore different phases of conservation-restoration work that can be executed within the course’s two-week schedule.
It is important to note that, within the time constraints of an introductory course, conducting all phases of conservation-restoration work on a single object is impossible, and participants therefore can work on some phases of conservation-restoration work on various smaller objects. The primary goal of this brief course is to acquaint young professionals with conservation and restoration principles and techniques that will serve as a method to protect archaeological finds; in the case of more experienced conservators-restorers, the course provides opportunity to dive into specific skills in treating archaeological finds retrieved from wet environments.
