Email digest for the Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList) egroup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Practical question for Paper Conservators - Cleaning with bamboo ash in water 2. RE: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine 3. RE: MSc Dissertation Survey: Disposal policies for Natural History Objects 4. RE: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine 5. RE: Cleaning glass inside showcases 6. RE: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.From: Valeria Duplat Posted: Tuesday July 22, 2025 6:05 AM Subject: Practical question for Paper Conservators - Cleaning with bamboo ash in water Message: Dear colleagues, this method, developed by Paper Conservator Minako Wada from the Prado Museum, utilises bamboo ash in water to clean works on paper damaged by oxidation marks, such as foxing.I discovered this fascinating method on a webinar organised by the Japan Foundation. Has someone experimented with this method before? I need to ascertain the amount of ash to water. The ash I got is of the finest quality, and in my tests, my water remains grey, even after decanting and filtering several times.Ta!Valeria Duplat Valeria Duplat Oporto Paper Conservationwww.valeriaduplat.com <http://www.valeriaduplat.com/> 2.From: Hannah Vickers Posted: Tuesday July 22, 2025 6:06 AM Subject: RE: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine Message: Thanks for your post Aisha I would like to add a link to ICOM's latest Statement condemning violence against people and their cultural heritage - International Council of Museums - International Council of Museums <https://icom.museum/en/news/statement-condemning-violence-against-people-and-their-cultural-heritage/> from January 2024 (You can also read their first one from 2023 here: Statement concerning Israel and Palestine - International Council of Museums - International Council of Museums <https://icom.museum/en/news/statement-concerning-israel-and-palestine/>. The statement is unequivocal: "ICOM therefore considers the damage to and targeted strikes against museums and cultural sites unacceptable and in distinct violation of international humanitarian law and, indeed, humanity at large. As such, ICOM, once again, calls for the immediate cessation of any actions that puts civilians in danger and their cultural heritage at risk of damage, destruction, theft, looting, or illicit trafficking." The question is, what can and should we be doing, as conservators, museum professionals and members of ICOM and other related comunities? It is clear that we have a common duty to condemn the killing of civilians, support Palestinian colleagues and to protect and preserve Palestinian cultural heritage under threat, such as the art of tatreez, inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021: The art of embroidery in Palestine, practices, skills, knowledge and rituals - UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage <https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/the-art-of-embroidery-in-palestine-practices-skills-knowledge-and-rituals-01722> What does this mean in practice? Just two ways I can think of are: extending support to Palestinian colleagues and ensuring that Palestinian cultural heritage in our collections is preserved according to best practice, registered correctly and available to the public, physically and/ or digitally. ------------------------------ Hannah Vickers Textile Conservator Nasjonalmuseet for Kunst, Arkitektur og Design Oslo Norway ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 07-18-2025 16:57 From: Aisha Wahab Subject: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine For those that missed it and as it was not mentioned in our latest AIC Cultural Heritage Bulletin, last month, the UN published a report stating that Israel's attacks on cultural heritage sites along with educational and religious sites in Occupied Palestine amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. The Art Newspaper has an article following up on this UN report. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied <https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied> https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/17/israeli-attacks-on-palestinian-heritage-amount-to-war-crimes-un-report-finds <https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/17/israeli-attacks-on-palestinian-heritage-amount-to-war-crimes-un-report-finds> As cultural heritage professionals we should continue to care about all human beings-even if they are brown and Arab-and the destruction of cultural heritage, staying informed and engaged. This is ongoing deliberate cultural heritage destruction in the midst of a human genocide. Just last week Israeli settlers set fire to the ancient Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh including the 5th-century Church of St. George. https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-church-leaders-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-abetting-settler-attacks-in-taybeh/ <https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-church-leaders-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-abetting-settler-attacks-in-taybeh/> Additionally, for the American audience we should continue to care and stay informed as these crimes are supported and paid for by our tax dollars with $17.9 billion of military aid in one year from 2023-2024 being sent to Israel, and $4 billion in military recently approved in March in addition to the usual $3.4 billion annually sent from the US to Israel. United States funding for Israel's assault on Gaza comes while our professional community directly suffers the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars (annually) of NEA and IMLS funding. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7#:~:text=Record%20military%20aid%20to%20Israel,shipped%20Israel%20since%20last%20Oct. <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7#:~:text=Record%20military%20aid%20to%20Israel,shipped%20Israel%20since%20last%20Oct.> https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts <https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts> https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-rubio-expedites-delivery-of-4-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-rubio-expedites-delivery-of-4-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel> ------------------------------ Aisha Wahab (she/her) Paper Conservator Stanford Libraries ------------------------------ 3.From: Fran Ritchie Posted: Tuesday July 22, 2025 9:15 AM Subject: RE: MSc Dissertation Survey: Disposal policies for Natural History Objects Message: Hi Ali! I'm the Chair of the Conservation Committee in the Society for Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC). I will pass along this survey to the other members of the committee, who are located mostly in the U.S. but several from other parts of the world. I hope you've also been in contact with the conservators in NatSCA in the UK? I'm an objects conservator with a specialty in natural science collections. Let me know if you have any further questions! My work email is [email protected] Best, Fran ------------------------------ Fran Ritchie Conservator (Objects) National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center Winchester VA ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 07-21-2025 08:29 From: Ali Meek Subject: MSc Dissertation Survey: Disposal policies for Natural History Objects Hi All, I am a student currently completing my MSc in Conservation Practice at Cardiff University. For my dissertation topic, I am looking into the ethics/policies/conditions for disposal of natural history objects. Part of this is understanding the personal opinions of those who have worked with these collections. If you have experience with natural history objects (through work or higher education) please consider completely my survey. It takes approximately 15 minutes and is completely anonymous. The survey is available here: https://forms.office.com/e/rqt4cFph2j <https://forms.office.com/e/rqt4cFph2j> For more information about the project, please read the participant information sheet linked at the start of the survey. Any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you in advance, Ali Meek ------------------------------ Ali Meek MSc Student in Conservation Practice Cardiff University United Kingdom ------------------------------ 4.From: Amanda Hegarty Posted: Tuesday July 22, 2025 10:42 AM Subject: RE: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine Message: Dear Aisha- Thank you very much for your recent post highlighting the UN report on Israel's war crimes and extermination policy https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied <https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied>. And thank you to all our members who are pushing against the silence on this issue. Further information on the peril archeological sites face can be seen in this extended interview with Israeli archeologist, Raphael Greenberg https://www.972mag.com/israel-archaeology-annexation-rafi-greenberg/ <https://www.972mag.com/israel-archaeology-annexation-rafi-greenberg/>. Amanda Hegarty Special Collections Conservator Weissman Preservation Center Harvard University ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 7/18/2025 4:58:00 PM From: Aisha Wahab Subject: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine For those that missed it and as it was not mentioned in our latest AIC Cultural Heritage Bulletin, last month, the UN published a report stating that Israel's attacks on cultural heritage sites along with educational and religious sites in Occupied Palestine amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. The Art Newspaper has an article following up on this UN report. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied <https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied> https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/17/israeli-attacks-on-palestinian-heritage-amount-to-war-crimes-un-report-finds <https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/17/israeli-attacks-on-palestinian-heritage-amount-to-war-crimes-un-report-finds> As cultural heritage professionals we should continue to care about all human beings-even if they are brown and Arab-and the destruction of cultural heritage, staying informed and engaged. This is ongoing deliberate cultural heritage destruction in the midst of a human genocide. Just last week Israeli settlers set fire to the ancient Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh including the 5th-century Church of St. George. https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-church-leaders-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-abetting-settler-attacks-in-taybeh/ <https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-church-leaders-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-abetting-settler-attacks-in-taybeh/> Additionally, for the American audience we should continue to care and stay informed as these crimes are supported and paid for by our tax dollars with $17.9 billion of military aid in one year from 2023-2024 being sent to Israel, and $4 billion in military recently approved in March in addition to the usual $3.4 billion annually sent from the US to Israel. United States funding for Israel's assault on Gaza comes while our professional community directly suffers the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars (annually) of NEA and IMLS funding. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7#:~:text=Record%20military%20aid%20to%20Israel,shipped%20Israel%20since%20last%20Oct. <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7#:~:text=Record%20military%20aid%20to%20Israel,shipped%20Israel%20since%20last%20Oct.> https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts <https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts> https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-rubio-expedites-delivery-of-4-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-rubio-expedites-delivery-of-4-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel> ------------------------------ Aisha Wahab (she/her) Paper Conservator Stanford Libraries ------------------------------ 5.From: Ingrid Seyb Posted: Tuesday July 22, 2025 10:43 AM Subject: RE: Cleaning glass inside showcases Message: Hi Anais, I have seen white crystalline formations on the inside surface of a glass case that were proven with analysis to be formate compounds, presumably coming from formic acid from an mdf case deck, which had not been thought worth marvelsealing because all the objects going in the case were porcelain. Unless all your interior case materials (and the objects themselves) are perfectly inert, I would suspect off gassing from those before glass cleaning materials. IMS and water is an excellent glass cleaner. If your microfiber cloths are good, you can keep the IMS very low in the solution to minimize your ventilation worries and still get a streak-free result. Best regards, Ingrid ------------------------------ Ingrid Seyb Objects Conservator New Orleans Museum of Art New Orleans United States ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 07-21-2025 04:48 From: Anais Ellis Subject: Cleaning glass inside showcases Hi all, I'm a Project Conservator at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, currently working on the re-display of the Natural History Gallery, and I'm seeking advice on what other institutions use to clean the glass inside showcases. Historically, we've experienced a few instances where a white, crystalline residue forming inside the cases. We think this was likely caused by cleaning products on the glass, possibly applied at the point of showcase production. We're currently considering using microfibre cloths to clean the glass. But in instances of stubborn smears, we are considering IMS/RO water solution to clean the glass. But with the use of alcohol comes the considerations for good ventilation/extraction. We'd be very interested to know what is considered best practice elsewhere. Any recommendations or insights would be greatly appreciated! ------------------------------ Anais Ellis Student University College London London United Kingdom ------------------------------ 6.From: Gillian Marcus Posted: Tuesday July 22, 2025 5:53 PM Subject: RE: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine Message: Thank you so much, Aisha, for sharing these links with the wider conservation community. As the US has now formally made the decision to leave UNESCO (again), it will be more important than ever to stay aware of the US-funded destruction of human lives and cultural heritage in Palestine. ------------------------------ Gillian Marcus Assistant Paper Conservator Art Institute of Chicago ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 07-18-2025 16:57 From: Aisha Wahab Subject: New UN Report on Israel's "war crimes" of attacking cultural heritage sites in Occupied Palestine For those that missed it and as it was not mentioned in our latest AIC Cultural Heritage Bulletin, last month, the UN published a report stating that Israel's attacks on cultural heritage sites along with educational and religious sites in Occupied Palestine amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. The Art Newspaper has an article following up on this UN report. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied <https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/israeli-attacks-educational-religious-and-cultural-sites-occupied> https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/17/israeli-attacks-on-palestinian-heritage-amount-to-war-crimes-un-report-finds <https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/17/israeli-attacks-on-palestinian-heritage-amount-to-war-crimes-un-report-finds> As cultural heritage professionals we should continue to care about all human beings-even if they are brown and Arab-and the destruction of cultural heritage, staying informed and engaged. This is ongoing deliberate cultural heritage destruction in the midst of a human genocide. Just last week Israeli settlers set fire to the ancient Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh including the 5th-century Church of St. George. https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-church-leaders-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-abetting-settler-attacks-in-taybeh/ <https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-church-leaders-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-abetting-settler-attacks-in-taybeh/> Additionally, for the American audience we should continue to care and stay informed as these crimes are supported and paid for by our tax dollars with $17.9 billion of military aid in one year from 2023-2024 being sent to Israel, and $4 billion in military recently approved in March in addition to the usual $3.4 billion annually sent from the US to Israel. United States funding for Israel's assault on Gaza comes while our professional community directly suffers the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars (annually) of NEA and IMLS funding. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7#:~:text=Record%20military%20aid%20to%20Israel,shipped%20Israel%20since%20last%20Oct. <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7#:~:text=Record%20military%20aid%20to%20Israel,shipped%20Israel%20since%20last%20Oct.> https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts <https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts> https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-rubio-expedites-delivery-of-4-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-rubio-expedites-delivery-of-4-billion-in-military-aid-to-israel> ------------------------------ Aisha Wahab (she/her) Paper Conservator Stanford Libraries ------------------------------ You are subscribed to "Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList)" as [email protected]. 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