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Portugal is a small country in south-western Europe. Being one of the oldest European countries (1128) and having led the World Discovery throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal is a rich country in Cultural Heritage.
Higher education in Portugal is structured in two systems: the university and the polytechnic system. Until very recently, the university granted an initial 5-years long course denominated "Licenciatura". The polytechnic system was slightly different, granting an initial 3-years degree called "Bacharelato", after which the student could attend 2 more years concluding a "Licenciatura bi-etápica" (in 2 phases). After this, any student could pursue his training making a 2-years master degree and/or a PhD. However the Bologna process came very recently to change this panorama. Basically the "Bacharelato" and the "Licenciatura" disappeared and another initial 3-years long course was created, called Bachelor or "Licenciatura" (named after the former degree). Higher education training in conservation and restoration in Portugal is very recent. It started with the technical course of the now extinct José de Figueiredo Institute (IJF) in 1981. Two new courses emerged in 1989: a 4-year "Bacharelato" at the now also extinct "Escola Superior de Conservação e Restauro" (ESCR) and a 3-year "Bacharelato" at the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar (IPT). In 1998, the first "Licenciaturas" appeared at IPT and at the New University of Lisbon (UNL). RECOGNISED CONSERVATION TRAINING Instituto Politécnico de Tomar (IPT) Campus Tomar, Quinta do Contador - Estrada da Serra 2300-313 Tomar, Portugal www.ipt.pt (Portuguese only) Text based on the information provided by Dr. João Paulo Coroado - Head of the Conservation Department -
and staff during our one day visit at IPT
Short History The Department of Art, Archaeology and Restoration (DAAR) of IPT was established in 1987 and started by teaching 2-years specialisation courses - Courses of Specialised Higher Studies (CESE) - which were intended to complement a previous training. In 1989, DAAR started to teach a 3-year “Bacharelato” degree, which students could complement with the CESE to obtain a “Licenciatura” equivalence. In 1998, DAAR moved forward to implement a two-stages “Licenciatura” degree in Conservation and Restoration. More recently, the department changed its name to "Department of Art, Conservation and Restoration" (DACR) and adopted the Bologna process. Admission At the moment, there are 40 places for the Bachelor in Conservation and Restoration. At master level, there is a maximum of 10 places for each specialisation. The admission is centralised and is done by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. Internal Structure Coordination João Paulo Coroado João da Cunha Matos Practical Conservation Courses Carla Rego – Conservation of Paintings and Sculpture Cláudia Falcão - Conservation of Paintings and Sculpture Fernando Antunes – Conservation of Furniture and Woodcarving José Silva - Conservation of Furniture and Woodcarving Fernando Costa - Conservation of Stone Ricardo Triães – Conservation of Ceramics Aida Nunes – Conservation of Graphic Documents General Courses João Coroado – Materials and Environmental control (coordinator professor) João da Cunha Matos – History (coordinator professor) Fernando Salvador – Architecture and Representation Methods Miguel Cabral Moncada – Expertise and Cultural Assets Teresa Cunha Matos – Art History (professor adjunto) Teresa Desterro - Art History Fernando Larcher – History and Heritage Law Madalena Larcher – History António João Cruz – Methods of Examination and Analysis João Antunes – Chemistry (professor adjunto) See complete list of the teaching staff Specialisations The department offers several specializations in 2 cycles: bachelor (180 ECTS) and master (120 ECTS). The Bachelor (BA) offers a generalist training. The students start in the first year with conservation of stone materials and throughout the second and third years they are introduced to other areas (2 per semester): ceramics, woodcarving, furniture, sculpture, paintings and graphic documents, respectively. The Master in Conservation and Restoration (MA) has 2 different profiles: Movable Heritage and Integrated Heritage. Laboratory Equipment The department has spacious and equipped laboratories for each specialisation: conservation of stone, furniture and woodcarving, metals, sculpture, paintings, ceramics and graphic documents. It also disposes of an x-ray room, a chemistry laboratory and a shared photographic studio with the Photography Department. The conservation laboratories have the regular conservation equipment, including an anoxia chamber. The chemistry laboratory is equipped with a Raman spectrometer and shortly, it will be able to provide X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and micro-Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy analysis. Publications The department does not have any publication but all the student projects are available for consultation in the university library. The students are also encouraged to publish the results of their work so they get used to the high standards of the professional journals and other scientific publications.
From left to right, upper row: University Campus; IPT Laboratories of Conservation of Ceramic; Stone and Painting.
Lower row: The DCR-UNL Laboratories of Conservation of Painting; Furniture and Graphic Documents and the library.
Talking to Students
Ana Félix is attending the third year of the bachelor. She was happy to share with us her personal experience at IPT: "I think conservation is a very interesting field and as I’m from Tomar, for me it was a natural choice to study here at IPT. I also considered studying in other schools but none interest me as much as this one because I wanted something more focused towards the practical side of this profession. I want to continue my education with a master because the bachelor is simply not enough. After this, I would like very much to work in a museum. During my training, I liked very much conservation of paintings but now, on my final project, I am going to focus on the conservation of furniture." Concerning the implementation of the Bologna Process, Ana says "I think I preferred the system we had before because there were 5 years of "Licenciatura" plus other 2 to continue with the master; now we only have a total of 5 years, including the master." Rute Marques is a student in the second year of the Bachelor. At the time of our visit at IPT, she was spending extracurricular time on the conservation laboratory. She also believes students need a great deal of practice to become good conservators and that 4 hours of classes per week, per specialisation are not sufficient to become a good specialist: "pre-Bologna system was better because it offered the opportunity to acquire more practice before starting to work in conservation." Pedro Fernando is a student in the fifth year - his last year of study, him being part of the last generation to attend the pre-Bologna "Licenciatura". He is specialising in conservation of sculpture. After the graduation, he wants to acquire some work experience and later to make a PhD in collection care or management of cultural heritage, probably abroad. (in Portugal it is possible to move forward to PhD in case you have a pre- Bologna Licenciatura in certain conditions, such as having an average grade of more than 16 - in 20). About the Bologna Process, he believes that "in theory it can be a very good thing but practically it may not work for conservation, just as it doesn’t work for other areas such as medicine or architecture. I think they are taking away 2 years that are very important to consolidate the concepts that we are being taught. In my time we were already complaining there were too few practical hours but now they have even less. We had about 6 hours per week while they have only 4" (per specialisation). Asked if he would prefer to practice conservation abroad rather than in Portugal, Pedro replied: "in my opinion, we have plenty of work to do here in Portugal - each conservator has at least two lifetimes of work - but unfortunately we don’t have the necessary funding for it." Interview with Dr. João Paulo Coroado
I think it can be said that IPT is the oldest Conservation course still running. How do you describe its evolution since 1989? The evolution of the studies in Conservation and Restoration on the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar started on the academic year 1987/88 with the Higher Specialised Study Courses (CESE), in "Art, Archaeology and Restoration". The Ministry of Education authorization to teach the "Bacharelato" was given in 1989 allowing the course of Technology in Conservation and Restoration to start in the same year. In 1998, the Polytechnic system implemented the second cycle that granted the "Licenciatura" degree and the course was designated in two cycles in Conservation and Restoration. Since then, the course had four reformulations. The last one was authorized by the Ministry of Education, by the decree nº. 875/2005 (2 series), maintaining the two cycles of 3 plus 2 years respectively. In 2006, the "Licenciatura" was adjusted to the Bologna requirements. The Master in Conservation and Restoration, already authorized by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, is going to start on the next academic year allowing a more consistent and suitable training of the conservator-restorer. How did your department managed the implementation of the Bologna process? The Bologna process transition has already started and the students are already on the third year of the Bachelor. The Master in Conservation and Restoration will start next year. This master has two different profiles: Movable Heritage and Integrated Heritage. The main difference between these profiles is that Movable Heritage has disciplines such as Collection Management, Collection Preservation and Art Expertise while Integrated Heritage has other disciplines like Architectonic Heritage, Integrated Heritage and Alteration and Alterability. All the other disciplines are common. The students are also given the possibility to choose as optional disciplines the ones from the other Master profile which is an advantage for him/her. The second year of the master is dedicated to an internship and dissertation. Considering that by international standards, the minimum training to become conservator-restorer requires 5 years, what is your opinion of this 2 cycle training? In fact, students can leave school after the Bachelor to integrate the labour market. The Bologna process allows them. However, we tell students that only the Bachelor is not enough to become conservator-restorer and we show them the need, the necessity to pursue the master degree. A bachelor in conservation and restoration will be prepared to deal with collections and practice preventive conservation; he/she will only be able to operate in works of art under supervision. I remember that when the Bologna system was being under discussion here at IPT, it was proposed to maintain the 5 years “Licenciatura” in Conservation but the proposal was not considered. Conservation is a field still far from having the necessary strength like other fields, architecture or medicine for example... The Department is running a pre-Bologna Master in “Chemistry Applied to Cultural Heritage” in partnership with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Faculty of Science, University of Lisbon. How has been this experience and which is its future, now with the implementation of the Bologna process? It is going extremely well. This master has been already prepared for the Bologna system and it is designed for chemists and other people with a scientific background that are interested in Cultural Heritage to specialise, so they can apply science to conservation. It is not intended for conservators because it does not give a degree in conservation, although conservators can attend it. This master is coordinated by Dr. António João Cruz, a conservator-scientist specialised in chemistry applied to cultural heritage, and it is taught in both Lisbon and Tomar, approximately half of the classes in each city. You are the Head of the Conservation Department. Can you tell us how did you achieve it? In fact, I started to collaborate with the department since 1990. In 1998 I became Professor and 3 years later a Full Professor. After that I was elected, naturally, by the Department Council, first in 2003 and once again in 2006. What are the requirements to become teacher at the Conservation Department? Our department is made of specialists with different backgrounds, in domains such as Humanities and Sciences and, of course, Conservation and Restoration. We want the best specialists and, when we don't find them in our own institution, trained by ourselves, we look for the best in the in the field. Apart teaching at the IPT, what other activities do you develop in your professional life? Besides IPT, I’m also working as a materials researcher at the University of Aveiro and at the Technologic Centre of Ceramics and Glass (CTCV). The students work on real works of art during their training. What is their acceptance criteria and their origins? Indeed they do work with real works of art since their first year. We wish our students to gain as much practice as possible. Most of the pieces we work with come from private collectors, churches, museums and from the local administration. Does the Department charge for the conservation interventions performed? No, we don’t charge for the work we perform, once the owners of the respective works of art accept the fact that we don’t know when the intervention will be finished. We only charge for the costs of the materials and for the consumables. Is the Department a member of ENCoRE? No, not at this time, but we are very interested in becoming member of ENCoRE. We are going to apply for the membership very soon. After the students’ graduation, does the Department keep up with their further accomplishments in their professional lives? Yes, many of them return often to make analyses for works of art using the facilities of the department. We are happy to be able to help them after they graduate. Plus, as I already said, we are interested in keeping in the core of the department the best of the students that graduate at IPT. Many of them are undertaking PhDs in Conservation and Conservation Related fields right now. Personally, I think the enthusiasm and strength of the young professionals is a big advantage.
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Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL)Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Campus de Caparica 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal www.dcr.fct.unl.pt (Portuguese only) Text based on the information provided by Dr. Fernando Pina - coordinator of the Conservation Department -
and staff during our visit at DCR-UNL
Short History The Department of Conservation and Restoration of the New University of Lisbon (DCR-UNL) was established in 1998, its origins coming from the former Escola Superior de Conservação e Restauro (ESCR), in Lisbon. ESCR (1989-1998) was an independent school which offered a 4-years "Bacharelato". The establishment of the Department was assisted by the UNL’s Faculty of Sciences and Technology, in particular by the Department of Chemistry. The university reformulated the curriculum, added 1 year and established a complete 5-year "Licenciatura". At the beginning, a transition plan of 3 semesters was organized for the students coming from the former ESCR, in order they to obtain the "Licenciatura". Admission At the beginning, the university inherited ESCR’s admission system which was based on specific pre-requisites. At the moment the university dropped this system and the entrance is based only on the academic merits of the candidate on a national basis. In the first years, DCR-UNL offered 15 places for admission - the same as ESCR – but during the next years the number grew progressively so that today there are 25 places available each year. Internal Structure Management Commission Fernando Santana - Director of FCT-DCR-UNL Fernando Pina – Coordinator of the CR Department Raquel Henriques da Silva Collaborators in the Department's Establishment Adília Alarcão – Art History Pedro Redol – Art History Practical Conservation Courses Maria Conceição Casanova – Conservation of Graphic Documents Ana Claro – Conservation of Medieval Manuscripts Stephan Schäfer – Conservation of Paintings Micaela Sousa – Conservation of Textiles Augusta Lima – Conservation of Ceramics and Glass Sara Fragoso - Conservation of Metals General Courses Fernando Pina – Principles of Chemistry, Laboratory Techniques and Safety Maria João Melo – History and Techniques of Art Production (HTAP), Methods of Examination and Analysis (MEA) António Pires de Matos - MEA, Ceramics and Glass Ana Isabel Seruya – Cultural Management, MEA Maria Filomena Macedo – Biodeterioration, Preventive Conservation Pedro Redol – Art History Agnés le Gac – Drawing, HTAP Ana Claro - HTAP Rita Macedo – Art History Catarina Villamariz – Art History Márcia Vilarigues - Physicist, Expert on Glass Rui Silva – Materials Science (Metals) See a complete list including disciplines taught by professors from other departments Specialisations Currently, DCR-UNL offers a post-Bologna education system: a Bachelor Degree ("Licenciatura") of 180 ECTS credits and two master degrees – Master in Conservation and Restoration (MA) and Master in Conservation Science (MSc) – of 120 ECTS credits. The bachelor degree is designed to generally introduce students to each specialisation, the ultimate choice of the student for one specialisation being made only on the master level. The final year of the master is dedicated to an internship that can take place in the university, in a national museum or abroad. At the moment, DCR-UNL offers the following specialisations: textiles, paintings, paper, metal, stone, ceramic and glass. Internships, International programs DCR-UNL strongly encourages students to study abroad through the Erasmus program, as others foreign students are welcomed to study at DCRUNL. Students from Italy, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Brazil, and from the United States have already studied temporarily here. It would be also possible for a foreign student to undertake the complete CR course, although this situation would be a premier. Laboratory Equipment The department includes spacious and well equipped laboratories of conservation of graphic documents, paintings, metals, textiles, ceramic and glass, but also laboratories for applied sciences, such as chemistry and biodeterioration, and a photographic studio. Apart the regular conservation equipment, the laboratories dispose of other equipment such as a light ageing chamber, a digital x-ray machine prototype built by the department itself and an anoxia chamber which uses nitrogen extracted from the atmosphere. To perform chemical analyses, the laboratories are also well prepared - X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and a portable Raman Spectrometer – equipment which can be complemented by that of the Department of Chemistry, if necessary.
From left to right: DCR-UNL Laboratories of Conservation - Image 1. Painting; Image 2. Graphic Documents; Image 3. Metal; Image 4. Glass; Image 5. Textiles; and Images 6-8. Some of the available equipment in the laboratories of DCR-UNL.
Publications
DCR-UNL has published papers and reports on several occasions but does not have a periodic publication. However, the bachelor and master thesis are available for consultation on the University's library. Right now, the department is thinking to make them available also on the internet. Projects One of the main projects undergoing at DCRUNL is coordinated by Dr. Maria João Melo and concerns the research of 12 illuminated manuscripts from the 12th century. According to Dr. Melo, "to identify the pigments as well as their composition, proportions and binding media, microsamples are collected under the microscope and analysed by different techniques. The manuscripts were analysed in situ for two weeks, using a portable Raman coupled with a microscope and are now being analysed by FTIR". At the moment, two master students are doing their thesis trying to reproduce the same pigments that were used in the manuscripts. The conservators, art historians and students involved in this project also organised children workshops and step-by-step workshops open to the large public. Another interesting project in which the department is involved, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, concerns the study of pre-Columbian textiles, some dating from the 2nd century BC. The project, supervised by Dr. Melo, makes also the subject of the master thesis of Isa Rodrigues, who is trying to establish which dyeing plants were used on these textiles, by extracting dyes from microsamples and comparing them by HPLC with similar dyes she obtained from American and European flowers and plants. Micaela Sousa, the responsible for the textile conservation laboratory, presented us the results of some other undergoing projects, among which a new environmentally friendly technique for the cleaning of historic textiles. This technique uses liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) as dry cleaning solvent in order to remove dirt from the fibers. The results of this research were published in the Green Chemistry Journal: "The art of CO2 for art conservation: a green approach to antique textile cleaning", by Micaela Sousa, Maria João Melo, Teresa Casimiro and Ana Aguiar-Ricardo. Dr. Maria Filomena Macedo showed us the facilities of the biodeterioration laboratory, where the deterioration mechanism of several materials by biologic or physical agents is studies. The evolution of the samples inoculated with specific cultures is observed in order to fully establish the deterioration mechanisms. Interview with Dr. Fernando Pina
Indeed, we inherit the background and the experience from ESCR. ESCR had good conservation training but the school was somehow isolated as is always difficult when there is no faculty to support a department. I discussed my opinion with the director of ESCR, Ana Isabel Seruya and with Dr. Adília Alarcão that their activity should be expanded, involving more scientists and applying different sciences to cultural heritage. In this way the department could grow and more student places could be created. This initiative finalised with the establishment of the new Department of Conservation and Restoration within the New University of Lisbon (DCR-UNL). In the beginning we took over ESCR's education system but over the years, we improved the programme and right now we have more practical disciplines even than the former school. Between 2002 and 2006 the university was evaluated by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and the results were very promising, but we are continuously trying to improve our department. Your university recently implemented the Bologna process. How was the transition managed by the department? In 1999, when we started this course, we knew that the Bologna process was coming and we planed everything to facilitate this transition. Basically, for us to implement the process was only to convert our own ECTS credits to those of Bologna. It was very easy to introduce it since we, and also the students, were already prepared for it. The Bologna process is a significant transition. Considering that by international standards, the minimum training to become conservator-restorer requires 5 years, what is your opinion about this 2 cycle training? I truly hope that all our students will continue their training to obtain the master degree. If they want, they can graduate the first cycle here and complete their education with a Master Degree somewhere else. If they prefer to stop after 3 years of study, they could still work in the domain doing preventive conservation. In my opinion, they will not be enough prepared to perform the job of a conservation technician, but preventive conservation is also very important and in this way they could, for example, work in a museum without doing practical conservation. We always repeat to the students to complete the 5 years and we encourage them a lot exactly thinking on this issue. However, we planned our classes so we can give potentialities also to those people that decide to leave after 3 years. Otherwise, we would risk putting on the market a fellow that is not able to do anything in conservation. Can you give an insight into the Master in Conservation that your department is currently running? The Master in Conservation and Restoration is intended for hands-on conservation and virtually is the continuation of the first 3 years of study. Currently, there are 11 students undertaking this course, but there are 20 places available for this master degree as we expect the number of the students to grow in the next years. What about the Master in Conservation Science? Which is the difference between them and why such a division? It is what we call a "Master of Science" (MSc) and it started this year, as a collaboration between the Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear and our faculty. We had our first experience last year, but as the course was not publicised enough, we had few candidates. Next year we will promote this program more, as there are many students coming from scientific backgrounds that could be useful for cultural heritage, applying science to conservation. There are some rules for the admission to these master courses. In the first place, if a student wants to undertake the hands-on conservation master, (s)he should previously accumulate the necessary credits from the first 3 years. This way we avoid having candidates without the necessary background to make conservation. On the other hand, a student that graduated our conservation course can at any time follow the Master in Conservation Science because (s)he already has the necessary preparation and background. For the moment, this is the system we thought best to adopt. We may change it in the future but from what I’ve seen, there was no conservation student from our course that wanted to make the Master in Science. I have to confess that this system may not be in the spirit of Bologna but we do what we consider to be better. When are the students introduced to real works of art during their training? The students work on real works of art since their first year. We encourage as much as possible the practice as hands-on conservators during their training. Which are the acceptance criteria for the works of art? We accept works of art from everywhere, independently of their provenance. Normally they come from museums, private collectors or churches. Does the Department charge for the conservation interventions performed? The museums do not have to pay for the intervention nor for the materials but they do pay for the insurance of the objects. We work with national museums and on our turn we are paid by the state so it is normal not to charge museums for our work. The private clients pay all the costs that are involved: the materials, the work and the insurance. Do you encourage students towards publishing the experience accumulated during their training? Yes, we encourage them a lot because no matter how good is their work, it is not enough if it is not published. We are trying to publish our research in the good journals. In Portugal, 90% or more of the publications in conservation reported in the Web of Knowledge ISI* come from our department. The master students, the researchers and professors must publish their work but we also encourage students to publish as much as possible. Even more, a student, to obtain the maximum evaluation should publish at least one paper in the Web of Knowledge. For example, one of our projects, "The colour purple", made in collaboration with João Seixas de Melo from the University of Coimbra, was highlighted in Nature Journal (447/2007). Is the Department a member of ENCoRE? Yes, the department is member of ENCoRE. We inherited our membership from the former ESCR which was a founding member. ENCoRE's membership is very important to us, not only because it is an international reference but also because it is a way of making contacts and to keep ourselves informed. Our delegate is Stephan Schäfer. Do you keep contact with your students after they graduate? We keep contact with them. Many of our students are working in conservation and have their own studios. If they need to perform analyses, they can use our laboratories. Also, we encourage the students to work themselves with the scientific equipment; they already know how to use it. In these cases, they only pay for the consumables. You have a background in chemistry, how did you come to apply chemistry to conservation? It is strange but I got involved in conservation by two main reasons. First, because of my wife (Dr. Maria João Melo), who is also a chemist. She made a postdoc in conservation in Italy and since then we decided to change the course of our life. The second reason was that the FCT Rector asked me to do it. 10 years ago, when the department was established, a professor with some experience to help the Management Committee was necessary. I am a chemical engineer by profession, and i have continued my work - to teach and research in photochemistry - but I accepted this position because I like challenges.
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Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das ArtesRua Diogo Botelho 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal www.artes.ucp.pt (English and Portuguese) Text based on the information provided by Dr. Ana Calvo - Chair of Conservation and Restoration Department of the School of Arts
Short History
The School of the Arts (EA) was created in 1996 with the “Licenciatura” degrees on Sound and Image, and Music. Later, the Art degree was added and was divided in two sectors: Art and Heritage, and Conservation and Restoration, this last being implemented in 2001. The “Licenciatura” degree in Conservation and Restoration was organized in 4 years: the first two years were general and last two were more specialised. After the implementation of the Bologna process the course was divided in 2 cycles: a 3-years bachelor (180 ECTS) and a 2-years master (120 ECTS). Admission There is a limit of 30 students per year although in fact around 20 are admitted. The admission is subject to some pre-requisites that the applicants should fulfil. These basically consist in general and specific written comments, a test of manual dexterity and an interview. Internal Structure Coordination Ana Calvo - Coordinator of the Conservation and Restoration Degree Gonçalo Vasconcelos e Sousa - Executive Coordinator Practical Conservation Courses Ana Cudell – Conservation of Contemporary Art Maria Aguiar – Conservation of Paintings Salomé Carvalho – Conservation of Paintings Patrícia Mestre – Techniques of Preservation and Conservation of Stuccoes Ana Lourenço - Conservation of Polichromed Sculpture General Courses Victor Teixeira - History, Portuguese Culture Laura Castro – Art History José Ferrão Afonso – Art History Arlindo Silva – Drawing, Paintings and Sculpture Jorgelina Carballo – Physics, Chemistry and Biology Luís Bravo - Imaging Luís Elias Casanovas - Preventive Conservation Maria de Jesus Monge - Museology Nieves Valentín - Biology Carmen Garrido - Documentation Ana Brito - Paintings Conservation Fernando Silva Gusmão - Security Dalila Rodrigues - Art History António Filipe Pimentel - Art History José Manuel Barros - Conservation See the complete list of the teaching staff Specialisations During the initial 4-year program, there were available two specialisations: painting and sculpture-woodcarving. The student was choosing one of them for the last 2 years of the program. Now, after introducing the Bologna process, the specialisations are to be chosen at the master level and change every year. The Master of Conservation of Cultural Assets comprises the specialisations of Techniques and Conservation of Paintings, and Preventive Conservation. Next year, the specialisation in Techniques and Conservation of Sculpture and Woodcarving it is expected to start. Laboratory Equipment EA facilities are very well equipped: 6 laboratories for practical work; a photographic studio for examinations in visible, grazing, ultraviolet and infrared light; an x-ray room; physics and chemistry laboratory; biology laboratory; an area for documentation and for reception of the artworks; a room for treatment of infestations and a quarantine room. Apart the regular conservation equipment, EA disposes of portable x-ray equipment, IR reflectography and portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF).
UCP-EA Laboratories of Conservation.
Publications The School of the Arts has several publications and a magazine of decorative arts. Concerning the conservation department, a book entitled Uma introduçao a… Técnicas e Conservação de Pintura was published by Prof. Ana Calvo in 2006. Also, the publication of a magazine is planned for the future. Projects The School of the Arts created a Centre of Conservation and Restoration that promotes the study, the safeguarding and preservation of the cultural and artistic heritage. The Centre offers conservation services such as practical treatment, analyses, documentation and also interventions in situ. Among its activities, the centre has also organised conferences on subjects such as conservation of mural paintings or altars. The school has participated in International Congresses and summer campaigns in Spain, and also in a European project on the use of the Synchrotron for the analysis of works of art.
Talking to Eliana Gigante Amorim
Why did you choose EA-UCP over the other universities in Portugal? After I decided this was the area I was really interested in, I searched the courses in Portugal. From the three courses that exist, the curricular plan I liked most was the one from UCP. It has practical disciplines of conservation, drawing, sculpture and painting, and theoretical ones such as material study, biology, physics and chemistry, art history, decorative arts, philosophy, deontology, museology, methodology and photography among many others. I though, therefore, it would be the most dynamic and comprehensive courses of all. Which are the pre-requisites a student needs to be admitted? How stiff is the competition? Normally there are different phases for the prerequisites. They are not very complicated. Part of the admission consists in a test of general knowledge of Art History, from which it is previously chosen a period so that the applicants can prepare their study. On my case, for example, it was contemporary art. There is also a practical test to determine the applicant’s manual dexterity but it is not very complex. Fortunately the university has plenty of vacancies so the access is very easy. What are the costs involved to study at EAUCP? Are there any permanent fees? It is perhaps major inconvenient of this course. The fees are depending on the ECTS credits of the disciplines the student learns. As we have 30 ECTS per semester, the monthly fees raise up to 450-500€. There are, however, scholarships from the State and the University to which financially challenged students can apply. What is your opinion about introducing the Bologna system in the Universities? As in any transition, initially it is very complicated. Both teachers and students have to adapt and it’s not always easy. Now that the transition process has ended, I think it works well. I was very satisfied that the course went through the Bologna process. I had the opportunity to start my university with a general course in an area I have chosen and to receive a diploma in only three years, which is always a stimulus. After that, it is convenient to make a specialisation, which can be on another faculty, inside or outside the country. I think this is very beneficial, it encourages the interchange between courses and it motivates students to continue to study. Are you going to apply for the master degree? I would like to attend the Master of Conservation of wood at UCP that should open next year. I’m very satisfied with the course I’m attending right now and if this Master will open it will be very good for me to complement what I have learned so far. I am interested in wood as conservation material and I would like to extend my knowledge in this specific area. Which are your plans after graduation? For now, my priorities are to study. I’m still young and I would like to deepen my knowledge as much as possible before entering the labour market. In the future I would also like to work in conservation in an area devoted to the protection of heritage. I deeply regret the countless heritage losses which we daily witness, and I would like to do something against it. I would like to add that the university is not only about learning a specific area. We should open our horizons and try to grow as professionals but also as individuals. It is important to work on art objects but also to know how to compose and present a work, to research, to make oral presentations, to know to defend our opinions and our interests among many other things. The Conservation course of EA - UCP allows this professional and personal development. We thank Eliana for her enthusiast collaboration. The interview was carried out by email, in Portuguese. Interview with Dr. Ana Calvo
UCP at Porto created the School of Arts (EA) in 1996 to offer studies on Art, Music and Sound and Image. Specifically, it was considered to integrate the area of Conservation and Restoration within the Art degree. For this purpose, a specific area was built to accommodate the department. The main objective was to fill the north of Portugal training gap and to assist the artistic heritage of the region, from which a considerable part is religious heritage. What are the requirements to become a teacher at the Conservation Department of EA-UCP? The requisites are the same as for other Universities. For the specific Conservation area, beyond teaching experience, we looked for teachers with the highest level of academic achievements and practical experience on their specialty. You are the coordinator of the conservation course. As a Spanish conservator, why did you choose teaching in Portugal? I was invited by the School of Arts Direction to start the Conservation area, to acquire the necessary initial equipment and to organize the core curriculum. And, when I saw the fantastic facilities that UCP had created for it and the enormous potential of this area on the region, I decided to accept the challenge. This collaboration with Portugal in conservation and restoration is being a magnificent experience for me. Apart from coordinating the School of the Arts, what other activities do you develop in your professional life? Apart teaching, I have always worked privately in painting conservation. I work as freelance for private clients as well as for institutions. I give classes and specialized courses in different Universities and centres, mostly at master and PhD level. The students work on real works of art during their training. What is the acceptance criteria of works of art and what are their origins? When the program for the different courses is decided, we establish which type of works of art and which problems would be suitable and interesting for the practice courses. We have protocols and agreements with different institutions – museums, town halls, churches - from where the works of art are selected to be conserved under the supervision of the teachers. The owners accept that the respective works of art are to be treated by the students and for this reason, they only pay the price of the materials required for the treatment. Does the Conservation Centre charge for the conservation interventions performed? CCR is a Conservation Center with many employed professionals, which works independently of the training course. The Centre organises different projects and for the requests received from private clients or institution, it establishes the methodology and budgets for the works of art. The services that are offered, but also the technical studies organised for other conservator-restorers or enterprises, can be consulted on our website. When the course was created, the university implemented a 4-years “Licenciatura” instead of the normal 5 years of study. After the implementation of the Bologna process the university adopted the 2 cycles. How was this transition managed? With the Bologna course conversion, the new study plan was designed to offer a generalist conservation training on the most comprehensive way possible at Bachelor level (6 semesters), leaving the specialisations for the master level (4 semesters). We had also in mind the needs of the students in transition by making the necessary equivalences. Considering that by international standards the minimum training to become conservator-restorer requires 5 years, what is your opinion of this 2 cycle training? According to the fact that one never ends to learn, if a student likes what (s)he studied, it is desirable to continue to the master level. In the first three years, the student can realise what conservation of cultural heritage consist of and if this is the carrier he/she really wants. Normally, if it is someone mature, who comes from the secondary school, (s)he will realise the necessity of the Master specialisation. According to the Bologna specifications, this first degree – the bachelor - should prepare the student for the “labour market”. Hence, one holding a bachelor, prepared as a generalist conservator can take care of collections, and only one holding a specialisation – a Master - will be able to conserve works of art. The School of the Arts is running a PhD degree in Conservation of Paintings. Can you tell us about it? As the stages were completed, the first students of the old program graduated, the masters were created and the need to advance towards research trough a PhD program appeared. The curricular part of the PhD has already ended and the first 10 students are now making their thesis. Some are teachers and students of the University while others came from Lisbon to undertake it. Their research subjects, what they are working on as well as their supervisors can be seen on our website. Part of them develop their research focusing towards new technologies, others are involved in the study of ancient or contemporary art techniques and materials and others in criteria of preventive conservation. Is the School of the Arts a member of ENCoRE? Being member of ENCoRE is a fundamental aspect for all the members of our Department. At the moment we have just sent all the necessary documentation to request the membership and we expect to become members in the near future. Does the Department usually follow the students on their professional life after they graduate? In many cases we do, because we provide them orientation on extracurricular internships in Portugal and in foreign countries. On their first job they also count on our collaboration and help. I would like to add that I am very proud to participate in this project which was possible due to the people that are making a great work (teachers, administrative and auxiliary staff…) as well as of the results that are already showing (students accomplishments, research projects…).
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UNRECOGNISED CONSERVATION TRAINING
In Portugal there are some other training courses in conservation that do not offer a university level degree, or only offer short courses, with the duration of less than 5 years, thus they are classified as unrecognised courses, according with the international accepted criteria (such as those of E.C.C.O. among others). We wish to remind that in this section we are not making a judgement of value but we simply list all the available institutions. Thus, a course is classified as unrecognised when its degree is not sufficient to achieve, by international standards, the professional level of conservator-restorer. The Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education has recently introduced a national scheme of technical education through the establishment of Courses of Technological Specialisation (CET). These are intended mainly for those people that did not finished the secondary education and normally involve partnerships of professional schools and higher education institutions. CET courses last 3 semesters (60-90 ECTS credits) and grant a professional qualification of level IV. It should also be explained that there is a particularity in Portugal’s conservation training, believed not to have a parallel in most European countries. The “professional schools” are an alternative to the regular secondary education and are intended to train technicians for the market in the most diverse fields (level III). The degrees from these schools are equivalent to the regular secondary education degrees, thus the students may apply to the university. Some of these schools are teaching Conservation, and although it is not an international recognized training level for a conservator-restorer, there are many individuals holding these degrees on the Portuguese market. Higher Education ESTAL – Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Artes de Lisboa www.estal.pt ESTAL is a private higher education school created in 1990. At the moment, this school offers a post-graduation course in conservation and restoration. This part time course - working Friday evenings and Saturdays - offers 42 ECTS and a certificate of completion. In order to be admitted, the candidates should have a Bachelor degree or equivalent. The course is intended for professionals interested on cultural heritage, such as conservator-restorers, archaeologists, architects, engineers, etc. Faculty of Human and Social Sciences (FCHS) - Universiy of Algarve (UA) www.ualg.pt UA, following perhaps the last years tendency in Higher Education institutions, attempted to open a Bachelor in Conservation, with two different profiles: Built Heritage and Archaeological Heritage. This second profile was specifically designed for the conservation of archaeological materials and also to fulfil the lack of a similar training in this specialisation in the country. However, even if the course opened, there were not enough students to apply and the course remained in stand-by. Portucalense University (UP) (Porto) www.uportu.pt UP is a private university located in Porto. Its Department of Education Sciences and Heritage offers three specialisation programs (60 ECTS): Preventive Conservation, Conservation and Restoration of Tiles and Ceramics. In order to be admitted, the candidates should have a Bachelor degree or equivalent, although no background in conservation is required. Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva Foundation (FRESS) (Lisbon) www.fress.pt FRESS is constituted by the Institute of Arts and Crafts (IAO) and by the Higher School of Decorative Arts (ESAD). IAO in partnership with ESAD offer four CET courses (66 ECTS) on conservation and restoration of: Decorative Stuccoes, Mural Painting, Panel Painting and Wood and Furniture. Aside, IAO also offers courses on several artistic techniques such as fresco, gilding, polishing, and restoration of ceramics. SECONDARY EDUCATION Escola Profissional de Arqueologia (Marco de Canaveses) www.epa.pt The Professional School of Archaeology offers a secondary level training of “qualified professionals that […] are able to conserve under direct supervision of a higher technician”. Training is offered in the following areas: tiles, ceramics and glass; archaeological and ethnographic assets; graphic and photographic documents; textiles; sculpture; painting; stone; mural paintings; metals and wood. IAI – Instituto das Artes e da Imagem (Porto) www.iai.pt IAI was created in 1994 and, according their website, its objective is to promote Art with specialised artistic courses. In 2005, it started to teach the course of Conservation and Restoration of Heritage (level III). The available areas are: wood, stone, metals, textiles and painting. Árvore – Escola Artística e Profissional (Porto) www.escoladasvirtudes.pt EA is a professional school dedicated to Arts. The school offers secondary level training in the area of conservation of paintings. EPRPS - Escola Profissional de Recuperação do Património de Sintra (Odrinhas) www.ep-recuperacao-patrimonio.rcts.pt EPRPS, created in 1989 by the Town Hall of Sintra, has an Assistant Conservator-Restorer course with training in the following areas: tiles, wood, stuccoes, mural painting, metals and stone.
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