Conservation
Textile conservation of four archaeological fabrics from the medieval collections of the Sudan National Museum, Khartoum.
The idea of an exhibition about archaeological textiles was planned from the very beginning of the project. Because of her knowledge and great experience with archaeological textiles from Sudan and Egypt, I asked Barbara Czaja for collaboration in the planning and setting of the exhibition.
During our first study visit in the Sudan National Museum in February 2017, Barbara carefully examined the medieval textiles in the Museum’s storerooms. She selected four pieces which were in a condition which allow their transport into an external workshop to be conserved, because of the lack of a textile conservation department within the Museum.
The selected pieces were three textiles from Meinarti: KH 15601, KH 19129 and KH 18135 as well as a pair of woollen socks, KH 18868, found in a Christian burial in Semna South, excavated by a mission of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.
Thanks to the help of our coordinator Mustafa Ahmed Elsharif Abdalla, we were ensured of the transport permit for the four textiles and we travelled with these precious fabrics to Warsaw and then to Barbara’s workshop.
The exhibition Hidden Textile Treasures in the collections of the Sudan National Museum (inaugurated on October 24th, 2019) was prepared in cooperation with the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences, the Sudan National Museum and the SFDAS.
The conservation of these four exceptional textiles was possible thanks to the generous funding of the National Science Centre, Poland, in the frame of the POLONEZ grant.
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- KH 18135 przed konserwacją / KH 18135 before conservation.
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- KH 15601 przed konserwacją / KH 15601 before conservation.
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- KH 18129 przed konserwacją / KH 18129 before conservation.
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- … wielkich puzzli 🙂 / … of a big puzzle 🙂
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- Mała część… / Small portion…
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- Spójrzcie na tę jedwabną nić – jest tak cienka że trudna ją uchwycić ! / Look at this silk thread – so thin, it was very difficult to catch it !
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- Barbara – morze cierpliwości / Barbara – sea of patience.
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- Igła przesuwa się co pół centymetra / The needle is picked every half centimeter.
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- Barbara w trakcie pracy nad tkanina KH 18135 / Barbara working on textile KH 18135.
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- Tkanina KH 18135 przygotowana do szycia / Textile KH 18135 prepared for sewing.
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- Tkanina KH 15601 po konserwacji / Textile KH 15601 after final conservation.
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- Tkanina KH 18129 – wstępny skład fragmentów /Textile KH 18129 – preliminary disposition of the fragments.
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- Fragmenty tkaniny KH 18129 słusza się na szklanym podkładzie, po upraniu / Fragments from textile KH 18129, drying on glass support after cleaning.
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- Jedwabna nić, farbowana odpowiednio do każdej tkaniny / Dyed silk thread, colours matching each textile.
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- Narzędzia konserwatorskie / Useful tools.
National Science Centre, Poland - “POLONEZ” funding scheme n° 2015/19/P/HS3/02100
Project receives funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 665778