The Museum of Al-Kafeel establishes a course in documenting and storing Heritage collectibles …

In a series of specialized courses held by the Museum of Al-Kafeel for valuables and manuscripts, of the Al-Abbass (p) Holy Shrine, a number of employees of the General Authority for Heritage and Antiquities of the iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has participated in a course of documentation methods, carpets' maintenance and methods to conserve it, as well as the mechanisms used in preventive maintenance for archaeological and Heritage collectibles.

The Head of the museum department, Mr. Sadiq Lazem explained to Al-Kafeel's Network:
"This session which focused on how to maintain and sustain the textile materials, archiving processes and the scientific methods of preservation and modern durability, is established in order to create a case of experiences' exchange, especially that the Museum of Al-Kafeel's staff has an accumulated experience in the field of the Heritage's preservation.
The Al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine, at the request of the Department of Antiquities, approve to implement all necessary measures to organize it."

He added: "This course falls within the framework of cooperation between the public Department of Heritage and the Al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine, Brothers in the Heritage Department would like to benefit from the experience of Al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine regarding storage of valuables at the museum of Al-Kafeel and the mechanisms in place to preserve them.
A futuristic vision of the holy shrine is settled in order to enlarge the interest and to develop ideas on the ground, and that because of its financial and scientific base to establish such courses in collaboration with institutions, such as the Iraqi Museum, the Heritage Department and the Iraqi universities. "

Noting: "The course focused on how to maintain and sustain the textile materials, archiving processes and the scientific methods of preservation and modern durability, Including the study of natural fibres used in different types of fabric, the characterization of physical and chemical methods of fibre's identification (natural, half-industrial and industrial), besides the study of factors that damage textiles and archaeological carpets, especially physical factors, various chemical, biological agents and methods used in the treatment and maintenance of textiles. "

Participants in the session proclaimed: "it is a good opportunity to participate in this session, which gave us a lot of new informations that are directly related to our work, and we were astonished to see the progress reached by the staff of the Museum that is comparable to what exists globally." They expressed also their desire to share in many courses of all levels to develop their abilities and hone their talents.

It is noteworthy that Al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine evaluates and sponsors many courses and seminars in various disciplines, including this session, in order to contribute to raising the level of cultural and scientific affiliates, in particular, and other institutions in general.