The “SRAL Mist-Lining Regional Workshop” at Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía “Manuel del Castillo Negrete” (ENCRyM).
SRAL is delighted to announce that the upcoming Regional Mist-Lining Workshop will be hosted by Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía “Manuel del Castillo Negrete” (ENCRyM), Mexico City. With support from the Getty Foundation’s Conserving Canvas Initiative, SRAL will organise a three weeklong workshop in hybrid format. The workshop will be organised partly online and partly at the Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía “Manuel del Castillo Negrete” (ENCRyM) in Mexico City, Mexico, part of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).
The National School of Conservation, Restoration and Museography “Manuel del Castillo Negrete” (ENCRyM) is the first and eldest academic institution (over 50 years) in Latin America with professional studies in conservation-restoration. Its academic program seeks to build an interdisciplinary, critical, and ethical approach to understand and study the very diverse cultural heritage abroad Mexico. One of its main aims is to build collaborations with different conservation sites and educational institutions worldwide.
The workshop will provide instruction and hands-on experience to 16 conservators interested in the Mist-Lining process and approach, developed at SRAL by Jos van Och (retired) in the 1990s and 2000s. This regional workshop will allow selected conservators from Mexico and the Latin American region to discuss the structural reinforcement methods for treating paintings on canvas. The workshop will be hybrid, with five introductory sessions taking place online during May and June 2023, and culminating with a two-week practical, hands-on workshop at the ENCRyM studios in early July 2023. Instruction will be given by SRAL conservators Kate Seymour and Joanna Strombek and by a number of invited guest speakers during the online sessions who practice or research the Mist-Lining system. Ultimately, it is hoped that the participants will be able to find solutions to the challenges of structural problems presented by canvas paintings and be able to confidently carry out structural repair using the Mist-Lining approach.
The Mist-Lining methodology enables the structural reinforcement for canvas paintings by assessing all treatments needed to ensure the longevity of the painting and by providing structural support without the lining adhesive impregnating the original textile support. The system has numerous variables and so it can be easily adjusted to treat not only ‘old master’ paintings but also modern and contemporary artworks. The system goes beyond the application of the lining support and encompasses the full treatment package, as the problems presented by the damaged painting are broken down into manageable components and treated separately prior to lining. Grasping and utilising the full capacity of the system can be challenging, especially without feedback or support from those who have experience with lining paintings using this innovative manner. The workshop will allow participants to have face-to-face time with experts in Mist-Lining and discuss a wide variety of solutions. This experiential learning experience will provide the necessary skills for participants to return to their home institutions with an ability to understand and master this approach.
A call for participants will be issued in early January and will be selected by April 2023. Submissions will be welcome from all mid-career conservators from a geographical region centred in Mexico. The applicants will be required to present a strong interest and experience in structural treatments. The trainees are envisioned to come from museum conservation studios, training institutions for conservators and private practice.
At this stage, we want to acknowledge the hard work by all institutions who expressed interest in hosting the Regional Mist-Lining workshop. We received strong applications from over two dozen fantastic venues and it was by no means easy to select our 2023 host. However, we are confident that our partnership with the Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía “Manuel del Castillo Negrete” (ENCRyM) will be productive and fruitful. We look forward to the next six months preparing for our mid-2023 adventure in Mexico City. Congratulations ENCRyM!
Special thanks to the Getty Foundation for making this project possible. Conserving Canvas is an international grant initiative of the Getty Foundation that began in 2018. The initiative aims to ensure that critical conservation skills needed to care for paintings on canvas do not disappear. Conserving Canvas helps conservators remain fully prepared to care for these important works of art through a combination of training activities and information dissemination. We look forward to initiating our next Conserving Canvas project in Mexico City.
For more information please contact:
SRAL: education@sral.nl
ENCRyM: educacion_continua@encrym.edu.mx
