In a move to take a more active role in the preservation of marine artifacts, the Philippines recently hosted a ten-day course on the “Conservation of Underwater Archaeological Collections,” which began last Sept. 7 in the National Museum of the Philippines and at Subic Bay.
Twenty-seven heritage professionals from 14 countries—Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Finland, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor Leste, Thailand, and Vietnam—participated in the event, which focused on maritime history, the scientific principles of sea currents, the deterioration of organic and inorganic materials, and underwater diving operations.
The training/lecture, sponsored by the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), the Seameo Regional Center for Archaeology and Fine Arts (Seameo-SPAFA), and the National Museum of the Philippines, was geared toward improving the professional and institutional capacity to manage and conserve underwater artifacts. The Getty Foundation and UNESCO Jakarta were also involved in the organization of the event.
The series of lectures was part of the ICCROM-SPAFA program dubbed as CollAsia 2010, a seven-year program aimed at improving the conservation conditions of Southeast Asian collections. Thus far, CollAsia 2010 has already sent over a hundred professionals working in museums, libraries and archives around Southeast Asia to different learning events, gaining access to new resources, learning essential skills, while getting the opportunity to network and exchange with their colleagues in other countries.
The CollAsia 2010 program was launched last 2004, and will continue on throughout the year with several more courses and filed projects to be held on different Southeast Asian countries.
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