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NEDCC’S Photograph Conservation Training Initiative in Central and Eastern Europe
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2007 Bratislava workshop participants take part in a session on identification of photographic processes led by Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). |
Photograph: Monique Fischer |
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH CONSERVATION TRAINING PROGRAM
When the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) began the initiative to train Central and Eastern European conservators in photograph conservation, there wasn’t a single professional in the region who had been trained in this specialized field. At the same time, important collections of photographs were coming to light, many of which had been hidden away for safety during the Soviet era.
NEDCC worked in partnership with the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (AFAD) in Bratislava, Slovakia; the Conservation Center at New York University; and the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, CA to offer a training program in photograph conservation for professors, conservators, and students in Central and Eastern Europe. An overall aim of the program has been to raise awareness among institutions about the preservation needs of the region’s valuable photograph collections.
The photograph conservation training initiative began in 2000 when NEDCC Senior Paper Conservator Walter Newman, and Shelly Sass, Program Coordinator and Associate Professor at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, visited the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava to meet with faculty of the Academy’s 50 year-old conservation program to discuss possible collaborations and training opportunities. During the visit, Mr. Newman also visited two wallpaper conservation projects that were underway in Austria and Germany with Boris Kvasnica, the Academy’s newly appointed Paper Conservator. Mr. Kvasnica appreciated the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with an American conservator. Mr. Newman was impressed by the skill of the Slovakian conservators that he met, and felt that they would benefit from exposure to American approaches to conservation, especially in the area of preventive conservation.
In 2001, Boris Kvasnica was invited to participate in a week-long residency in paper conservation at NEDCC in Andover. At the end of his time at the Center, Mr. Kvasnica identified training in conservation of photographs as his region’s most important need and suggested that Monique Fischer, NEDCC’s Senior Photograph Conservator, teach a series of seminars at the Academy for graduate students and professionals in the region. The resulting exchange program was made possible by generous support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Getty Foundation, and the Tianaderrah Foundation.
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Map of Central and Eastern Europe |
International Photograph Conservation Workshop 2005–2008 at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (AFAD), Bratislava, Slovakia
In 2003, the first week-long Photograph Conservation Workshop was held in Bratislava for a group of students of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design led by NEDCC’s Senior Photograph Conservator Monique Fischer. Then, each year from 2005 to 2008, week-long International Photograph Conservation Workshops were hosted by the AFAD for a group of about 20 conservators, professors, and students who were invited to attend from the surrounding countries. The workshops provided an overview of the history of photographic processes, as well as sessions on photograph identification, preservation, and conservation. Each year the workshop concentrated on a different aspect of photograph conservation. The 2005 workshop was a general introduction to the conservation of photographs, while the 2006 workshop spotlighted preventive conservation and identification of photographic processes. The 2007 and 2008 workshops focused on specific themes such as the conservation of silver gelatin photographs and cased images. The workshops combined lectures and demonstrations with round-table discussions, student presentations, and field trips in the region. One of the unexpected benefits was a new international network of professional connections among the participants, many of whom attended all the workshops.
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Participants at the 2007 International Photograph Conservation Workshop in Bratislava. |
Participants for the international workshops came from Slovakia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Hungary.
Speakers for the four workshops included, Monique Fischer, NEDCC Senior Photographs Conservator, Dr. Dusan Stulik, Senior Scientist, Getty Conservation Institute; Boris Kvasnica, Head of the Paper Conservation Department, Academy of Fine Arts and Design; Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator of Photographs, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Mia Fineman, Photograph Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Ralph Weigandt, Assistant Director of Conservation Education at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House; Jana Krizanova, AFAD faculty; Barbara Burianova, AFAD faculty; Dipl. Ing. Jozef Hanus, Head, Department of Archival Preservation, Slovak National Archives; Private Collector Pavel Blazo, and Tatiana Eichler, Executive Director CEIAP, Bratislava.
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NEDCC conservator Christopher Sokolowski discusses the |
Photograph Conservation Institute 2004–2008
at NEDCC, Andover, Massachusetts, USA
The first Photograph Conservation Institute took place at NEDCC in 2004. NEDCC selected participants from previous training efforts in the region for the first Institute, and sought out experienced paper conservators who taught in formal academic programs or who provided mid-career training in informal settings.
Each year from 2005 to 2008, four Institute participants were chosen from the Bratislava workshop attendees to travel to NEDCC in Andover, Massachusetts, for a three-week long, intensive Photograph Conservation Institute, where they received in-depth training. The students reviewed the history of photography and the deterioration of different types of photographs. They studied identification of different photographic processes, a crucial skill in photograph conservation. All-day sessions gave students ample opportunity for hands-on practice of treatment techniques under the close supervision of faculty members.
The students also visited conservation labs and museums in New England, including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and the Weisman Preservation Center at Harvard University. The students traveled to New York City every year for a behind-the-scenes tour of the photograph conservation lab at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hosted by Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator of Photographs. Many of the students remarked that the trips were among the most valuable activities of the Institute, because they were able to see how different labs were set up and the variety of equipment used by American conservators.
Participants for the Photograph Conservation Institutes came from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Russia, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, and Estonia.
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2010 Photograph Conservation Intern Alexander Vatov practices identification of photographic processes under the supervision of Monique Fischer. |
The Training Initiative Continues with the
Photograph Conservation Internship Program at NEDCC
2010 to Present
The next phase in NEDCC’s training initiative for Central and Eastern European conservation professionals began in 2010 with the Center’s first Photograph Conservation Internship, funded by the Trust for Mutual Understanding and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The internship was designed to provide advanced hands-on training for one individual in photograph conservation, so that he or she could become a professional resource for consultations and further training in the region. The program responded to the need for more in-depth training and practical experience for photograph conservators in Eastern Europe.
Alexander Vatov served as NEDCC’s 2010 intern. He is a conservator at the National History Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria. During his internship, Alexander received training under the supervision of NEDCC’s Senior Photograph Conservator Monique Fischer and observed ongoing treatments on a variety of materials in the laboratory. He visited other conservation labs and museums in the region, and had the opportunity to participate in a workshop on the Characterization of Silver Gelatin Photographs, presented in New York City by the American Institute for Conservation.
NEDCC’s 2011 Photograph Conservation Intern was Hrvoje Gržina, an archivist in the Department for Photograph Collections at the Croatian State Archives, in Zagreb, Croatia. His responsibilities include care and preservation of the significant photograph collections at the archives. During the internship, he concentrated on the identification of photographic processes, a skill that is essential in the treatment and preservation of the Archives’ wide range of photographic materials. He also practiced conservation treatment techniques and received training in conducting surveys of photograph collections.
During the internship Hrvoje had the opportunity to travel to New York City and Washington D.C. The trips were a great opportunity for him. He said, “It was an excellent thing to see many of the important and iconic photographs for the first time as actual objects stored in museums, libraries, and galleries, and also to see different ongoing treatments in the conservation labs.” Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gave him a behind-the-scenes tour of the photograph conservation labs at the MET, and he was able to attend one of Ms. Kennedy’s NYU classes on photograph identification. During his Washington trip, he met with conservators at the newly formed photograph conservation department at the National Gallery of Art, and with the staff at the conservation labs at the Library of Congress.
Hrvoje Gržina made the most of this training opportunity. "I return to Croatia on Sunday, and I will begin using the new skills and knowledge at the Archives on Monday," he commented during a lunchtime presentation about the internship for NEDCC staff members. "I will also have many opportunities to disseminate the knowledge during archival and museum conferences in Croatia, and in my lectures for students of Zagreb University who visit the Archives.” He expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the internship, and said, "The Photograph Conservation Internship was a great experience for me as the archivist who deals with the many different types of photographs on a daily basis at the Croatian State Archives."
NEDCC has recently received funding for the 2012 Photograph Conservation Internship. If you are from Central or Eastern Europe, and would like to receive information about applying for the 2012 internship, please contact Julie Martin, jmartin@nedcc.org.
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Photograph: Monique Fischer |
IMPACT
During the last eight years, over 40 conservators, teachers, and graduate students from eleven countries have received training in photograph conservation through the NEDCC program. As a direct result of the program, the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava has built a reputation as an international center for advanced conservation training, and has established a new degree-granting program in photograph conservation that will help train emerging photograph conservators in the region. After attending the training programs, participants have given presentations for colleagues, provided consultations for the region’s cultural heritage institutions, and have begun preserving the irreplaceable photographs that document the region’s rich cultural history.
This program succeeded in bringing together conservation professionals from the Central and Eastern European countries to study photograph conservation, and the value of those new-found ties cannot be underestimated. Not only did the program provide a central venue at which professionals could develop the skills they need to help preserve the vast collections of historic photographs in their cultural institutions, but it also provided a place for these individuals to share ideas, skills, and experiences, and to develop life-long collaborative relationships that will have a lasting impact on the cultural heritage collections in the region.
