Countdown to departure is now 2 days - we are busy organising and packing the final materials we need to take with us.
On the 12th January we leave to fly to Goa in order to set up the Restorers sans Frontières project to -
- Restore some of the portraits of previous archbishops in the throne room of the Archbishop's House in Altinho, Panjim, Goa
- Teach picture conservation and gilding to locals in Goa who want to learn these important skills to preserve their heritage.
- Leave a legacy so that these skills can be passed on to future generations
Restorers sans Frontières will start in Goa but the aim is for this to be a pilot and to move on to other locations in the future. The purpose of the project is to open a school and train local people in the craft of conservation / restoration of their own heritage. We have been allocated paintings to restore in the Archbishop’s Palace in Goa. We have opened the school to anyone who would like to train with us and hopefully in conjunction with the City & Guilds, who currently examine our students, we can extend the qualifications to the new students in Goa offering them a certificate once they have completed the course. The course is not aimed at existing conservators, but instead is for willing men or women of all ages who are interested in the possibility of starting a new career in the field. Spaces are limited to no more than 8 students
This first pilot project will initially run for 4 or 5 weeks during January and February. During this time would-be conservators will receive an introduction to conservation equivalent to a first year diploma, learn the basic principles of cleaning, patching, relining, colour matching and varnishing, and do practical work on actual paintings and frames, with close tuition.
We are very excited that a number of current and past students have also volunteered to join us in Goa to help with this pilot project, and look forward to welcoming them to India in the coming weeks. At the last count there are 7(!) who plan to join us for what will be a fascinating experience.
The first Archbishop of Goa was Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira appointed in 1558. Archbishop Gaspar was born in Lagos, Portugal and died in Goa in 1576. There have been 33 archbishops since that time, up to the current one who is the Most Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Titular Archbishop of Cranganore, Primate of the East, Patriarch of the East Indies.