In response to the University of Southampton’s decision to close the Textile Conservation Centre, its staff and supporting Trust, the TCC Foundation commissioned leading independent think tank Demos to examine the role of conservation and conservation education in the wider social and political context and in the context of a changing world.
As a result, [...]

The Juanqinzhai, an 18th-century studio in the Forbidden City’s Qianlong Garden, has been opened for its first ever public viewing after a comprehensive restoration. The intensive five-year project, led by the Palace Museum in Beijing and working in partnership with the World Monuments Fund, was part of a major 12-year, multimillion-dollar project to restore the [...]

The ancient mud-brick built Yemeni city of Shibam, a UNESCO world heritage site, has largely survived recent devastating floods in the country. It has been reported that the flood waters were close to breaching the levee surrounding the town, which would have had disastrous consequences for its high-rise mud-brick buildings. Floods in Yemen followed two [...]

Many people are feared dead following a tropical storm in the Hadhramawt province of Yemen. The severe storm has also had a serious impact upon the region’s historical buildings. The extent of the damage to the UNESCO site of Shibam is not yet clear as rescue operations are still underway. However, reports suggest that floodwaters [...]

The Deir al-Sultan monastery on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem has been declared a “danger to human life” by engineer Yigal Bergman following a recent investigation. Atop one of Christianity’s holiest locations, traditionally considered the site of Golgotha and of Christ’s tomb, the monastery is at risk of collapse, [...]

A recent study has revealed that Michelangelo’s iconic statue of David may be at risk from the vibrations of traffic and visitors’ footsteps at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. Detailed examination has shown that cracks filled during a recent conservation campaign four years ago have reopened. Professor Antonio Borri, from the University of Perugia, part [...]

A full transcript of the round table discussion Climate change and museum collections is now available for download here (PDF; 2.5MB).
The discussion was the first event in IIC’s new initiative, Dialogues for the New Century: roundtable discussions on the conservation of cultural heritage in a changing world. It was held in London during the 2008 [...]

The 2008 IIC Congress scored a notable success on its return to London after 41 years. The theme “Conservation and Access” attracted over 460 delegates to the event, held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, opposite Westminster Abbey. IIC Secretary-General, David Leigh, said “This has undoubtedly been a pivotal event. Conservators [...]