Libyan Antiquities head visits Malta Centre for Restoration

Dr Ali Al Chadouri, chairman of Libya's Department of Antiquities, has arrived in Malta with the main aim of assessing at first hand the facilities and services which may be offered by the Malta Centre for Restoration (MCR).

This visit is a follow-up to the first round of talks held in Tripoli with the Libyan authorities in July with a view to establishing collaboration between the Department of Antiquities in Libya and Malta's national agency for the provision of conservation services.

During his stay in Malta, Dr Al Chadouri was accompanied by Mustafa A. Turjman, head of the Archaeological Research section within the Historic Archives and Documentation division of the Department of Antiquities. On Tuesday, the Libyan officials visited MCR's facilities located within the Surgical Block of the former Royal Naval Hospital at Bighi.

During this visit to MCR's state-of-the art conservation intervention laboratories, they were shown around by MCR's director, Joseph Schirò, director of studies Dr Martina Caruana and deputy director Louis Borg.

This first visit focused on the laboratories for the conservation of paintings, books and works of art on paper, metals, glass, stone and ceramics. It concluded with a detailed examination of the results achieved using laser scanning and digital photogrammetry by MCR's Documentation Division within its post-processing laboratory.

The next day Dr Al-Chadouri and Mr Al-Turjman paid a second visit to Bighi where they were greeted by Dr Joseph A. Cannataci, chairman of MCR's board of governors. Together with Mr Schirò, Dr Cannataci accompanied the Libyan guests on a visit of the East Wing of Bighi Hospital.

After the teaching facilities and the preparation of broadcasting studios for MCR's IKONOS distance-learning project, where they met IKONOS deputy project director Peter Paul Barbara and project planner Carmen Dalli, the visit focused on the Diagnostic Science Laboratories. Here, assistant director Dr Christian Fischer explained the iter of a sample as it went from preparation stage through optical and electron microscopy to X-Ray diffractometry, ion chromatography and FTIR spectrophotometry.

Dr Cannataci, Mr Schirò and Mr Barbara then accompanied the Libyan officials to the Corradino temple complex where MCR's Documentation Division is currently surveying the megalithic remains using its newly developed TheaLasermetry method.

Architect Claude Borg, the assistant director responsible for the Documentation Division, together with other members of his team, greeted Dr Al Chadouri and Mr Turjaman and demonstrated the use of MCR's two laser scanners. During their July visit to Libya, Dr Cannataci and Mr Schirò had met the Head of Documentation and Archives of the Department of Antiquities, Dr Abdullah Al Mahmoudy, who was very interested in the possibility of MCR's Documentation Division providing training to the Department of Antiquities in the application of laser scanning technology.

The Libyan authorities have expressed interest in using the services of MCR's Documentation Division to carry out laser and photogrammetrical surveys of various sites in Libya.

On Wednesday evening, Dr Al Chadouri and Mr Al Turjman met Paul A. Attard, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for Cultural Heritage. This meeting was also attended by Libyan Ambassador Ali Nagem as well as Dr Cannataci, Mr Schirò and Ms Dalli from MCR.

MCR is a partnership between the University of Malta and the Ministry of Education. Its mission, as defined by the Cultural Heritage Act, is to become an international centre of excellence in the provision of training, education, research and practice of conservation and restoration of cultural heritage.