Workshop: Treatment of damages in the textile supports of paintings - From Insight to Outcome

(Image: Beirut Museum of Art (BeMA))

Further to the August 4th deadly Beirut Port Blast, a 3-day international workshop was organized to address the restoration of severely damaged paintings. The shockwave of the explosion blew in glass all over the city and ended up damaging and punching holes onto hundreds of artworks.

The Beirut Museum of Art (BeMA) invited the conservation community in Lebanon, master students of CICS and Petra Demuth as the instructor and moderator to host a workshop on conservation strategies for the preservation of torn canvas paintings during the month of April 2021. The lectures, live demonstrations and discussions focused on numerous methods for the closure of tears, cuts and losses in textile supports. The 3 sessions gave insights into the philosophy of minimal invasive methods and strategies.

The sessions included the topics of paint consolidation, aligning of tear edges, joining of thread ends and backing systems. The prioritization of interventions and the compromise finding in the context of the emergency situation were dealt intensively.

We thank in particular Michele Haddad, the director of the BeMA, and the freelance painting conservator Kerstin Khalife for the initiative and organization of this very enriching workshop trilogy. A feedback session addressing specific case studies was held on the 28th of May to wrap up professional exchanges.