News in Conservation (NiC) just published (issue 39, Dec 2013) a brief article that I wrote to share what I’m doing here in Sicily with other professionals: architects, archaeologists, and conservators. The article is introduced by the editor: “A year ago NiC published an article from scientist/blogger Antonino Cosentino (NiC, Issue 34, February 2013), discussing how professionals should look at widening their horizons by getting familiar with new networking tools offered by the Web. His article received a very positive feedback both from seasoned and emerging professionals inspired by the article’s positive outlook and practical insights. A year on, we caught up with Antonino to get an update on projects and conservation life in general.” News in Conservation is the brilliant e-paper from the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) which is an independent international organisation which serves as a forum among professionals with responsibility for the preservation of cultural heritage.
It is a pleasure and an honor to promote research projects in Sicily with international institutions. I’m now a private business which provides technical and scientific examination for art objects and my clients are worldwide, museums, institutions, private collectors and conservators. I wanted to established my studio in Sicily, my homeland, and so I can volunteer my time and expertise to encourage collaborative scientific research on Sicilian Art, Architecture and Archaeology. It is not necessary to explain and promote the Sicilian cultural heritage importance in term of quantity and temporal span. I’m working with a network of professionals, archaeologists, conservators and architects who also volunteer their time in order to facilitate these research programs. The goals are: 1) to promote the publication of scientific research on Sicilian cultural heritage; 2) to bring international cultural heritage scientists in Sicily; 3) and, personally, to have access and test new technologies for art examination. I and the collaborating extraordinary professionals, we take care to provide case studies relevant to the technology delivered and to assure necessary authorization for both performing the analysis and publishing the results.
So far, this effort has produced a guest paper in English submitted to Archeomatica, “The Crucifix Chapel of Aci Sant’Antonio: Newly discovered frescoes”. This study was a collaborative work with a PhD student from University of California San Diego, Samantha Stout, sponsored by the National Science Foundation under IGERT Award, “Training, Research and Education in Engineering for Cultural Heritage Diagnostics.” Additional support was provided by the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego, the Friends of CISA3 and the World Cultural Heritage Society.
The upcoming collaboration is scheduled in February with a PhD student from DTU Fotonik, Denmark Technical University, for a study of frescoes and mural paintings with Terahertz technology.
These are the other projects we are working on: Field Projects.
