All of us – restaurateurs

The exhibition and workshop series titled “All of Us – Restaurateurs” features both an exhibition with interactive displays for visitors and workshops for participants. It is designed for a broad audience to raise awareness about the importance and necessity of preserving cultural heritage.

LECTURE AND WORKSHOPS

Interactive Lecture: “Damaged Cultural Heritage and How We Protect It” Damaged Cultural Heritage and How We Protect It (Wednesday, June 21, 5:00 PM)

The lecture aims to emphasize the need for a comprehensive approach to cultural heritage preservation. It consists of two parts: legal protection of cultural heritage, introducing the types of cultural properties and methods of establishing legal protection, and a focus on questions of authenticity in artworks—originals, copies, and forgeries. Visitors will have the chance to see examples of various types of damage that can occur on artworks.

Three Workshops: “OverPainted!”, “Oh, All That Shine!”, and “Retouch”

OverPainted! (Friday, June 23, 5:00 PM)

Participants are introduced to the restoration phase of removing overpaint (later, incompatible layers) and old yellowed varnish. Through an introductory lecture, they will learn what overpaint is, why varnish yellows, and how to prevent artworks from undergoing these changes. They will also have the opportunity to remove overpaint and old varnish themselves under UV light in a darkroom, using solvents.

Oh, All That Shine! (Monday, June 26, 5:00 PM)

Visitors will be introduced to different types of gilding, the stages of gilding restoration, and how gilding appears under a digital microscope. Participants will perform their own gilding reconstruction, which includes applying a base layer on a prepared mold, adhering gold leaf with gilding tools, and applying patina.

Retouch (Wednesday, June 28, 5:00 PM)

Participants will learn about the restoration stage of reconstructing the painted layer, known as retouching. This will be demonstrated through examples of step-by-step retouch creation, digital reconstructions of painted layers, processes for copying easel paintings, and the materials and tools used. Participants will reconstruct missing areas on prepared samples using various tools and painting techniques.

EXHIBITION (Friday, June 30, 8:00 PM)

As the finale of the workshop and discursive program, an exhibition will be held on Friday, June 30, at 8:00 PM. It will feature an interactive display showcasing sample examples of restoration stages carried out during the workshops and lectures.

Gallery

IMPRESSUM

Leader: Maja Sučević Miklin
Collaborator: Vesna Bradamante
Photography: Šimun Bućan
Support: “Kultura nova” Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb
Sponsor: Medvedgrad Brewery
Realization of the exhibition is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of Republic of Croatia.

Biography

Maja Sučević Miklin graduated cum laude from the Conservation and Restoration Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 2012. She has a license to work on easel paintings on various carriers and on polychrome wooden sculpture and performs preservation and restoration of numerous cultural goods under protection. She works as an art associate at Conservation and Restoration Department in Zagreb, in the title of a docent where he teaches copyng. She participates and exhibits at numerous professional conferences and is the author of several academic papers. She is the vice president of the Croatian Conservation-Restoration Association, a member of the Croatian Association of Fine Aartists and is a member of the Association “URA” with which she collaborated on the “Backpack (full) of culture” projects.

Vesna Bradamante is active in the cultural and creative sectors as a member of the Croatian Conservation-Restoration Association and an associate of the Association “URA”. She’s a lawyer by trade. Many years of experience in the cultural sector (14 years) includes her work in the Croatian Conservation Institute, the Ministry of Culture and Media and, currently, the Croatian School Museum. As coordinator and project manager, including programs financed by EU funds, she is working on the projects “Heritage after the earthquake”, “Not even in traces – Caring for the health of people with celiac disease”, “Restaurateurs in libraries”, “Backpack (full) of culture”. Training: Arts and Heritage Management, Università Bocconi; National Arts Management Intensive Program, TheDeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center, Washington; Management in the Public Sector Course, Ecole Nationale d ‘Administration, Paris, France.