◆ Two Collection Restoration Officers of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Leung Ka-fang (right) and Lui Chi-chiu (left), holding a "brown brush" for the restoration of cultural relics. Courtesy of the Palace Museum
◆ The restoration process of the giant Ming Dynasty silk book "Portrait of The Taoist Leibu Xin Tianjun". Image from the official website of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
◆ "Portrait of Taoism Leibu Xin Tianjun" before and after restoration. Image from the official website of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Hong Kong Palace Museum employs two restoration directors who combine technology and skills to be lost
The restoration of cultural relics aims to preserve precious and unique cultural property and is also one of the basic functions of the museum. Before the official opening of the Museum, the Hong Kong Palace Museum of Culture has recruited two collection restoration officers through global recruitment, each of whom has its own strengths, focusing on the repair of 2D cultural relics such as calligraphy and painting, as well as 3D cultural relics such as bronze and pottery. In an exclusive interview with Hong Kong Wen Wei Po a few days ago, they said that it is extremely important to formulate a restoration plan in the early stage, they should reshape the original appearance of cultural relics according to documents and history, and then preset the restoration plan, using modern "magic hands" that combine technology and technology to penetrate time and reproduce ancient classics. ◆ Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter Tang Wen
Chinese calligraphy and painting restorer Lv Zhichao has inherited many elites in the industry, including Gu Xiangmei of the Friar Museum of Art in the United States and Sun Jian of the Shanghai Museum, and has also studied copying and copying ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy with Shen Ya of the Shanghai Museum. In an interview with Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po, he said that the process of restoring ancient paintings is extremely rewarding, "Looking at a broken painting, little by little, my hands are glowing, it is like seeing that the cultural heritage has an opportunity to be passed on."
The repair process must be reversible
Because each artifact is damaged differently, it is called a sick condition in the industry, and the restoration process should also be adapted to local conditions. "We have to repair each painting according to its unique state, find the best solution, first of all, depends on the shape of the painting, whether it is hand-scrolled, scrolled, silk or paper, how damaged, before we start to think of a lot of strategies, to ensure that all restoration processes are reversible, can not cause new damage to cultural relics because of restoration." 」 Lu Zhichao said.
He pointed out that the experience of the restorer is crucial to the restoration effect, the practice needs to be bold and careful, sometimes although a certain plan is preset, but after the real operation, it is necessary to face countless unexpected changes, because of the unique properties of cultural relics, the restorer has to bear a lot of pressure, "It is difficult for us in the industry to say an example of failure, basically it is not allowed to fail."
Compared with Lui Chi-chao, who came from the "master-apprentice system", another restorer, Liang Jiafang, belonged to the Keban school. She studied archaeology and folklore conservation at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was also an associate researcher in the protection of archaeological excavations at the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute, and before joining the Hong Kong Palace Museum, she was an associate researcher at the University of Hong Kong, engaged in Chinese cultural relics research.
3D cultural relics are most afraid of accidental fragmentation
Liang Jiafang pointed out that the biggest risk of restoring 3D cultural relics is accidental fragmentation, especially ceramics and clay cultural relics, which may have a good appearance, but after several dynasties, the structure has been very fragile, and some mural painting cultural relics are also more complicated. "The composition of the paint may be a glue, which looks good but actually cannot withstand any restoration work, and if reinforced, the reinforcement may not be removed, which is not good for the long-term preservation of this cultural relic, so we have to go through a long period of review before we start."
In addition to mastering craftsmanship, cultural relics restoration also uses many scientific and technological elements. According to a paper she published earlier, she used microscopic techniques, scanning electron microscopy spectroscopy, Fourier infrared and other scientific means to analyze the material process of five ming and qing dynasty bronze statues unearthed in Datong, Shanxi.
The results show that the surface of the statue has been decorated several times, the gold sticker adopts the gold glue sticking process, the head of the bronze statue has blue stone blue, the lower part of the metal has red arsenic, and the mixed use of lead and lead white appears on the hands, face and clothing of the bronze statue. The analysis provides reference for further remediation.
The cultural relics restoration work includes two parts: "preservation" and "restoration", as the Hong Kong Palace Museum is still in the stage of establishment, there is no fixed collection for the time being, and most of the exhibits are loaned by other museums, and the team is currently mainly responsible for the preventive protection of the exhibits borrowed from the Palace Museum. Due to the humid weather in Hong Kong and the different humidity requirements of various exhibits, humidity control is an important protection procedure. "The arrival time of the product is expected to be summer, when the temperature difference between Hong Kong and Beijing is not large, the transportation process is also constant temperature and humidity, we will pay special attention to humidity control, calligraphy and painting is 50% to 55%, lacquerware is 50% to 60%, bronze in order to prevent stiffness, need not more than 35%, bronze and lacquer illuminance is also required, should be less than 50 lux." The glass of the display cabinet is UV coated, and a cold light source is used to provide a good environment for the cultural relics of the Forbidden City as much as possible." Liang Jiafang said.
Lui Hopes that the public will have a better understanding of this industry, and pointed out that there are also many excellent restorers in the local LCSD museum in Hong Kong, and they will communicate and learn more in the future to make a contribution to the restoration of Hong Kong's cultural heritage.