balinese painting conservation

Danish Art
Conservationists Bring
New Life to Balinese
Paintings
The first time Martin Bernsted
and Torsten Hvas flew from
Denmark to Bali was in 2003.
Aside from the divine beaches
and the stunning sunrises,
Bernsted and Hvas were there
for the art scene, and they both
brought a passion for paintings
with them.
A visit to Puri Lukisan Museum—
one of the oldest museums in
Ubud, the island ’s center of art
and culture — was revelatory,
but not in a good way.
“We were in state of shock about
the condition [of the paintings],”
Bernsted said.
Some of the paintings had small
holes and tears. Some had been
damaged by the damp, with
mold loosening the paintings
from their stretchers. Some had
been damaged by spider bites or
gecko feces.
Bernsted, a professional art
conservator who studied at the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine
Arts and currently works for the
National Museum of Denmark,
immediately thought something
should be done to preserve the
paintings.
Hvas, Bernsted’s colleague and a
self-described “cultural
entrepreneur,” said, “The
paintings that we saw were
world-class art pieces. But
compared to paintings we ’ve
seen in Europe and the US, the
artifacts on display suffered
from so many different sorts of
damage it was unbelievable. ”
Soemantri Widagdo, one of Puri
Lukisan Museum ’s art curators,
said: “Due to the tropical
conditions and our inadequate
efforts — due to a lack of
funding — many of the
paintings suffer from mold and
insect damage, as well as
vandalism. ”
Soemantri also said most of the
museum staff lacked the
knowledge and skills for art
conservation.
Bernsted and Hvas thought that
with their combined expertise
they could help. But aside from
simply restoring the paintings,
they also wanted to transfer
their expertise to local museum
staff and artists.
In 2004 they met with Tjokorda
Gde Putra Sukawati, the eldest of
the three princes of Ubud and
chairman of Puri Lukisan
Museum, who gave his strong
support to the idea.
In April 2007 the Danish duo did
an assessment of all the works
exhibited at the museum. The
assessment included damage
evaluation, photo documentation
and recording information about
the climate.
The first art conservation
training took place at the
museum in January the
following year. Nine participants
were chosen, four museum staff
and five Balinese artists. Ten of
the most damaged art pieces
were selected for the students to
practice restoration techniques
on.
The workshops were designed
to cover three main elements.
The first element was
museology, which includes
theoretical approaches, such as
understanding the impact of
things like daily maintenance,
daily handling of the artwork
and public admittance.
Second, prophylactic
preservation is the practical form
of museology, which includes
proper techniques for re-
stretching canvases, using
specialized equipment and
mending damage such as holes
and tears in canvases.
“The general idea is that we can
do almost any kind of repair, but
it is better to prevent damage
from occurring in the first place, ”
Bernsted said.
The last element is climate
control, which is especially
crucial in a tropical country like
Indonesia. Bernsted said climate
control was mainly a matter of
preventing damage from light,
moisture and heat with the
correct use of dehumidifiers and
air-conditioners.
“In Indonesia it is a very difficult
matter, because it uses a lot of
resources, ” Bernsted said. “Any
methods to stabilize the climate
in the museum rooms that are
low cost and low technology are
very important. ”
I Wayan Sumadi, 41, has been
working at Puri Lukisan Museum
since 1995. He said that he once
attended a workshop on
conservation and restoration
techniques at Denpasar ’s Bali
Museum, but it was only
theoretical and didn ’t cover any
practical techniques.
“Martin and Torsten taught us
[practical techniques] and
brought the actual equipment.
This kind of workshop never
existed before, ” Sumadi said.
“After they taught us, we — the
museum staff — are more
confident about trying to fix
damaged paintings. ”
Sumadi said art conservation in
museums was particularly
important because “the artworks
will be there for a long time —
they’re not there to be sold.”
Soemantri said the workshops
had been very beneficial for the
museum, which has since
managed to restore about 30
paintings. “The workshops will
serve our community for years
to come. They ’ve provided a
longer life to our collection,” he
said
While Bernsted and Hvas have
received some funding for their
work from Danish organizations,
including MSActionAid Denmark
and the Danish Center for Culture
and Development, they have also
established their own company
to raise money. The company,
the Southeast Asian Art
Conservation Center, provides
professional conservation
services to private collectors.
“We will use the money to cover
our expenses, but more
importantly to pay for the staff
education and to buy additional
equipment needed for the
workshops, ” Hvas said.
He said that the goals he and
Bernsted have are to enable local
museums to continue art
conservation on their own; to
promote a more responsible
attitude from Indonesian
museums toward taking care of
their artifacts; and “for
Indonesia as a country to use
the rich cultural heritage and
talents of the younger
generation more actively. ”
source jktglobe