Association of Conservator-restorers in Bulgaria Conservation Section of the Union of Bulgairan Artists NEWSLETTER No. 1(4) / 2008 editorial January 2008 he need of professional forum has been discussed amongst our colleagues for years, but nobody believed we as conservators could make something serious and successful in this direction. The Tfirst enthusiastic attempt to publish our professional newsletter started in 2002 as an unofficial bulletin of the Conservation Section of the Union of Bulgarian Artists. Everything started with couple of emotional talks we had with Chudomira Cherneva. She and I, encouraged by Plamen Petrov, and with the contributions of a few young colleagues, edited the first two issues. Unfortunately Chudomira couldn’t take part in editing the third number because of her illness. And when it came time for the forth issue the enthusiasm of the colleagues vanished. We stopped. Looking back to these first three issues of our bulletin one can find them naïve, but despite their imperfections they somehow kept the spirit of our guild more alive. With the establishment of the Association of Conservator-restorers in Bulgaria the idea for our professional edition became realistic again. In 2004 the board of the Association and the Conservation Section of the UBA agreed to start a joint bulletin. It took more than three years to put this idea into practice. One of the big restraints was our constant lack of funds. We needed cheaper way to spread the news. And the solution was the Internet. We are aware that some colleagues of the older generation don’t have computers and are not familiar with the Internet (actually some are completely computer illiterate). But this is the media of the new generations to come and it’s worth following this way. Another important argument is the fact that the information will be easily available for free from all around the world, and also for the colleagues from the other countries. For the first time we have bilingual bulletin. It will open us to much wider community of conservation professionals around the world. We will be able to share the problems, achievements, to make joint projects much easier. Last but not least we will step out of anonymity and will become visible. For the benefit of the profession, the cultural heritage and for those who are consumers of our work. I really hope that our revitalized newsletter will succeed and will become permanent tribune for professional discussions, presentations, sharing opinion and experience, giving the news. This new st (or more correctly 4th) issue became possible with help of many colleagues I need to mention: Dana Decheva with her enthusiasm, Krassimira Frangova with the graphic work and the layout, Borislava Nacheva and Elitsa Tsvetkova with translations, the editorial work of the colleagues from the Department of Conservation at the National Academy of Art, and with the contribution of the colleagues with articles, news, or just notes. This new start of our newsletter was possible thanks to the support of the National Fund “Culture”. Stefan Belishki, Head of the Conservation Section, Union of Bulgarian Artists editorial January 2008 ssuing a bulletin is one of the important activities of the Association of Conservator-restorers in Bulgaria (ACB). It is exigent that the members of ACB, being members of a purely professional Iorganization, are informed about the different activities of both the Association and its particular members. The bulletin is important for the realization of our objectives, which are put down in the by- laws of the ACB. There are several objectives that I would like to emphasize: • To support and encourage the conservation-restoration of cultural heritage; • To present and popularize the profession “conservation” in the society; • To establish connections with European and international organizations in order to ensure the profession’s representative image and the defense of its ethical, cultural, scientific and material interests; • To work for a legal recognition of the professional standards, for an approval and recognition of the legal statute of the restorers on a national, European and international level. Being a bilingual issue, the bulletin will give the opportunity of establishing contacts with the college of conservators and the branch organizations. To this effect it will strongly benefit the extension of our connections with the European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers’ Organizations (ECCO), especially having in mind the impending acknowledgement of ACB as its full member. On the other hand, the Bulgarian issue will help us to present ourselves better before the official institutions, to demonstrate a level of high professionalism and to defend our position of a trustworthy partner in solving the problems about the preservation of our rich cultural heritage. Being a comparatively young organization with yet insufficient funds, the ACB cannot afford to issue its individual bulletin so it asked the section “Restoration” at the Union of Bulgarian Artists for assistance. With a great gratification I can state that this joint activity of ours is a result of the positive cooperation between the two organizations, set ever since the ACB has been founded. Our bulletin should also become a forum of discussions on ethical and legal professional issues, of commentaries on the relations with the owners of cultural heritage and a variety of questions concerning the conservator’s responsibilities in different problematic situations, the issues of professional insurance, the copyrights, the licensing of the conservators, etc. Certainly, for the successful development of our bulletin we will need the active participation of more colleagues of ours. Having in mind that the number of our members constantly grows and what is more, particularly grows the number of our young colleagues, I feel really encouraged. Prof. Grigory Grigorov, Chairman of the Association of Conservator-Restorers in Bulgaria contents 5 news 7 case studies 8 Dana DECHEVA A Note on the Project “Icons from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast 12 Sevdalina NEYKOVA Restoration of a 5th Century Icon from the National Archaeological Institute with Museum, Sofia 16 Ablena MAZAKOVA Conservation of a Donor’s Portrait from the Church “St. Geroge” at Kolusha, the Region of Kyustendil 19 Grigori GRIGOROV Restoration works for Putting two Mural Vladimir TZVETKOV Fragments Back to Their Places in Boyana Church 23 Stefko AENSKI The Church “St. St. Constantine and Elena” at Dolno Lukovo village, Ivaylovgrad Region. Technical Characteristics of the Architecture and Mural Paintings and Their State of Preservation. 28 events 29 Symposium on Preservation of Photograph Heritage 31 Interim Meeting of ICOM-CC Working Group Glass and Ceramics Conservation Cover: Archangel Michael, “St. apostle Peter” Church near Berende village, 14 century 4 news 5 Forum CONSERVATION 2008, 11-19.04.2008 The annual poster exhibition Forum Conservation will be opened on 11.04.2008 at “Academy” gallery. It is expected that the third issue of the event will be once again attended by number of Bulgarian and foreign professionals. The exhibition is joint venue of the Association of Bulgarian Conservators-restorers and the Conservation Section of the Union of Bulgarian Artists. Members of both of the organization are invited to participate. Requests for participation, accompanied by an abstract and a photograph, should be handed in by the end of February 2008. For further information please contact Mr. Stefan Belishki, Head of the Conservation Section, UBA, at [email protected] The First Exhibition of ACB Abroad: Exhibition Conservation in Bratislava, Slovakia The Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Bratislava will host a joint exhibition of the Association of Conservators-Restorers in Bulgaria and the Slovak Conservation Chamber. The opening is due to 07.05.2008. The exhibition will present 25 posters of members of the two organizations. Exhibition of the National Academy of Arts in Poland During the period 20.02. – 04.03.2008 the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria will present the activity of the departments of its two faculties at the Art Academy in Warsaw, Poland. The Conservation department will participate with 5 posters presenting its work. case studies 7 A Note on the Project “Icons from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast” Dana DECHEVA, Head of the Conservation Laboratory National Museum of Bulgarian Fine Art In the beginning of 2006 in the National Art Gallery Sofia (now National Museum of Bulgarian Fine Art) started an exhibition project entitled“Icons from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast” . It was initiated by “Virgin Mary The Museum of Byzantine Culture in Hodegitria”, Thessaloniki, Greece, and more precisely No. 19, by its director Dr. Anastasia Tourta. The Art Gallery, Burgas. exhibition will take place at the Museum General view. of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki in In the agreement between the 2010 and will include 54 icons in total two museums, the financing of the from different museums and galleries examinations are taken by the Museum from Bulgaria. of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki that In the process of selecting the objects for has an up to date conservation laboratory the forthcoming exhibition and preparing for examination under the direction of of the conservation program, it was found Dimitra Lazidou. The project was named that of the icons need to go under a “Laboratory examination of icons”. The special examination. This was because of main reason for that is because in Bulgaria the presence of two or three different paint there is no equipped laboratory specialized layers without any particular information in that sort of examinations. of their nature and structure. Without The preparation for transport the icons detailed information, the conservation to Greece started in March 2007 with work could not be completed. the transportation of 5 icons from the Archeological Museum Nessebar and the Art Gallery Burgas to The National Museum of Bulgarian Fine Art in Sofia (NMBFA).