Smithsonian – Haiti Conservation Team Report 4‐8 May 2010 Compiled by Corine Wegener Associate Curator, Minneapolis Institute of Arts President, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield ICOM Disaster Relief Task Force Contributors Vicki Lee Head Conservator, Maryland State Archives American Institute for Conservation – CERT Member L. H. (Hugh) Shockey Jr, MS, AIC‐PA Object Conservator, Lunder Conservation Center Smithsonian American Art Museum Susan Blakney Chief Paintings Conservator, West Lake Conservators Ltd American Institute for Conservation Fellow, CERT Member International Institute for Conservation Fellow Table of Contents Corine Wegener Summary and Team Recommendations . p. 3 Vicki Lee’s Report . p. 6 Hugh Shockey’s Report . p. 30 Susan Blakney’s Report . p. 35 Conservation Center Floor Plan (final pending) . p. Supply and Equipment List (final pending) . p. 2 Purpose of the trip: Two teams traveled to Port‐au‐Prince, Haiti: a team of four museum and conservation professionals and a team of six Smithsonian architecture, engineering, construction and safety professionals. We were also accompanied by Kate Taylor, a culture reporter for the New York Times, for two days of our trip. As a group the purpose of the visit was to inspect the former United Nations Development Program (UNDP) headquarters building, proposed for use as the future site of the Smithsonian – Haitian Cultural Heritage Conservation Center. Our Conservation Team then split off to assess various private cand publi historic and art collections to determine best methods for assisting the owners in recovery, stabilization, conservation and storage of those collections. Former UNDP Building, Bourdon The Conservation Team, led by Corine Wegener, and the Smithsonian Engineering Team, led by Mike Bellamy, traveled together to visit the former UNDP building. We were met there by structural engineers from U.S. Navy Facilities, who thoroughly inspected the property. The Conservation Team and Engineering Team toured the facility together and discussed the functionality of the space. The teams determined that while the space had some drawbacks, it would serve as a very useable space and met our basic requirements: • Structurally sound • Possibility of 24 hour electricity via generator power • Central air conditioning system • Secure compound • Ample office spaces that could be adapted as basic conservation laboratories The U.S. Navy Facilities personnel, who had been working in Haiti for several months doing property inspections and procurement, assured us that this was one of the best buildings available in Port‐au‐ Prince in the post earthquake environment. The team laid out some basic upgrades and improvements in security, plumbing, fire safety, etc. The Conservation Team then split from the Engineering Team for the remainder of the trip to perform site assessments and met back at the hotel in the evenings to discuss progress at the building, where the Engineering Team continue their inspections. Over the next two and a half days the Conservation Team assessed a number of collections and sites, accompanied by liaison Olsen Jean Julien, architect and former Haitian Minister of Culture. Note: For more detailed information on the Engineering Team’s result, see Mike Bellamy’s report. 3 Conservation Team Assessment Visits The team visited a number of public, private, and religious institutions over three days. Wednesday, May 6th UNDP Building Parc Historique de la Canne à Sucre (Sugar Cane Historic Park) Contact: Ms. Michaëlle Auguste St. Natus Thursday, May 7th • Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (MUPANAH) (Pantheon Museum) Contact: Mr. Robert Paret, Director • Bibliothèque Nationale d’Haiti (Haitian National Library) Françoise Thybulle, Director was away and we toured the facility with a staff member • Bibliotheque des Freres de l'Instruction Chretienne and adjacent catholic church Contact: Ernest Even • Musée d’Art Haïtien (Museum of Haitian Art) Contact: Mr. Louis Dubois, Board Chair • Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral) Pere (Reverend) Diegue Joseph Tancrel Friday, May 7th • Galerie Nader, Petionville • Collapsed site of Musée Nader Contact: Georges Nader, Jr. • Centre d’Art Haitien (Haitian Art Center) Contact: Axelle Liautaud, board member; Henri Celestin, Assistant Director, and Patrick Vilaire • Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National (ISPAN) (Institute for Safeguarding National Patrimony) Director, Daniel Elie and Monique Rocour • Marianne Lehmann Vodou Collection and Foundation Mrs. Marianne Lehmann, Rachel Beauvoir Dominique, et. al. 4 Conclusions: For detailed descriptions of the visits, please see the appended individual conservation reports. The varied collections assessed included fine art (mostly 20th century paintings), works on paper, books, some objects and sculpture, and a few textiles. Of those assessed the most damaged/ at risk collections are probably the murals at Holy Trinity Cathedral and the paintings stored in containers at the Haitian Art Center, though other collections are in dire need of assistance for conservation treatment, preventive conservation help with environment and storage, etc. We did not visit damaged and at risk historic structures in Port‐au‐Prince, Jacmel, and other site throughout Haiti, but these were described to the team by Daniel Elie of ISPAN and are obviously in need as well. After viewing collections, meeting with Haitian colleagues and conferring with our Engineering Team, the Conservation Team has the following recommendations: • Lease former UNDP building in Bourdon to serve as a Cultural Conservation Center. • Space in the Center should be divided into three lab areas ‐ Paintings, Paper, and Objects, as well as office spaces for Ministry of Culture & Communications, other staff offices, classrooms and meeting spaces (see attached proposed layout). • Haitian staff should consist of a Center Manager, Office Manager, Training Center Coordinator, Driver, Facilities/Cleaning, and a Registrar. (See attached job descriptions.) • US staff should consist of conservator volunteers coordinated through the American Institute for Conservation for one – two week intervals, conservator/managers coordinated by AIC and Smithsonian who will stay over a longer period, and a Registration professional to work closely with Haitian colleagues. US personnel should speak French whenever possible. • Work should take place alongside Haitian cultural heritage colleagues as on‐the‐job‐training. Trainees will be chosen by the various collections stakeholders, both public and private. Collection owners/responsible parties must be regularly on hand to set priorities and select treatment and storage options based on advice from conservation professionals. • Additional conservation training course to be run by ICCROM should be incorporated into work flow at the Center. • Lab supplies and equipment should be purchased locally when feasible, brought in luggage of volunteers where possible, and as a last resort, shipped to a responsible party in Haiti such as Olsen Jean Julien. (Lab supply and equipment list is being prepared.) • The scheme for the Center should be run at a minimum of 18 months with Haitian Ministry of Culture or other NGO stakeholders working closely to co‐manage and take over at the end of this period. 5 AIC CERT FINAL ASSESSMENT REPORT Date: May 5, 2010 Assessment Team Leader: Vicki Lee, Book and Paper Member: Susan Blakney Others: Hugh Shockey, Objects, Smithsonian Institute; Corine Wegener, President US Committee of the Blue Shield; Olsen Jean Julien, Liaison between Government of Haiti and Smithsonian Institute Site: Parc Historique de la Canne à Sucre (Sugar Cane Historic Park) Address: Route de Delmas, No. 65, Port‐au‐Prince, Haiti Contact: Michaelle Auguste St. Natus, General Director Incident: January 12, 2010 Haiti experienced a 7.0 earthquake centered near the capital city of Port au Prince. Observations: We travelled to Parc Historique de la Canne a Sucre at the invitation of the Director of the Parc. She asked us to come because they had 2 colonial era chimneys collapse during the earthquake. When we arrived Mrs. St. Natus gave us a tour of the grounds and 2 buildings that house collections. Around the grounds were several historic mills for grinding sugar cane, primarily of wood and metal, they show significant wear and aging especially from exposure to sea air and weather. Many of the outside displays had been shifted several inches during the quake and were no longer aligned properly. There was a train engine and coal car, a water wheel and other machinery on the site. Hugh felt that much of the material could be restored. The chimneys were a problem because some of the material was being taken to repair other buildings; Mrs. St. Natus was trying to curb this problem and had sequestered the original material. Within the buildings there was moderate damage to some of the pieces, from the Taino period, that had fallen over and broken in the cases. None of the cases or objects was properly secured for earthquake activity. Mrs. St. Natus said that the pieces of broken objects had been saved in condition on display, a series of 8‐10 color photographs that were severely faded, 5 paintings and a unique pieces of furniture, a set of bookcases made from the bed of the famous Haitian author, Jacques Roumain. Mrs. St. Natus said the photographs needed to be remade so I am assuming that the negatives are somewhere in the Parc’s archives. Two of the five paintings were being damaged by a leaking air