From September 5-15, the U.S. government supported an artifact conservation workshop, “C5 Cultural Training Partnership,” at the Uzbekistan State Museum of History in Tashkent. The Director of Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Gil Stein, and instructors Fabio Colombo, Susanne Gänsicke, and Alison Whyte from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago joined eight conservators from the national museums of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and 12 conservators from different museums in Uzbekistan for the workshop.
On September 15, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’affairs Paul Poletes attended the closing ceremony for the workshop and presented certificates to the artifact conservators. “I am glad that we were able to support this first program to gather conservators from the national museums of all five central Asian states for joint training. I hope this program serves as a tool to link the national museums of all countries in the region in a formal network for institutional cooperation on heritage management,” the Chargé noted.
The countries in the region have a deep shared history and cultural heritage. The workshop participants learned how to overcome the same challenges in preserving artifacts in their museums and shared their experiences with their colleagues. During the workshop, American experts focused on internationally recognized standards and practices for the conservation of artifacts and constituent materials.
