The Textile Conservation Centre Foundation (TCCF) and the University of Glasgow are to set up a new teaching and research facility, with the first student intake in September 2010. The new centre will focus on object-based teaching and research encompassing conservation, the physical sciences and dress and textile history. This is an important development for conservation training following the closure of the Textile Conservation Centre (TCC) at Southampton University in October 2009.

Students undertaking the Masters programmes in Textile Conservation or in Dress and Textile History will have the opportunity to work with collections held by Glasgow Museums, the National Museums of Scotland and the University’s Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery. Staff and students will also benefit from the legacy of the former TCC, as the TCCF will pass on the library, intellectual property and analytical equipment built up over 30 years.

The University and the TCCF aim to establish an international research network for textile conservation, textile and dress history and technical art history. The Foundation is now offering a limited number of bursaries in the first years of the new textile conservation programme and a fundraising campaign is underway to support the new development, further bursaries and new research projects. Potential students who would like to receive updates on the development and course details should email Ailsa Boyd at the University of Glasgow or the TCCF.

Fire has wrecked the tombs of four Baganda-region kings at the Kasubi tombs UNESCO World Heritage Site near Kampala, Uganda. The destruction of the tombs, on the 16th March, thought by many to be the result of arson, has led to mass protests and a highly charged political situation. Supporters of Baganda King Ronald Mutebi are said to have blocked the President, Yoweri Museveni, from visiting the tombs to assess the damage. In the resulting unrest, two people are thought to have been killed. The Baganda kingdom has had uneasy relations with Uganda’s central government; the BBC has reported that a territorial dispute led to riots last year.

The Kasubi tombs were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001. The site has been an important centre of religious activity for the Baganda since it was established at the end of the nineteenth century. The Baganda belong to the Bantu speaking people and date their political civilisation back to the 13th century A.D.

UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova has expressed her sorrow and called for calm: “The Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi is a World Heritage site of great cultural and spiritual significance. The destruction of this site is a tragic loss for the whole world,” Ms Bokova said. “I am also deeply distressed to learn that two people lost their lives in protests that followed the fire, and hope there will be a swift return to calm at this difficult time. I would like to assure the people of Uganda that UNESCO stands ready to mobilize its experts to help local authorities assess the damage and plan remedial action at Kasubi.”

More information can be found on UNESCO’s website, on the BBC website and on the Kasubi tombs’ own site.

The Collections Council of Australia (CCA) will close its doors on 30 April 2010 following the decision by the Cultural Ministers Council, an intergovernmental forum for arts and cultural ministers in Australia and New Zealand, to cease funding CCA. The CCA was established in 2004 to advance the stability and sustainability of the Australian collections sector. Read more about the work of the Collections Council of Australia on the CCA Website

The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is set to begin construction on a new Conservation Science Laboratory shortly. While the IMA is already deeply involved in conservation science—the grant will allow the museum to build its first dedicated conservation science laboratory. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation are helping to fund the new facility with a $1.75 million grant. The IMA expects the conservation laboratory to be open by August 2010.

Find out more from the IMA’s website and from an article published in Inside Indiana Business.

Reports are beginning to come in about the effect the 27 February earthquake has had on Chile’s museums, libraries, archives and monuments. It is likely there will be a request in the near future from the Chilean authorities for carefully directed international support.

UNESCO has reported on the damage to Chilean World Heritage sites in the wake of the recent earthquake. The organisation reports that while no buildings have collapsed in Valparaíso, the La Matriz church and the Port market place have been damaged by the quake. No damage has been reported to city’s iconic funiculars, with the exception of the already precarious San Agustín funicular. Chile’s other world heritage site, Sewell Mining Town has reported no major damage.

Media reports indicate that the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago has suffered structural damage. Damage has also occurred at many other museums and libraries in Santiago. Nivia Palma, Director of Libraries, Archives and Museums (Dibam) has been reported as saying that in Santiago the damage in the National Library is most serious-including the collapse of a cupola and cracks running from the ground to the fourth floor.

ICCROM has summarised both the media coverage of the effect of the earthquake on heritage and has also provided links to local conservation organisations.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, has expressed concern at the announcement by the Israeli Prime Minister that two sites located in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb, are to be included in an Israeli National Heritage Programme, fearing a resulting escalation of tension in the area.

Endorsing the statement by Robert H. Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, that these sites are “of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam, and to Christianity as well”, the Director-General reiterated UNESCO’s conviction that cultural heritage should serve as a means for dialogue. UNESCO is mandated by its Member States to provide assistance to the Palestinian Authority in the fields of education and culture.

Read more about this story on UNESCO’s website.

It is feared that the city of Valparaíso, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, may have been damaged by the 8.8 Richter scale earthquake that hit Chile on 27 February, resulting in the loss of more than 700 lives. The extent of the damage to Chile’s cultural heritage has not yet been established as efforts concentrate on humanitarian relief in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. The coastal city of Valparaíso was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 due to its historical interest and beauty. UNESCO cite Valparaíso as an exceptional late 19th-century Latin American city in a natural amphitheatre-like setting. It is well-known for its verncular architecture and church spires which dot the hillsides as well as the numerous funicular railways found in the city.

Laser ablation is a well-established technique for cleaning stone and metal artefacts and has been used on Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Porta del Paradiso and Donatello’s David, both in Florence, Italy. The technique has also been used to clean the wall paintings of the Sagrestia Vecchia and the Cappella del Manto in Santa Maria della Scala, Siena. A team led by Dr Salvatore Siano at the Applied Physics Institute-CNR in Florence, Italy, has recently published an article in the journal of the American Chemical Society evaluating the results of laser cleaning.

Read about laser cleaning on the BBC website.

To access the abstract and article click here.