The Gabo Trust-IIC Travelling Scholarship

The Travelling Scholarship is a bursary to allow individuals who are current paid-up members of IIC to take a study-focused tour anywhere in the world. The aim of the tours is to carry out research into the conservation of sculpture and to meet and see the work of other conservators; thereby learning about their differing approaches, ethics, materials and methods. The Travelling Scholars are required to make a written report on their tour, with photographs, in order to be useful to conservators and others who are following this path, to benefit their own career and also to enrich the worldwide body of knowledge of the conservation of sculpture
The winners’ written reports and photographic records should be produced with a view to their appearing on the IIC website as well as being available for use by the Gabo Trust and being held in the Tate, Gabo Trust and IIC archives. Winners will have twelve months to complete the tour from when the Scholarship is awarded and a further month to lodge their report.
The award will normally be paid as a single lump sum up to a maximum of £5,000 Sterling or the equivalent in US Dollars or Euros at the time of application. There is a maximum of two awards to be made in any year of the award.
The award will normally be paid as a single lump sum up to a maximum of £5,000 Sterling or the equivalent in US Dollars or Euros at the time of application. There is a maximum of two awards to be made in any year of the award.
These Scholarships are directly concerned with the conservation of sculpture in all its aspects and are not restricted to any particular period or culture, but some benefit to modern and contemporary (post 1880) sculpture must be apparent in the application.

The Gabo Trust

The Gabo Trust was founded in 1988 by the family of the sculptor Naum Gabo. Aware of the problems with new materials in modern and contemporary sculpture, they set up the Gabo Trust to increase conservation resources in institutional collections and to further the education of conservators.
The Gabo Trust is a UK-based charity, but this is an internationally available award.

How do I apply?

The application form as a PDF is available from the IIC web-site, or alternatively in Open Document Text (ODT).
Your application must include an estimate of the amount of money required (in Pounds Sterling, US Dollars or Euros) and a proposed researched itinerary of countries, venues and sites to be visited with provisionally confirmed names and dates for visits.
With your application a signed letter of support will be required from a Referee, who must be a person of standing, training, experience and background in conservation; this may be a senior colleague, tutor or another individual familiar with your work and experience; this person need not be a member of IIC, but should nevertheless clearly state their professional credentials.
Your completed application package should be sent by post or fax or (as an attachment) by email to the IIC office marked as "Gabo Trust/IIC Travelling Scholarships".

How will winners be notified?

Successful applicants will be notified by post, fax or e-mail within one month of the receipt of their application.

What happens then?

Within a month of being notified of their being awarded a Travelling Scholarship, individuals must confirm to the IIC office the dates and itinerary of their intended tour. This can be booked through an agency who can offer a comprehensive travel and accommodation itinerary, such as Trailfinders)) for those resident in the United Kingdom, the Irish Republic or Australia. Travelling Scholars are responsible for obtaining all necessary travel documentation such as passports and visas, for all transport arrangements, and for any travel or other insurance they may choose to purchase.
The award monies will be paid to the Travelling Scholar when they have booked and paid for their travel –verified paper copies of the invoice(s) and travel documents will be required by IIC before payment is sent.

Travelling Scholars

Cataerina Gersão de Alarcão, Portugal - Principle interventions
“Any intervention aims at conserving a work of art in its age and dignity, and not recreating its appearance as it has just left the artist’s studio.
Over the centuries, the restorers have been clarifying and distorting the knowledge and perception of antiquity, being a struggle between the need to preserve the authenticity – untouched and pure – on one hand, and the desire to repair and improve – to restore - on the other.
With my travels to England and to the United States I could share different experiences and approaches on the sculpture conservation. I would say that the purposes and the principles are very similar in the three countries. The products used are chemically similar also, varying their trade names.
The great difference is the working conditions, in terms of space, equipment and funds available, and the interdisciplinary work which obviously have results in the methodologies adopted.”
Anne Cummins, Australia
“A study of Artist’s intentions and conservators’ experiences towards the ageing and conservation of contemporary sculptures, with an emphasis on international artists with works in Australian collections.”
Charles Patterson, USA - In search of Dhokra: the Indian expedition of 2009
“To study Dhokra, its production in the States of Orissa and Chhatisgarh (Bastar District), India, and implications for conservation treatments”
Ksenija Skaric, Croatia - Austria. Sculpture only, please!
“There are some common misunderstandings and prejudices concerning restoration in Austria, often expressed by the Croatian professional community. The first one is: Austria has already restored its cultural property. It is hardly imaginable how this could be true, bearing in mind the amount of cultural objects found there. It says more about the Croatian need to believe in fairy tales about the existence of a happy, rich and well-organized world, where all the problems we are daily dealing with have already been solved. The other tale tells that the Austrian organization of preservation and restoration was a model for the Croatian one. This tale is very important to us who are involved in restoration in Croatia, because it makes us feel safer when thinking about our future within the European Union, which will hopefully come soon. The problem is that the organization of the preservation in Austria and Croatia are not similar, which I discovered only during this trip.
In order to see as much sculpture as possible I visited several museums and about forty churches. My study included sculptures standing in the city streets, on facades and in parks... ”

Gabo Trust Travelling Scholars

1996/97: DANIEL BONE. Deterioration and conservation of plaster casts.
1995/96: No serious applications received
1994/95: MARY SCOTT. A 10—day tour of Ireland and another of Scotland to assess Coade stone statuary in order to draw up comprehensive guidelines for the whole of the British Isles for the proper assessment of the Coade stone statuary and recommended treatments and techniques of restoration and conservation.
1994/95: PIP LAURENSON. Washington internship, paid 1995/6.
1993/94: TRACY SWEEK. Study tour of North America (seven cities). To study the way US conservators approach the care of public sculpture in the US. And to look at the structure of conservation and see how much methods are controlled by the availability of funding.
1993/94: JENNIFER DINSMORE. Travel to Italy (in April 1995) to study various aspects of the conservation of stone sculpture, including the success of consolidative treatments and water repellant coating on external sculpture. Also to gain an understanding of the extensive scientific research made by Italian conservators.
1992/93: FRANCES HALAHAN. Tour of northern Europe visiting museums and conservation training institutions. To study how conservators are educated, and the relationships between the training institutions and museums.
1991/92: RUPERT HARRIS. Study tour of Eastern USA to review the current research into the cleaning and treatment of weathered monuments and sculpture made of metal with particular reference to the methods used on Bronze, Lead and Zinc.
1991/92: DEREK PULLEN. Study tour of major Japanese museums and conservation centres which display, handle and care for modern sculptures, to gain knowledge of the techniques used in handling, care and display of modern sculpture.
1990/91: JACKIE HEUMAN. Study tour to New York, Washington and Boston investigating current techniques in the treatment of outdoor bronze sculpture.
1990/91: SIAN PYBUS. Study tour to Munich, Vienna, Bologna and Rome to extend knowledge of polychrome and gilded sculpture and help her research into treatment of painted wooden sculptures.