NEDCC 2008 Photograph Conservation Institute students study photograph identification during their intensive
three-week training program in Andover, Massachusetts.

Photograph: Stefan Belishki

NEDCC Trains Photograph Conservators in Central
and Eastern Europe

Preserving the Region's Cultural Heritage Collections - One Photograph at a Time

In 2003, when the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) began the initiative to train Central and Eastern European conservators in photograph preservation, 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 years of Communist rule.

Each year for the past five years, a week-long photograph conservation workshop was held at the Academy of Fine Arts and Desing (AFAD) in Bratislava, Slovakia for conservators, professors, and students from the surrounding countries. The workshop provided an
overview of the history of photographic processes, as well as sessions on photograph identification, preservation, and conservation.

Four of the Bratislava workshop participants were chosen each year to travel to NEDCC in Andover,
Massachusetts, for a three-week, intensive Photograph Conservation Institute, where they received in-depth training and hands-on practice.

This program was made possible by generous support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Tianaderrah Foundation, and the Getty Foundation. NEDCC worked in partnership with Academy of Fine Arts and Design (AFAD); the Conservation Center at New York University; and the Getty Conservation Institute.