Japanese Paper Conservation course begins

The 2016 edition of the JPC-Japanese Paper Conservation course was inaugurated in Tokyo on 29 August. This highly specialised three-week event will be held from 29 August – 16 September 2016.

The course has been organised once a year since 1992, in collaboration between the Japanese heritage authorities at National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and ICCROM. This year’s edition brings together ten professionals from around the world. For the first time, colleagues from Bhutan, Croatia and Iceland are joining the course.

The purpose of this course is to offer those caring for such collections outside Japan an insight into the materials and techniques of the Japanese paper-mounting tradition, and the principles guiding the care of such collections in Japan. Through improving their understanding of the basic characteristics of the Japanese paper tradition, the participants will be in a better position to make decisions concerning the care of Japanese artifacts in their collections.

The course aims also at offering opportunities to build bridges between the Japanese and the Western paper conservation traditions and to assess the applicability of the Japanese approach, materials and techniques also to non-Japanese cultural heritage.

At the inauguration ceremony, the Deputy Director-General at NRICP, Ms. Yamanashi, welcomed the course group by offering “an opportunity to enjoy traditional Japanese culture. We hope that you will be able to understand Japan where the people treasure things of the past."

We trust the 2016 course will be as fruitful as the previous ones, providing the participants not only with new knowledge and skills but also the chance to learn about and appreciate Japanese culture.

Member States represented (course participants and resource persons): Belgium, Croatia, Egypt, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain.

Japanese Paper Conservation course begins

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