Recanati e Restauro (ReR) is a non-profit social enterprise based in Recanati, Italy, which delivers international projects and cultural heritage training, and collaborates with local archives, museums, libraries, and collectors.
The course, ‘Minimum Intervention, Conservation Techniques’, was held from 10 to 28 June 2024, led by Giovanni Pagani (book and paper conservator, ReR Director), with assistance from Valeria Di Capizzi (book and paper conservator, ReR Associate) and Amalina Kohli Dave (paper conservator, ReR International Projects Manager).
My first impressions of ReR were of a small, but agile operation, with great care taken to arrange comfortable accommodation and provisions for the six course participants. Collected from the local train station in Giovanni’s little hatchback, we zoomed past picturesque fields, the road climbing, up past the thick stone walls of the old town and along a cobblestone street to eventually find the solid front door of a 17th century apartment (that I was delighted to discover would be my home for the next three weeks).
An exceptionally charming town, Recanati is best known as the birthplace of the philosopher-poet Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837). We quickly immersed into town life: busy days punctuated by church bells, grocery-runs to quirky bottega, and aperitivo after class in the piazza.
View from the ancient monastic hilltop garden, Orto sul Colle dell’Infinito, of the landscape surrounding the town of Recanati that inspired the poem L’Infinito (1819) by Giacomo Leopardi. Image credit Emily Keppel.
We were a highly motivated group with varied experience, from Mexico, Hong Kong, Portugal, Greece, Argentina, and Australia. ReR surveyed us beforehand to gauge expectations and tailor the course. We connected over free-flowing, lively discussions, finding shared interests and similar challenges in our paths to becoming book conservators.
The course was fast-paced and practical, as we each worked on individual books, the treatment pathways devised through group discussion and assessment. There was plenty of opportunity to try or observe new techniques, such as different methods of support extension and consolidation (including use of a microdrill), sewing consolidation, endband reinforcement, parchment flattening and infills, paper repairs, board repairs, papier mâché hollows, and the preservation of fragments within the binding structure.
This was not a beginner-level course, with some complex techniques challenging to execute, and requiring a high level of skill. Those with decades of experience were able to progress their treatments further than mid-career or emerging conservators. But no one was left behind, as the instructors worked hard to ensure everyone got to observe and understand the theory behind each approach.
The course explored the concept of minimum intervention in its direct application to book conservation (which has its roots in traditional bookbinding practice). Where previously a text may have been preserved at the expense of its binding (once considered interchangeable and replaceable), now there is greater appreciation for the historic material evidence bindings contain. Book conservation balances a need for durability and preservation to enable the complete historic reading of a book as both text and object. Crucially, we learnt that ‘minimum intervention’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘minimum treatment’. Some of the techniques demonstrated were highly invasive; however, the intent behind the approach was key: only intervening as much as necessary, with the aim to preserve as much of the existing physical material and structure as possible.
Site visits to the Comune di Recanati Archivio Storico, Biblioteca Francescana Picena di Falconara and Fabriano Paper Museum were a stimulating break from the studio, and ensured our work was grounded in collection context and material history. Even when the course presented us with challenges – of grasping a new technique, working with different tools or materials than we were used to, in an unfamiliar studio environment, and sharing a close workspace with people we had just met – these were all a great exercise in tenacity, teamwork and adaptability. Overall, the course demonstrated the value of encountering different ways of thinking, and encouraged us to problem-solve, remain flexible and reflect on our conservation practice going forward.
‘Minimum Intervention, Conservation Techniques’ is scheduled to run again in 2025. Visit https://recanatierestauro.folium.zone/ for more information.