Workshop in Yerevan

From May 3 to 8, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the State Research Institute of Conservation, at the invitation of the Erebuni Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve, held a workshop on "Issues of Research, Conservation and Storage of Archaeological Paintings from Erebuni".

The Erebuni museum has a unique collection of murals, discovered during the excavations of Erebuni and Teishebaini Urartian fortresses. The updating of the exhibition and the new archaeological excavations make the issues of restoration and field conservation of the fragments of ancient Armenian paintings especially important. The workshop consisted of two parts - scientific and practical. On May 5 during the scientific part of the workshop the specialists of the Erebuni Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the State Research Institute for Conservation made presentations on the following topics: 

• The context of the discovery of murals from Urartian sites;
• Discovery and field conservation of murals from Erebuni according to the archaeological archives of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts;
• Results of physicochemical research on samples of murals from Erebuni;
• Specifics of conservation of Erebuni archaeological paintings;
• 3D reconstruction of paintings from Erebuni fortress.

The workshop aimed to share experience and practical skills of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the State Research Institute for Conservation with Armenian colleagues in the conservation of fragments in workshops and field conservation of archaeological paintings of the Urartian period. Conservators from the State Museum of Fine Arts and the State Research Institute for Conservation introduced conservators from Armenia's leading museums to the main stages of restoration and conservation of fragments of archaeological paintings from Erebuni and received recommendations on their storage. Thus, the theoretical and practical parts of the seminar prepared the museum specialists who also work in archaeological expeditions for applying the skills they acquired in the restoration of archaeological painting fragments within the museum, as well as for a methodological approach to field conservation when fragments of a wall painting are discovered in an excavation.

We would like to thank Mikael Badalyan, Director of Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve Erebuni, for the professional organization of the workshop. The dedication and professional interest of the director of the Erebuni Museum to the research and preservation of archaeological monuments of Armenia allow us to say with certainty that we will continue the successful cooperation between our museums and will be able to fully appreciate the heritage of Urartian culture through the joint efforts of archaeologists, conservators and art historians.