MaltaMedia.com

Malta has been represented at the 10th Conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics (ICCM) by Ruby Jean Cutajar, an undergraduate reading for a Bachelor’s degree in Conservation and Restoration studies.

Ms Cutajar, sponsored by Tumas Group of Companies, gave a presentation on the ‘Preliminary Investigations of the Mosaics at the Ghajn Tuffieha Roman Baths in Malta’. The study was held under the tutorship of Francis Chetcuti and James Licari, both Heritage Malta conservators, the latter of whom assisted in representing Malta on this conference.

The conference, entitled ‘Conservation, an Act of Discovery’, was organised by the ICCM and the Centro Regionale per la progettazione e il Restauro (CRPR) of the Scicilian region. It discussed discoveries, documentation and management, scientific analysis, conservation-restoration interventions, preventive conservation as well as education and training.

Attended by experts from around 40 different countries, including popular Italian personality Vittorio Sgarbi, the Conference discussed not only ancient mosaics but also marble inlays such as church floors and monuments as well as modern interpretations of the technique.

“My participation at the Conference has been a wonderful experience and has helped put Malta on the map for future networking and collaboration,” said Ms Cutajar. “It is thanks to Tumas Group of Companies that we were able to join experts from around the world and discuss the field of conservation with curators, historians, archaeologists, conservators, engineers and geologists.”

Ms Cutajar will be able to pursue her study and take her research to a more scientific approach by means of a scholarship offered by the French embassy in Malta as part of the scientific bursaries offered to Maltese students for the year 2007/8.