By Chen Hsuan-Yu (陳烜宇)

Translated by Melanie A. Leng

Taiwan is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences an average of over 1,000 perceptible earthquakes each year. Therefore, NMTL held the workshop Keep Calm and Conserve: a Workshop on Cultural Heritage Disaster Prevention and Salvaging in August to educate about the conservation and salvaging of cultural artifacts affected by earthquakes.

The terrifying earthquake that struck Hualien on April 3, 2024 reawakened fears of large-scale life-threatening disasters. Whenever an emergency alert sounds and the news becomes filled with images of collapsed buildings and buried structures and people, we may wonder: in the face of such disasters, aside from learning how to safely evacuate and take cover to protect ourselves, how can we protect our valuable   artifacts and cultural heritage?

In the session "Pre-Disaster Preparation," Assistant Professor Chang Ming-Hung (張銘宏) from Tainan National University of the Arts used library books and museum artifacts as examples to explain how to calculate the center of gravity of objects and design earthquake-resistant shelves. An earthquake simulator was used to allow participants to test and observe how books placed at different positions on bookshelves change the center of gravity of the bookshelves, and what effects this creates during an earthquake. The activity emphasized the importance of preventive measures for securing items to withstand earthquakes. By focusing on establishing preventive conservation measures, subsequent disasters can be prevented before they occur.

Conservator Chiu Shih-Hsin (丘世馨) and Head of the Cheng Shiu University Paper Conservation Division, Cheng Shih-Chiang (鄭世強), also shared their experiences, guiding the participants on classification techniques and wet and dry cleaning methods to restore damaged items. These processes must not only include clear objectives, efficient preliminary rescue procedures, and clearly organized systems for valuable items, but also consider appropriate ventilation, gloves, and tools to ensure that personnel avoid injuries during the entire process.

The workshop participants hailed from 21 institutions, including both national- and local-level literature museums and cultural institutions across Taiwan, as well as scholars from Musashi University in Japan. Through theoretical explanations and hands-on activities, participants were able to significantly enhance their understanding and knowledge of the safety, preservation, and rescue measures for artifacts and cultural heritage. NMTL hopes that these valuable experiences and events will prove beneficial to trainees engaged in the field of cultural heritage conservation.