Art conservation and restoration, is any attempt to conserve and repair architecture, paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and objects of the decorative arts. A brief definition of conservation tells us it is a process of cleaning, preserving, and occasionally repairing works of art. The people who are engaged in art conservation are conservators. Another definition of art conservation is, “the process of documenting, stabilizing, and preserving objects. Conservation combines historic research, scientific analysis and material science.”
What is the role and necessity of art conservation? Basically art conservation safeguards the longevity of artworks and doing so, it ensures the continuity of culture itself. According to available information on this issue, the past decades have seen a deep and profound evolution in the protection of artworks, something which has given rise to the contemporary profession of the art conservator. And the role of the art conservator is to preserve art so that future generations can continue to enjoy these pieces.
Art conservation in Africa, although not sufficiently developed at present, faces a bright future because of the diversity of artistic tapestry across the continent. According to available information, “Africa’s artistic tapestry is as diverse as its people. Africans breathe life into art and craft, with every stroke of the brush or mark of a chisel telling a story of resilience, heritage and boundless imagination.”
The top ten African countries best known for their art conservation are, Niger known for its bronze sculptures, textiles and beaded jewelry. Ghana is famous for its Kente cloth, black pottery, and Andinkra symbols. Morocco is renowned for its Zellige tiles, carpets, and metalwork. South Africa is famous for its diverse crafts including beadwork, textiles, and basketry. Kenya is reconginzed for its basketry, woodcarvings, and beadwork. Senegal is known for its textiles, jewelry and masks. Ethiopia is renowned for its textiles, metalwork, and coffee ceremony equipment. Rwanda is famous for baskets, pottery and painting. Mali is famous for its earthen architecture, carved doors and jewelry. Zimbabwe is recognized for its sculptures, and beadwork.
Art conservation in Africa is important although the efforts made in this direction by individual African countries are quite limited. Art conservation in Africa is an activity that requires a lot of professionalism and a lot of investment in building museums and similar institutions that would serve this purpose. As a matter of fact, the biggest or most museums for the conservation of African art are not found within the African continent but outside of it.
For instance, the National Museum of African Art is “the only national museum in the United States dedicated to the collection, exhibition, conservation and study of the art of Africa. On exhibit are the finest examples of traditional and contemporary art from the entire continent of Africa.” The mission statement of the National Museum of African Art further articulates its mission as being one of, “inspiring conversations about the beauty, power and diversity of Africa’s arts art and cultures worldwide.”
As we said above, there is no such museum in any African country and this is really a disgrace because African countries should have come up with a common center for art conservation as a place where the identity of the people of Africa could be collected and preserved for eternity. The African union cultural committee and other organizations within and outside Africa should rally their efforts to come up with something similar to the museum in the one in United States. That would be an important institution for the collection, display and preservation of the legacies of African art.
In this column of The Ethiopian Herald, we have often carried articles highlighting the importance of such a unified or central art institution could play the role of unifier of African identity while we suggested at the same times such a centre could be built in one of the African capitals such as Addis Ababa or Cairo or Cape Town in South Africa. It is however never too late for this dream to become true with the concerted efforts of the dispersed conservation groups the national governments in Africa. Such a centre could at the same time become a tourist centre where foreign and African tourist would come to visit the place and contribute to its growth and expansion.
In Ethiopia there is an institution or a program for the conservation of the art of the country. “The mission of the Ethiopian Art Conservation Program is conserving and preserving the Ethiopian art and culture. The project is designed to deliver professional art conservators and restorers through an educative program resulting in the development resulting in the development of human resources in the art and cultural industry.”
The Ethiopian Art Conservation Program (EACP) is a bilateral project between Belgium and Ethiopia which has been in place since January of this year. In August 2021 it became an independent organization responsible for providing restoration and conservation education in Ethiopia. Its headquarters are in Antwerp, Belgium, with the goal of establishing an MA university program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by 2030. For both the structural build-up of the project and the implementation of the education, EACP calls on Ethiopian professionals.
According to a blog post, “The beauty of art conservation for many conservators is that we strive to play a neutral, yet irreplaceable and universal, role in the world. Preserving the past is a pleasure because it often brings to light knowledge about the history and the creative soul of our ancestors. Through our cultural heritage we not only learn about revolutionary material and technical developments of the past, but we also gain insight into how our own visual culture will age in the distant future. Using our preserved heritage to look back can provide a new interpretation of both cultural issues and traceable evidence of our society’s identity. It is precisely this search for identity that forms the founding principles of the Ethiopian Art Conservation Program.”
The article on the blog post by an expert of art conservation in Ethiopia further states that, It stands above all else that Ethiopia is a crossroads of history, art and culture. It is therefore not surprising that the amount of protected tangible and intangible Ethiopian patrimony dominates on the lists compiled by global institutions such as UNESCO.
“This documentation has resulted in significant foreign involvement with numerous research and international conservation institutes which are active at various sites in Ethiopia. There are a variety of projects including everything from excavation sites to well-organized conservation campaigns on historical Ethiopian artifacts inside the country as well as those located in institutions and museums worldwide. Not only have these projects increased the international knowledge of Ethiopian history, they have also stimulated tourist activities throughout the country. In fact, cultural tourism has grown to the point of becoming the number one source of income for local Ethiopian professionals.”
Dealing with the nature of Ethiopian art, the same article says that, “Not only does Ethiopia have an unparalleled wealth of historical sites that are part of humanity’s anthropological history, but the overwhelming amount of on-going art and cultural experiences is impossible to map. Ethiopian art is inextricably linked to daily and ceremonial life. From childhood one comes into contact with centuries-old traditions which carry liturgical and philosophical meanings. The traditions are recorded in everything, from art objects to utensils and in educational and decorative depictions.”
Several reports from visitors to the churches of Lalibela give evidence of these circumstances, and a similar trend of invasive international interventions is also emerging in central and southern Ethiopia. As a result, preservation decisions for Ethiopian heritage are often based on incorrect or incomplete interpretations made by international conservators, decisions which often lead to drastic results.
According to other professionals in art conservation, one of the basic weaknesses of the program in Ethiopia is that there is no active grassroots participation in preservation activities. The above-quoted article also states that, “Although a vast knowledge of intangible and tangible heritage is widely represented in the local population—and often constitutes the subject itself—this population is never invited to participate in the decision-making process for conservation and restoration campaigns.”
The other challenge might be the need to own the art conservation activities and programs in Ethiopia by training young professionals in order to allow them take over the management of art preservation. This process can be supported by foreign organizations through technical cooperation, training of manpower and even financial support. Government bodies involved in arts, culture, tourism and similar endeavors are expected to play a leading role in such an initiative of national importance.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 19 JULY 2024
