Abu Dhabi, November 23: A ‘Paper and Book Conservation Laboratory’ has been launched at the Conservation Department in Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).
The laboratory, located at the former National Archive building in Abu Dhabi, will give a working space for two paper conservators and one paper conservation assistant.
“The Conservation Department will perform conservation and restoration treatments, mainly for the magnificent collection of Islamic manuscripts and other paper-based collections in the possession of ADACH. They will also be making recommendations for planning new facilities and improving already existing facilities for the storage and exhibition of manuscripts, photographs and archival materials owned by ADACH,” said Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Director General of ADACH.
The preservation of the manuscripts and books goes beyond the value of the text contained in them.
“When dealing with manuscripts and historic books, we have to keep in mind that a book actually consists of much more information than the written or printed text itself. By closely looking at papers, writing inks, pigments and binding structures, much knowledge can be gained about the origin, age and history of a book; the paper conservation treatment should preserve all this information hidden in the materials and binding structures, rather than replacing them by a new binding,” said Fabienne Meyer, a paper conservation specialist at the newly established lab.
The paper conservation lab is not only equipped in order to carry out practical conservation and restoration treatments on the fragile and intrinsically valuable objects, but it also provides the opportunity to do further technological and scientific research on typical Islamic book structures and writing and painting materials. Various techniques using different light sources (incident, raking and transmission light, UV radiation) are employed. A stereomicroscope, that can be adapted to a digital camera, forms an essential part of the thorough analysis carried out in the lab.
A database recording the materials and binding structures of Islamic Books will be established and shared with similar collections in the Middle East, Europe and worldwide. It will thus contribute to the world body of knowledge on Islamic manuscripts.
—Agencies