The Green Endeavor in Art ResToration (GREEN ART) is a pioneering project reshaping the future of art conservation across Europe. Launched in 2020, GREEN ART integrates green technologies and sustainable practices to revolutionize traditional restoration methods.
The project acknowledges global climate change issues and focuses on innovative solutions that preserve artworks and reduce carbon footprints. Through:
© GREEN ART
Enhancement of advanced systems
By replacing existing polymers, solvents, and surfactants with highly biodegradable, natural, or low-impact materials, some of the most advanced remedial conservation systems currently available to conservators will be reinvented.
Development of entirely new systems
As part of this project, completely new systems will be formulated using green materials to replace traditional consolidants, coatings, and packaging materials still used in conservation practices regardless of their environmental impact or safety risks. Creating coatings and barriers that shield artwork from deterioration and have self-healing and reversibility features by design, or consolidants that fortify brittle or deteriorated artefacts, vegetal proteins and polysaccharides derived from renewable resources or cellulose/crustacean waste will be employed (remedial conservation).
GREEN ART stands apart through its collaborative spirit, which promotes knowledge exchange and innovation in museums, conservators, and scientists throughout Europe. The collective effort contributes to the accelerated adoption of sustainable practices and strengthens the resilience of cultural heritage to climate change.
GREEN ART seeks to disseminate its research, novel materials, and knowledge to the scientific and conservation communities, industry, and civil society.
Since its inception, the GREEN ART Project has produced publications to share insights, findings, and advances related to its mission of encouraging environmentally friendly and sustainable practices in art restoration. With twenty-eight collaborating institutions, the publications encompass a wide range of topics connected with sustainable materials, conservation science, and cultural heritage preservation.
A must-read, especially for conservators and cultural professionals!
Our Take
Humanity’s capacity for innovation and stewardship is exemplified by the GREEN ART project as we navigate the complexity of today’s world. The project implements sustainability measures alongside cultural heritage preservation, offering an opportunity for our planet’s artistic treasures. GREEN ART embodies the notion that preserving our past is imperative to ensuring a sustainable future, conserving the legacy of future generations through our commitment to green art restoration.
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