Saturday, March 14, 2009

Researchers to restore Egyptian murals

Daily Yomiuri Online

A research institute for cultural properties will begin a study on the conservation and restoration of deteriorating ancient murals at the Saqqara ancient burial site near Cairo on March 21.

The Institute for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties (ICP) aims to study techniques on the conservation and restoration of ancient murals worldwide.

The institute hopes to use the research findings at the ancient Egyptian site in the preservation of murals in Japan and in the arid zones of China and Central Asia.

The Cultural Affairs Agency expects the institute's research will benefit the preservation of Japanese cultural properties.

The institute, established in January, comprises 15 experts in the conservation science of cultural properties, geotechnical engineering and other fields from three universities in the nation, including Kansai University and Osaka Institute of Technology, and two research institutes in Egypt.

The experts include Kosuke Takatori, a visiting professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture who was involved in the preservation of endangered murals in the Kitora and Takamatsuzuka tombs in Asukamura, Nara Prefecture, and Prof. Masaaki Sawada of Kokushikan University, a former member of the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.


See the above page for the full story.

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