Staff Report
Published 00:00 23 November 2009
Laboratory to carry out restoration treatment on manuscripts and paper-based collections
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach) announced onday that a Paper and Book Conservation Laboratory has been launched at its Conservation Department, which is located at the former National Archive building in the Capital.
"The conservation department will perform conservation and restoration treatments, mainly for the magnificent collection of Islamic manuscripts and other paper-based collections in the possession of Adach.
"They will also be making recommendations for planning new facilities and improving already existing facilities for the storage and exhibition of manuscripts, photographs and archival materials owned by Adach," Mohammad Khalaf Al Mazroui, Director General of Adach, said.
The paper conservation laboratory is not only equipped to carry out practical conservation and restoration treatments on the fragile and intrinsically valuable objects, but also provides an opportunity to do further research on typical Islamic book structures, writing and painting materials.
Various techniques using different light sources such as incident, raking and transmission light and UV radiation will be used to carry out that research, while a stereomicroscope — which allows users to observe objects in 3D — that can be adapted to a digital camera, will form an essential part of the thorough analysis carried out in the laboratory.
A database of Islamic books will be established and shared with similar collections in and around the world.
