Salomé García Bacallao | Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (original) (raw)
Uploads
Conference Presentations by Salomé García Bacallao
NACCA-MACCH 2019 Conference, 2019
The ‘Wifredo Lam’ Contemporary Art Center, in Havana, Cuba, is the stakeholder of a valuable cult... more The ‘Wifredo Lam’ Contemporary Art Center, in Havana, Cuba, is the stakeholder of a valuable cultural heritage produced during the Havana Biennials, since 1984. Although the study and care of the collection is a priority of the institution, the staff in charge does not have specialized training in conservation and has not been able to maintain an adequate storage space or a complete registration system. All of which has caused the loss of information and, in many cases, of the artworks’ physical integrity. The characterization of the collection, in particular of twenty-two art installations, allowed defining this as the most vulnerable section, due to the works’ conceptual and material complexity and the difficulties for their storage and display.
This presentation included some results from exploring documentation models for contemporary artworks, including methods for communicating with artists. Gathering the views and experiences of museum professionals, curators, and artists, was essential to reconstruct the “biography” of the artworks examined. Most of the artists in the collection reside outside the country and given the current limitations in Cuba, including access high-speed internet connections that would allow conducting virtual interviews, it was necessary to establish the communication through online email questionnaires. These allowed obtaining information on some of the artists’ creative processes and approaches towards the conservation of their work, becoming a starting point towards establishing the communication between the institution and the artists in its collection, with the participation of a conservator, as a crucial practice in the process of making decisions about the care and display of the artworks to preserve their authenticity.
The Havana Country Club was founded in 1911, influenced by the North American cultural penetratio... more The Havana Country Club was founded in 1911, influenced by the North American cultural penetration in Cuba during the Republic. In 1961, after nationalizing the property, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara decided to create on these grounds “the most beautiful arts academy in the world” for the children of the Revolution proletariat, rejecting the previous exclusive use of the land, accessible only to the most select bourgeoisie. On this artificial landscape were erected the National Art Schools, recognized since 2012 as a National Monument and currently in the UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List. The former Country Club building, now the University’s Rectorate, is in the center of this architectural complex and was integrated and conserved as an example of the social transformation of a space that represented the values of the elite and passed on to the hands of the people as a cultural space.
This poster presents the results of a course project conducted by the Mural Painting Conservation Workshop Professor Yolanda González, with the participation of the conservation students M. Salomé García, Alejandro Pacheco, Anabel Herrera, Dayron Simón, Henry Rodríguez, Yasiel Álvarez and Yoslandy Rodríguez. The objective was to perform a technical examination of the mural painting located in the lobby of the Country Club building, leading to a conservation proposal. The mural painting covers three walls of the lobby; it represents the exotic vegetation and landscape of the original golf course and was conceived as a decorative complement to this space. Without any previous documentation or marks, the title, author and execution date are unknown; the dating of the building indicates it could be between the 1920’s and 1950’s. The work was executed with mix dry techniques, using a palette ranging from gray, sepia, ocher and green tonalities; laboratory studies are required to investigate the pigments and agglutinants composing the colors. The technical examination confirmed the gravity of the state of conservation of the work and that it has been caused mostly by direct human action and the lack of an effective maintenance policy. The most extended damages were noticed in the alterations of the paint layers (powdering, flaking, abrasions, chromatic alterations, humidity stains, natural deposits, vandalism), and in the support in a lesser degree (cracks, lacunae in superficial layers).
The documentation process proved the work presents values of historical and patrimonial relevance and is pertinent as an integral element of the architectural complex allowing its interpretation by highlighting the protagonist role of the landscape. Another result was the hypothesis of the authorship of the mural by the renowned Cuban painter Domingo Ramos, hinted by bibliographic references and iconographic similarities. Further investigation is recommended.
Drafts by Salomé García Bacallao
Papers by Salomé García Bacallao
TRABAJO FINAL PARA LA ASIGNATURA CONSERVACIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO DIGITAL: ARTE DE LOS NUEVOS MEDIOS i... more TRABAJO FINAL PARA LA ASIGNATURA CONSERVACIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO DIGITAL: ARTE DE LOS NUEVOS MEDIOS impartida por M. SALOMÉ CUESTA VALERA, MÁSTER EN CONSERVACIÓN Y RESTAURACIÓN DE BIENES CULTURALES, UNIVERSIDAD POLITÉCNICA DE VALENCIA, CURSO 2018/19
NACCA-MACCH 2019 Conference, 2019
The ‘Wifredo Lam’ Contemporary Art Center, in Havana, Cuba, is the stakeholder of a valuable cult... more The ‘Wifredo Lam’ Contemporary Art Center, in Havana, Cuba, is the stakeholder of a valuable cultural heritage produced during the Havana Biennials, since 1984. Although the study and care of the collection is a priority of the institution, the staff in charge does not have specialized training in conservation and has not been able to maintain an adequate storage space or a complete registration system. All of which has caused the loss of information and, in many cases, of the artworks’ physical integrity. The characterization of the collection, in particular of twenty-two art installations, allowed defining this as the most vulnerable section, due to the works’ conceptual and material complexity and the difficulties for their storage and display.
This presentation included some results from exploring documentation models for contemporary artworks, including methods for communicating with artists. Gathering the views and experiences of museum professionals, curators, and artists, was essential to reconstruct the “biography” of the artworks examined. Most of the artists in the collection reside outside the country and given the current limitations in Cuba, including access high-speed internet connections that would allow conducting virtual interviews, it was necessary to establish the communication through online email questionnaires. These allowed obtaining information on some of the artists’ creative processes and approaches towards the conservation of their work, becoming a starting point towards establishing the communication between the institution and the artists in its collection, with the participation of a conservator, as a crucial practice in the process of making decisions about the care and display of the artworks to preserve their authenticity.
The Havana Country Club was founded in 1911, influenced by the North American cultural penetratio... more The Havana Country Club was founded in 1911, influenced by the North American cultural penetration in Cuba during the Republic. In 1961, after nationalizing the property, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara decided to create on these grounds “the most beautiful arts academy in the world” for the children of the Revolution proletariat, rejecting the previous exclusive use of the land, accessible only to the most select bourgeoisie. On this artificial landscape were erected the National Art Schools, recognized since 2012 as a National Monument and currently in the UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List. The former Country Club building, now the University’s Rectorate, is in the center of this architectural complex and was integrated and conserved as an example of the social transformation of a space that represented the values of the elite and passed on to the hands of the people as a cultural space.
This poster presents the results of a course project conducted by the Mural Painting Conservation Workshop Professor Yolanda González, with the participation of the conservation students M. Salomé García, Alejandro Pacheco, Anabel Herrera, Dayron Simón, Henry Rodríguez, Yasiel Álvarez and Yoslandy Rodríguez. The objective was to perform a technical examination of the mural painting located in the lobby of the Country Club building, leading to a conservation proposal. The mural painting covers three walls of the lobby; it represents the exotic vegetation and landscape of the original golf course and was conceived as a decorative complement to this space. Without any previous documentation or marks, the title, author and execution date are unknown; the dating of the building indicates it could be between the 1920’s and 1950’s. The work was executed with mix dry techniques, using a palette ranging from gray, sepia, ocher and green tonalities; laboratory studies are required to investigate the pigments and agglutinants composing the colors. The technical examination confirmed the gravity of the state of conservation of the work and that it has been caused mostly by direct human action and the lack of an effective maintenance policy. The most extended damages were noticed in the alterations of the paint layers (powdering, flaking, abrasions, chromatic alterations, humidity stains, natural deposits, vandalism), and in the support in a lesser degree (cracks, lacunae in superficial layers).
The documentation process proved the work presents values of historical and patrimonial relevance and is pertinent as an integral element of the architectural complex allowing its interpretation by highlighting the protagonist role of the landscape. Another result was the hypothesis of the authorship of the mural by the renowned Cuban painter Domingo Ramos, hinted by bibliographic references and iconographic similarities. Further investigation is recommended.
TRABAJO FINAL PARA LA ASIGNATURA CONSERVACIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO DIGITAL: ARTE DE LOS NUEVOS MEDIOS i... more TRABAJO FINAL PARA LA ASIGNATURA CONSERVACIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO DIGITAL: ARTE DE LOS NUEVOS MEDIOS impartida por M. SALOMÉ CUESTA VALERA, MÁSTER EN CONSERVACIÓN Y RESTAURACIÓN DE BIENES CULTURALES, UNIVERSIDAD POLITÉCNICA DE VALENCIA, CURSO 2018/19