Help Preserve Archaeology in Italy, Nov. 2nd Deadline

Below is the text of the email I received from the Archaeological Institute of America regarding an important agreement between Italy and the U.S. that needs your support. I already faxed off my letter to the Cultural Heritage Center.

October 29, 2009
Hello,
On Nov. 13 the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) will review the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Italy that governs the trade in antiquities between the two countries. The committee has asked for public comments, with a deadline of Nov. 2nd.
Specifically, CPAC will consider Italy's actions under Article II of the Memorandum. You can read the agreement at exchanges.state.gov/heritage/culprop/itfact.html. Article II calls for Italy to loan material to US museums, allow Americans to excavate, and otherwise promote the protection of archaeological sites.
If you have visited American museums that have objects on loan from Italy, if you have excavated in Italy, if you have done research there, then you should write a letter to CPAC describing your work. Letters from the public are extremely important in CPAC's assessment of the impact of the agreement.
Letters can be fairly brief, one page is fine. Make it clear you're writing about the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and the Republic of Italy as amended in 2006. Identify yourself. Give specific examples of museums you've visited or places in Italy you've worked, and end with a request that further co-operation between the US and Italy be encouraged (or something similarly positive). Your letter will make a difference in protecting archaeological resources for future generations.
If you can write, please do. Letters are due by Monday, Nov. 2nd and can be faxed to (202) 632-6300 or sent by mail to:
Cultural Heritage Center, SA-5, Fifth Floor, Department of StateWashington, DC 20522-0505
Thank you, Sebastian Heath, Vice-President for Professional Responsibilities Archaeological Institute of America
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the AIA at Sitepreservation@aia.bu.edu

I Lived to see Herculaneum

I had the good fortune to snag a ticket for the lecture yesterday at the Getty Villa on Herculaneum: Conserving and Interpreting the Roman Past with architect Gionata Rizzi. Although I've been looking forward to this for weeks I had a relapse of the "fluey thing" and after retreating to my bed for two hours wondered if the trek over there would kill me. But I decided dying doing something I enjoy was better than passing away in bed... how boring. So I got dressed, put gas in the car, and jumped into the worst traffic I have seen in a long time. Fortunately I was meeting a friend who arrived early enough to save two good seats for this sold out event.

The Getty Conservation Institute is a collaborator on the Herculaneum Project for which Gionata Rizzi has worked since 2002 as the architect responsible for developing pilot projects and model designs. He talked about the difficulties involved in preserving and conserving such a large project while maintaining its ambience.

Of course, we all know that Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, and until the 1700s the town of Herculaneum lay protected under tons of volcanic material some 50 feet high. After a couple of centuries of excavation at least one third of Herculaneum now lies exposed to the elements. Structures, paintings, and mosaics that had survived pretty much intact are now being destroyed by the sun and rain and oxidation.

Over the years various contraptions were devised to build covers and roofs to protect the excavation, some of which were very ugly and detracted from the sense of place. The photo above shows one of Rizzi's solutions to provide a roof while maintaining some idea of what the original may have looked like.

Evidently this was Rizzi's first visit to the Getty Villa. He got some laughs (at least from me) by talking about what it was like to leave the ancient Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum and walk into the working replica, which is what the Getty Villa is. He said it was difficult to walk on the marble floor which is an exact copy of the ancient version, which, of course, cannot be walked on. I have been to the Getty Villa so many times (since it first opened in the 1970s) that I definitely take it for granted and no longer even think about what it represents. I should pay more intention to the building itself.

You will be happy to know (I hope) that I didn't die from attending the lecture. And I am certainly glad that I made the effort. Pompeii gets the lion's share of attention but Herculaneum is equally important in our understanding of life in the Roman Empire during that period, and I look forward to learning more about it.

After the lecture we stopped by to see the ongoing exhibit Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity which is a wonderful display of over 180 ancient glass objects from the collection of Erwin Oppenländer and the Getty. About two years ago I took a twelve-week class at the Villa through UCLA Extension. One of my presentations for the class was on ancient glass, specifically Flask in the Shape of a Head (oh, note to the Getty webmaster, this has been bugging me for over a year now, the word is FLASK with a "K," not FLASH with an "H.") I was happy to see my flask is part of the exhibit. Sometimes research for a class can be useful and ever since putting together that presentation I have been fascinated by ancient glass. It's a nice adjunct to my obsession with mosaics!

(Photo: View of the multi-story House of the Telephus Relief with a timber roofing solution. Photo copyright The J. Paul Getty Trust)

See You at the 14th Annual Culver City Art Group Holiday ExhibitYou are invited to our annual art exhibit on November 14, 2009 from noon to 6:00pm. Work includes oils, water colors, acrylics, ceramics, photography, collages... and more! The show is judged with awards and prizes. Come at 3:30 to meet the artists and enjoy our snack buffet.

If you are an artist, registration forms and invitations/flyers are now uploaded to the Culver City Art Group website. Tell your friends there's still time to become a member to partipate, however all artists must work a show-related job and be present for installation and the artists' reception, so no fly bys allowed!

The Culver City Art Group is an organization of local amateur and professional artists meeting at different venues in the Culver City area. We embrace all visual arts from traditional to computer-generated, two-dimensional and three-dimensional.

For our members we have activities and special events such as painting/sketching afternoons, museum and gallery visits, group exhibits and artist demos. Just this year we already visited Descanso Gardens, Laguna Beach, the Huntington Library, and did a walking tour of the Culver City Art Galleries.

Although you must be a member to participate in our activities, anyone interested is invited to join us at our general meetings.

Members receive 30% and 40% discounts at Graphaids, worth the membership price in itself.
Contact Barbara Golbin at 310.837.2600 or mailto:b.golbin@sbcglobal.net for additional information.

Individual membership is $25 a year and is open to anybody interested in the arts, of any age.

(Flyer design copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Mosaics in Context

Exciting news in the October Getty Conservation Institute Bulletin which I subscribe to: "The GCI, the Getty Foundation, ICCROM (the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property), and ICCM (the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics) have launched a new collaborative initiative, MOSAIKON, to improve regional capacity for conservation, maintenance, and preservation of mosaics in museums and in situ."

According to the Getty website "The objectives of MOSAIKON are:
to strengthen the ICCM and the network of professionals concerned with the conservation, restoration, maintenance, and management of the mosaics heritage;
to provide training to a variety of individuals involved in mosaics conservation and, more generally, with the management of archaeological sites and museums with mosaics;
to work with national and international bodies to provide a more favorable legislative, regulatory, and economic environment for the conservation of mosaics in the Mediterranean; and to promote the dissemination and exchange of information."

Mosaics were for a longtime the stepchild of archaeologists and art historians. Often the "interesting" sections such as allegorical figures, animals, or flowers, were removed from the site and placed in the "safety" of museums, losing all context of the rest of the mosaic they belonged to, or to the architectural surroundings they were intended for. Unlike paintings or sculptures, floor mosaics were for the most part installed in particular areas of buildings for a purpose. Removing them from their natural habitat destroys the essence of the mosaic.

I personally have enjoyed seeing many a mosaic improperly hanging on the wall of a museum. I doubt at the time that I even considered it should be viewed any other way. And if I had to travel to see every mosaic in situ I certainly would not have been able to view as many as I have. However, that is hardly the point.

Currently, the thinking among conservationists is to maintain mosaics on site. Obviously, this is not doable in all cases, but wherever possible I embrace the idea of keeping them intact in their original location. Although I have not had the privilege of seeing as many mosaics in situ as I have in museums, there is certainly nothing more exciting than running across a mosaic floor in a ruined villa or temple. On the other hand I don't advocate attempting to return mosaics to their place of origin, even if that was feasible—what's done is done. But it is comforting to know that the consensus of opinion among the guardians of such treasures is to preserve them in their intended locations.

Unfortunately I don't have the qualifications to attend the MOSAIKON conference in Lebanon in May, 2010, but in the meantime I am grateful to the Getty Conservation Institute for being involved in the preservation and conservation of my favorite art form.

(Photo: Overhead view of technicians performing stabilization treatment on mosaics. Photo: Aurora Ortega de Torre. From Getty.edu website.)

Lillian Sizemore's Mosaics Newsletter

I am a big fan of Lillian Sizemore. She is a mosaic artist who began working in tile and glass mosaics in 1995.

I first stumbled upon her a couple of years ago when I attended a seminar at the Getty Villa on the history of mosaics. She showed some samples of her public work around the San Francisco area (and that of other artists too). Later I took a one-day mosaic-making class with her, again at the Getty Villa.

This summer she taught a two-weekend workshop in Long Beach I would love to have attended but it wasn't the right time. I hope she will schedule another workshop soon, preferably in West Los Angeles!

The reason for this post is that I just received the first issue of her e-newsletter which you can read and subscribe to by clicking here.

And you can read more about her at her website.
(Photo copyright Lillian Sizemore)