Spring 2015, the John Young Museum of Art held a preservation workshop lead by Asian Paper Conservator Hiroko Sakurai. Here is recap the event:
The two-day workshop focused on standards of paper conservation and was geared towards a multidisciplinary audience: students, faculty, and community members who are in the arts, history of art, curatorial, collection management, library science, and preservation. Works on paper, scrolls, and screens were examined (the make-up of some of our collections at JYMA). We covered a range of topics including: strategies for cleaning, safely handling, transporting, and storing these works will be presented.
Participant comments:
“I learned [many] things I hadn’t previously known about conservation techniques. It made me think of paper on a different level of understanding.”
“It was a personal, hands-on experience with an expert. Once in a lifetime experience.”
“Well-planned workshop. Content covered was helpful for both university students and museum professionals.”
“The workshop had a broad overview of handling and repair the artwork on paper. The hands-on activities were good as they really help in understanding the processes.”
About Hiroko Sakurai:
Asian Paper Conservator, Hiroko Sakurai was born in Kyoto, Japan, and studied Design at Kyoto Institute of Technology (京都工芸繊維大学). Following her education, she was an apprentice and assistant conservator at Kitaoka conservation studio in Kyoto and at the Asian conservation studio of Honolulu Academy of Arts from 2004-2009. Sakurai then became the assistant conservator for Thangkha conservation workshop in Thimphu, Bhutan in 2009, and from 2010-2011, volunteered her time to the Hirayama studio of The British Museum, and at the book and paper conservation studio in the Victoria and Albert Museum located in London. In 2011, Sakurai began her current position as an independent East-Asian painting and paper conservator for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Hamilton Library and many other institutions on O‘ahu.
We would like to thank the departments and organizations that made this program possible: the Student Activity & Program Fee Board (SAPFB), the John Young Museum of Art, the University of Hawaii at Mānoa Library Services, and the Department of Art & Art History.