China National Silk Museum Shares for the First Time its Conservation Cycle of Cultural Heritage at the 19th ICOM-CC Triennial Conference
HANGZHOU, China, May 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The 19th International Council of Museums - Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC) Triennial Conference is being held virtually this year from May 17-21 in Beijing. In line with this year's theme of "Transcending Boundaries: Integrated Approaches to Conservation," Dr. Zhao Feng, Director of the China National Silk Museum, gave a keynote speech to share with scholars and institutions around the world the conservation cycle of historical textiles based on the realistic best practices of the China National Silk Museum during the last 30 years.
"I am in total awe of the craftskills shown through this presentation and I bow before the Chinese cultural heritage", "Very impressive work, congratulations. This research also inspires designers and can add to current fashion", said the participants.
The conservation cycle concept proposed by Dr. Zhao Feng revolves around textile cultural heritages, including emergency conservation measures at the archaeological site, scientific knowledge in the laboratory, restoration and conservation in the museum, preventive conservation for display and storage, digital conservation in the warehouse, the restoration and reproduction of cultural heritage, and the inheritance of the wisdom of ancient dyeing and weaving. All the dots can be joined through collective expertise in each of these areas.
On this most important of international academic and technical communication platforms for conservators, scholars and institutions, the China National Silk Museum participated extensively in the Conference. Two research scientists, Jia Liling and Zheng Hailing, presented innovation in advanced chemical methods to restore fragile textiles. Ms. Wang Shujuan, a senior conservator, contributed her presentation on the application of a new method of repairing archaeological textiles, which can dramatically improve the physical and mechanical properties of those fragile objects.
Additionally, Prof. Zhou Yang, Head of the Department of Technology curated the exhibition entitled, "Pursuing Eternity: Conservation of Museum Collections in China" to review the achievement of cultural heritage conservation in China over the past 100 years as well as introducing the scientific methods and techniques used for archaeological textile conservation.
Since the 1990s, the China National Silk Museum has been focusing on textile preservation, especially the development of novel methods to restore ancient textiles from archaeological sites. In 2012, the Museum designed and built a textile conservation gallery alongside the permanent exhibition area and laboratory.
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