Books & Paper Conservation course launches in London
Posted by Dr Marina Sokhan - Head of Conservation on 13/11/2020
City & Guilds of London Art School is delighted to have launched its new undergraduate course in Books & Paper Conservation, after reaching an ambitious fundraising target to create and equip a suite of specialist conservation studios and facilities in its Georgian buildings in central London this summer. The works were successfully completed, despite restrictions caused by the current pandemic, and the first students to study on the course arrived in September.
The Art School is extremely grateful for the generous grants made towards the project by the Foyle Foundation, Fidelity UK Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Pilgrim Trust, Steel Trust, Leche Trustand Headley Trust.
BA (Hons) Conservation: Books & Paperis the only course of its kind to be offered in London, and the UK. The new award in this endangered subject sits alongside and complements BA (Hons) Conservation: Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfaces, the Art School’s highly-regarded programme specialising in cultural objects made of wood, stone and those with decorative surfaces. This development also sees the expansion of our MA Conservation,offering applicants the opportunity to specialise in books and paper conservation through advanced level research and practical projects supervised by experts in the field.
The plans for the new Foyle Books & Paper Conservation Studios,named in recognition of the Foyle Foundation’s significant funding support for this and past studio and facilities development projects at the Art School, were drawn up with the advice of an expert panel of book and paper conservation professionals who collaborated on the curriculum development over the yearlong preparations for this new course.
The Foyle Books & Paper Conservation Studiosand laboratory are located in close proximity to the pre-existing Conservation facilities, more than doubling the Conservation Department’s footprint within the Art School.
The addition of Books & Paper Conservation will see the Art School’s Conservation Department double in scale over the next three years, and follows the closure in 2018 of MA Conservation at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL). UAL donated furniture and materials to support the set-up of the new course and will provide bursary funding to support students from groups underrepresented in Higher Education.
Images© City & Guilds of London Art School
The addition of this course will play a crucial role in ensuring there are professionals available to work in this important area of conservation, enabling the continuation of the specialist knowledge and skills needed for the future preservation of our cultural heritage.
“Book & Paper conservation training in the UK has a long and important history and is very well respected internationally, attracting students from around the world, including the US where no specialist provision is currently available.
Now that we are offering the new undergraduate Books & Paper award, along with clear progression to MA Conservation, I am delighted that the UK’s educational provision for this specialist subject will be significantly enhanced, giving students a wider choice, enabling the continuation of the specialist knowledge and skills needed for the future preservation of our cultural heritage, and ensuring a regular stream of new professionals graduating into this thriving field of conservation.”
Dr Marina Sokhan - Head of Conservation
“As a charity, dedicated to excellence in conservation, craft and contemporary art, we could not sit back and see the study of this specialist endangered subject disappear from London. It’s been a long year of planning and preparation, but has been absolutely worth it to secure the legacy of this subject for the UK conservation & heritage sector. Our determination has been reflected by the generous support we have received from Trusts and Foundations as well as the essential curriculum development work undertaken by experts in the field from Tate, National Archives and Fitzwilliam Museum. We are so grateful for this support as well as the dedication of our Conservation Department team.
The new Books & Paper Conservation course is a perfect fit for us, like the missing piece of the jigsaw, enabling collaborations between conservation and our Drawing Studio, historic Print Room and Fine Art department. This will build upon the successful cross subject collaborations we have enjoyed between Historic Carving and the specialism in the Conservation of Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfaces that has so far included projects with Tokyo University of the Arts and Tbilisi State Academy of Arts.”
Tamiko O’Brien – Principal, City & Guilds of London Art School
About the course
Students on the BA (Hons) Conservation: Books & Paper will benefit from a tried and tested intensive approach to teaching conservation which includes skills-based practical training, as well as teaching in materials science, cultural and materials history, philosophy and ethics of conservation. The course is being delivered through a combination of one-to-one and small group teaching by expert practising professionals.
The syllabus has been developed with the ongoing advice and expertise of books & paper conservation specialists Edward Cheese (The Fitzwilliam Museum), Jacqueline Moon and Valeria Duplat (Tate) and Sonja Schwoll (National Archives), and was validated with expert input from Christopher Harvey (College of Arms), ensuring that the course has currency and relevance with the active engagement of professional mentors and partner institutions from the outset.
First year Books & Paper students being inducted into the print-room to gain a practical understanding of how etchings of the past were made to inform the study of how they are best conserved for the future.
As well as developing a deep understanding of the wider conservation knowledge and skills that are taught throughout the Conservation Department, students studying for the Books & Paper award will gain specialist hands-on experience in specialist craft skills and art practices includingetching, bookbinding, leather tooling,marbling, paper and ink making, making pastelsand crayonswith traditional recipes and the history and science of western and eastern papersincluding wall papers. These specialist skills will support students with conservation and restoration projects focused on printed books, parchment, manuscriptsand paper artworks, including fragile painted and drawn paper artworks, illuminated booksand paper-covered globes.
The course teaches modern book and paper conservation techniques that include chemical cleaning, fibre identification, spot testsand the use of ultraviolet photography. The completion of remedial conservation projects in their final year, ensures students experience valuable professional practice that will equip them for a career in conservation.
Due to the location of the Art School, students have access to an unrivalled array of collections, research and projects owned by the many major institutions in London, all within easy reach. Indeed, several institutions including Tate, the Fitzwilliam Museumand National Archives, have already offered placement opportunities and live projects to students on the Books & Paper course.
All tutors are well-established professional specialists who work on some of the country’s most prestigious projects alongside teaching in the department. This ensures that the course is both critical and recognises industry standards and expectations. The tutors provide a network of professional contacts that frequently support future employment and placements. The department has an emphasis on contact time with specialist tutors, ensuring that each student has the regular contact and support that studying Books & Paper conservation demands.
Dr Marina Sokhan- Head of Conservation, Conservation Science, Surface Analysis, Laser Cleaning
Dr Tracey Chaplin- Conservation, Microscopy and Technical Examination
Dr Naomi Luxford- Conservation, Introduction to Conservation
Dr David Peggie- Conservation, Chemistry Tutor
Alison Seed- Conservation, History of Pigments, Microscopy
Dr Joanna Russell- History of Pigments
Shaun Thompson- Bookbinding
Edward Cheese- History of bookbinding and books conservation
Judith Gowland- Chemistry and biology of paper and paper conservation
Jason Hicklin- Head of Printmaking
Amanda Brannan- Papermaking
Bridget Mitchell- Books conservation
Cheryl Porter- Paper and books conservation
Rosella Garavaglia- Lettering and Design
Francoise Richard - History of Paper
Valeria Duplat - Books and Paper Conservation
Sonja Schwoll - Archives, Paper Conservation
“I am really looking forward to what I’m sure will prove to be an incredible year for us, and the start of a new chapter in Conservation training at the Art School and in London.”
Dr Marina Sokhan - Head of Conservation
Ends
Notes to editor
- City & Guilds of London Art School is a not-for-profit specialist higher education institution with a reputation for excellence in conservation, contemporary fine art, the traditional skills of historic carving in stone and wood and art and material histories at Foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate level.
- The Conservation Department has its roots in the aftermath of WW2 when the carving and restoration courses were established to support the restoration of London’s bomb-damaged architectural heritage. The department continues to play a crucial role in keeping alive the skills essential for preserving cultural artefacts and alumni can be found working in the most important cultural heritage projects and museum conservation departments in the UK.
- The Art School is committed to ‘thinking through making’, providing students with generous studio spaces and encouraging students to interrogate materials by accessing the range of specialist facilities on offer. Common to all its courses is a focus on the development of traditional hand skills as well as contemporary practice. In the Conservation Department, hand skills are developed through live projects, essential for conservation practice where judgments about treatments need to be based on a broad range of practical, ethical, contextual, scientific and art historical knowledge. The department’s approach has been applauded by external examiners and industry partners who recognise that this is a strong basis for future employment.
- The Art School is well equipped to deliver a range of technical and craft skills. Besides the specialist Conservation studios and laboratories, students are able to access wood and Stone carving workshops, printmaking, metal, glass and casting workshops, darkroom facilities, fine art studios and IT and information services.
- All places were filled in the recent intake to BA (Hons) Conservation: Books & Paperand BA (Hons) Conservation: Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfacesfor academic year 2020/21. Anyone interested in finding out more about applying for 2021/22 is invited to book onto an online open day at www.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk/open-daysand download a course application form from www.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk/making-an-application
- You can access the images to accompany this press release here.
Where indicated, please credit images to City & Guilds of London