International cooperation

Mykola_Pymonenko-Zhnyva.

Slava (Digital) Ukraini!

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We have repeated so many times that it is important to digitise our cultural heritage in order to study and to preserve it. Once digitised, you may think, it is saved forever. It has become as an immaterial asset, living its own immortal life “in the clouds”.

However, also digital models, digital reconstructions, digital data are in the end also physical, just a different physical. They are stored on tangible supports in physical locations.

And now with the Russia invading Ukraine, and bombarding civilians and cultural institutions, all the Ukraine digitised records are at serious risk.

“People forget that the internet is made up of physical things. There are physical servers that are located in the real world that need power, cooling, and maintenance” declared Quinn Dombrowski, now at Stanford University.

When she realised it, she decided to launch SUCHO i.e. Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online, together with Anna Kijas, head of the Lilly Music Library at Boston’s Tufts University, and Sebastian Majstorovic, an IT consultant for digital humanities at the Austrian Center for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage.

They started calling for cultural heritage professionals from all over the world – librarians, archivists, researchers, programmers, to search and re-archive Ukrainian digital content.

They are using a combination of technologies to crawl and archive sites and content, and they also offer space to all Ukrainian scholars who need storage for their research material. And there are also trying to save pictures of all Ukraine monuments in the hope to be able to reconstruct their 3D model later, if necessary.

Their work, mostly remote, as local scholars are obviously facing other and bigger challanges, is made even more difficult by the fact that not all records are available, URL are not always updated, and there are security measures taken by cultural institutions during peace times. Not to mentioned that it is often hampered also by internet outages and electricity loss.

It is not an easy endeavour but the response from the cultural heritage scholarly community was immediate and enthusiastic.

Read Chiranthi: “I am a person who works closely with Cultural Heritage metadata domains. I am familiar with metadata standards, digital cultural heritage archives, LOD and controlled vocabularies, and so on.

As a Sri Lankan who has lived through an ongoing civil war, I have seen firsthand how badly conflict affects cultural heritage”.

And so him, like thousands more, have rolled up their sleeves and went for it. There is no good news during war, but the resilience of the cultural professionals gets close to it.

To get involved with SUCHO or learn more about the initiatives’s work, visit sucho.org.

(Anna Pelagotti)
(Anna Pelagotti)

 

IRAQ 2016 (2)

War Archaeologist

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In such a difficult moment, in which memory goes back to tragic images that are so close to what we have unfortunately already seen, we believe it is important to give voice to the professionals within our world who make a very important and positive contribution.

A romantic as well as erroneous view of the archaeologist sees him as a treasures hunter, travelling distant places. Surely this part of their work is the most fascinating and gives us unexpected finds, but today the archaeologists play also a social role, they are the guarantors of the memory of a community, their activity is also in support to the safeguarding of historical places. Part of their mission is also to train citizens, wherever they are, to ensure that they take care and protect their cultural heritage.

Giancarlo Garna is an archaeologist. Trained at the University of Padua, as a freelancer he has participated in multiple excavation campaigns in Italy and abroad. He is actively involved in relations between Archeology and Politics, in the fight against the looting and illegal trafficking of Cultural Heritage, especially in the Middle East. From 2014 to 2016 he collaborated with the Italian Cooperation in Iraq as part of the training of local experts and workers in the archaeological field.

Awarded the title of “Person of the year 2017” by the Archeomafie International Observatory, in 2018 he was awarded the “Prix Asolapo Italia 2018-2019 for peace”, including history, culture and peace.

Giancarlo Garna and Art-Test participate in the Biennial School of Higher Education in Judicial Archeology and Crimes against Cultural Heritage, organized by the Criminological Studies Center of Viterbo.

Why did you choose to be an archaeologist?

Since I was a child I have always had a passion for the study of history. Also at the age of ten I read a book on the discovery of the ancient Syrian site of Mari and I wondered if I would ever have the opportunity to see places like that. Over time I have become more and more interested in aspects of daily life and beliefs of the Ancients, especially of the people, often forgotten by the historical narrative itself; and thus the transition to archeology has become practically natural. And in 1999 I went to Mari, as an Archaeologist, a child’s dream come true, it doesn’t happen often.

What does it mean to be an archaeologist today?

Archeology has changed a lot, it is a discipline that has opened up to all other related sciences, from geology to archeometry, up to various types of analytical tests in the laboratory.

Being an archaeologist today means wanting to achieve ever more precise and comprehensive historical reconstructions, but with a multidisciplinary approach and with the aim of making them accessible to the public. And in doing this, a new social and active role must be assumed, becoming an engine of research on the territory. One must have the function of conservator and disseminator of memory, be able to increase awareness of one’s territory and its history, also forming a generation of people who work in this sense. Therefore, to work with an eye to the past, an eye to the present and a broad and articulated vision for the future.

During your career you have repeatedly participated in missions in areas where war has not only affected the human fabric but has also torn the heritage. How are archaeological missions important for the reconstruction of a territory and its culture?

Archaeological missions play a fundamental role, not only in the documentation and conservation of the remains, but also for the communities that inhabit that territory. The involvement of local communities and the training of their archaeologists become fundamental tools for the defense, protection and enhancement of the territory and its history. Especially in those areas and territories targeted by poverty, wars and the perverse mechanisms connected to it such as the destruction of monuments and sites and the illegal trade in antiquities and cultural heritage.

The Archaeological Missions contribute to creating awareness of the value, not only historical but of a wide range, of the culture of a territory. They also develop an attitude to defend it, they are able to make it clear that it is an added value, also as an engine of job and economic opportunities.

Our time, after two long years in which everything has been reprogrammed, now sees a war conflict that risks erasing or certainly compromising the culture of an entire nation. In an emergency, how can archaeological action missions help limit collateral damage? What can international communities and individuals do in situations?

During an ongoing conflict it becomes particularly difficult to operate directly in the field, but it is possible to try, within the limits of safety conditions, to continue to document and catalog the cultural heritage as much as possible, reporting and collaborating in the safety of the cultural heritage itself.

The international community must continue to stigmatize indiscriminate bombings, reporting them and trying to impose areas of respect not to be attacked and accused of crimes, not only of war, but against humanity, those who do not respect this prohibition.

How can new technologies, large-scale diagnostics and point-in-time areas be useful, both in the short and long term?

The new technologies are useful across the spectrum, as they open up new perspectives for research and interpretation of both current and past findings. They allow a deeper look at new and old discoveries, which leads to reviewing past beliefs and formulating increasingly precise hypotheses in the historical reconstruction phase. They are also extremely useful in the fight against the illegal trafficking of Cultural Assets and their falsification, determining not only the authenticity of the objects, but also discovering the false provenance certifications of stolen or plundered objects placed on the market.

(Emanuela Massa)
(Emanuela Massa)
buddha-bamiyan-1_1434364103

What will they destroy this time?

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Afghanistan: how the nation can defend itself from the iconoclastic fury of the Taliban, including a list of items NOT TO BUY

In Afghanistan, the arrival of the Taliban will bring an abrupt setback to a nation who had seemed to be able to strike a delicate balance.

In addition to the great changes that the numerous restrictions imposed by the new government will inevitably bring, a great threat looms over the numerous archaeological sites and art objects that make up the cultural heritage of a country rich in history. For example the “Bactrian Treasure” a collection of more than 20,000 artifacts, many made of gold, that were found in 2,000-year-old graves at a site called Tillya Tepe in 1978.

Despite 20 years have passed, no one can have forgotten the destruction of the two Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban. There are still discrepancies on what was the motivation, but it is well established that there has been a real abomination against Afghan people and the world’s artistic heritage as well.In 2001 the great tragedy of the destruction of the two imposing statues, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and dated between the sixth and seventh centuries after Christ, shook all of Europe.

In 2001, thanks to photogrammetry, (an analysis allowing to obtain extremely accurate 3D measurements and reconstructions from photographs taken at different angles), with the help of images taken by tourists, downloaded from the web, it was possible to reconstruct the 3D model of the two statues, and to print some scale copies. Recently, holograms have been projected to recreate the impression that the huge Buddhas had to make on site.

But clearly no one will be able to go back in time.

In anticipation of an awakening of the iconoclastic fury, a project was set to protect the immense, and partly unknown, Afghan artistic heritage. Many art objects belonging to different museum collections have in fact been removed from their seats and hidden in unknown places but so far there is no news of any transfer abroad.

In fact, the AAMD (Association Art Museum Directors) has established several protocols for the protection of cultural heritage even providing, when necessary, that museums of other nations take custody of these objects until the crisis is over.

But already on the third day since they returned to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban blew up the statue of Abdul Azi Mazari, former leader of the Hazara, an Afghan Shiite minority, killed by the Taliban in 1995 and considered a hero of the resistance against the armed group.

ICOMM has published a list of objects at risk on its website.

It is very likely that in Afghanistan culture and heritage will be attacked and annihilated. Without its artistic memory a country will be left unable to renew itself. It will remain blocked; it will probably regress denying itself a motivated and, above all, free future.

Even when such an extreme situation may not arise, the diagnostician, the restorer, the archaeologist, and all other professional roles related to the world of cultural heritage play an important part, as they are the custodians of what has been. Their main task is to preserve, safeguard and disseminate with the aim of transmitting the cultural and artistic legacy of humanity to posterity especially when we could be facing the destruction of masterpieces and archeological sites.

With science and perseverance, we try to find a way not to deprive future generations of the beauty that our ancestors created and were able to admire. We can only condemn with dismay, those who with no scruples whatsoever, annihilate all traces of the past.

Alice Fusco
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Learning by doing

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Benvenuta Vera!

After having sadly but affectionately greeted Cintia, our Erasmus trainee from Tenerife, who with her Hispanic and sunny spirit made the days in the offices sparkling, we are ready to meet Vera, arriving from Moscow, and to welcome her.

Coming from an even different training curriculum, specializing in the history of art and restoration of canvases and tables, she has decided to deepen her diagnostic knowledge, an aspect that as a restorer you will have to often deal with.

Thanks to the collaboration that Art–Test has been undertaking for years with Palazzo Spinelli, the demand for internships in our laboratories from this Institute is always increasing. Regardless of the origin, however each trainee, although he or she may come from a different professional and geographical background, is offered to personally conduct the different analyzes foreseen by a diagnostic campaign -after a first but brief and concise theoretical approach.

It is certainly not immediate for an art historian and/or restorer to understand how to use diagnostics. For us artworks primarily have composite material side, and one must not be influenced by the apparent style and/or any attributions based solely on historical-artistic study.

As has already happened before, also in this case it will be a two-way exchange of notions that will be enriching for both parties over the next few months.

Let’s rock on!

Alice Fusco
art

Work in regress

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It's BREXIT, dear!

January 1 2021 marks not only the beginning of the new year, which hopefully will be better than the horrendous 2020, but also the beginning of a new era for Great Britain which, after 47 years, has left the European Union. This means that the UK is now a “third country” for the EU.
Despite the Christmas agreement between London and Brussels, it is now necessary to introduce a large number of extra obligations, such as customs declarations, special licenses, certifications, controls and conformity tests, for goods to be imported and exported from the UK.
The first problems already arose immediately after the transition period, during which for six months, Great Britain suspended the introduction of controls from the European Union – a unilateral decision that the old continent did not reciprocate.
The procedures to be followed have not  yet been clarified, as well as the prices of shipments.
What is certain, is that unlike what happened so far, the goods moving between Great Britain and the EU will undergo more accurate customs, regulatory and security controls, with longer bureaucratic procedures and obviously great delays.
This caused great problems even with the air transport of works of art. In many cases, in fact, the certification that declares the contents of the inside of a box is no longer sufficient, but these are examined and x-rayed as soon as they enter English territory, or worse still, opened by officials with no experience in handling them. This is not a small problem since in some cases the content has a great value and the damage could be irreversible.
Many gallery owners have been provident, and to avoid these inconveniences they have protected themselves by invoicing and shipping all the works to the UK before the end of the year 2020.
But there is no doubt that the current block on the circulation of goods will have a strong economic impact on the medium and long term, on transport, as well as on the economy of the art market, and I believe it is urgently necessary to find solutions soon that guarantee the correct application and interpretation of the rules, if they do not want Great Britain to move from a preferential hub to one excluded from the circuit.
While it seems that Paris is gearing up to take up former UK place.

France Has Revised Its System for Exporting Art and Antiques, Removing Red Tape that Has Long Hindered Trade

 

 

(Chiara Martine Menchetti)

 

 

Art Diagnostics: The G7 Declaration Of Florence, And Happy Easter!

Art Diagnostics: The G7 Declaration Of Florence, And Happy Easter!

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In the picture the Palmira Arch, destroyed by IS, virtually reconstructed and 3D “printed”. The artwork was exposed before Palazzo Vecchio in Florence during the G7 of Culture Meeting.

Florence hosted the first G7 of culture or the Summit of Ministers of Culture of the seven most developed countries (United States, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Canada). It is in fact the first time (the idea was proposed by Italy and by Renzi government) that in this context culture and heritage are also involved. The ministers of the seven countries signed the Florence Declaration, a “call to all States to adopt strong and effective measures to counter the looting and trafficking of cultural goods from their place of origin, especially from countries in situations of conflict or infighting, identify and prohibit trade in stolen goods that have been unlawfully taken beyond the borders“. The idea of culture as a dialogue tool and the revival of the European spirit have also been emphasized, with Europe wanting to carry on their own values, even against all separatist and fundamentalist movements.

We at Art-Test deeply believe in these values, and we hope that art and science will help beauty to save the world.

Happy Easter!