Sharjah 24: The Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon (DGA), Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), and International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) through its Sharjah Regional Office have announced the conclusion of a four-week course in Sidon, Lebanon focused on the conservation of mosaics in storage.
The “MOSAIKON Training Worksite for the Conservation of Mosaics in Storage” took place October 10 to November 4, 2022.
A closing ceremony on November 4, 2022 celebrated the completion of the training, one of the final courses of MOSAIKON, a 14-year initiative in collaboration with the GCI, the Getty Foundation, ICCROM, and the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics (ICCM). Since 2008, MOSAIKON has trained over 200 individuals in mosaic conservation from countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean region.
Threats to mosaic conservation include new construction, looting, and a lack of trained professionals for managing ongoing maintenance needs. The course convened eight DGA employees and two government employees from Jordan to enhance the capacity of authorities in these countries to conserve their mosaic heritage.
Trainees learned through practical experience a different methodology for documenting and conserving lifted mosaics using lime mortars to stabilize and re-back them, along with preventive measures to store them long-term.
Practical exercises were conducted with participants using examples from a large collection of lifted mosaics from downtown Beirut that have been stored in Sidon without any backing since 1998. After assessing their poor conditions, the urgent work to provide mortar backings and remove the deteriorated facings used to lift them decades earlier was carried out on one mosaic fragment. The supervised operations by the trainees ended with the fragment being moved to a prototype metal storage shelving unit for its long-term survival. With the skills and knowledge gained from this experience, the multi-year task of conserving the entire collection of mosaics of Ancient Beirut can finally begin in the purpose-built storage facility after 25 years.
While the completion of the Sidon course is among the final MOSAIKON activities, partners in the initiative will continue commitments to its long-term goal of preserving ancient mosaics throughout the Mediterranean basin.
Another final MOSAIKON course for lifted mosaics will take place in Byblos, Lebanon in late November by the Lebanon Ministry of Culture - Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA).
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