Project results and methodology were disseminated through a variety of means, including conferences, publications, and public lectures, to extend knowledge and good conservation practice at similar sites. Emphasis was also placed on training a new generation of wall painting conservators, analytical and environmental scientists, and documentation personnel.

A group of people listen and gather around a person seated at a table

Dissemination

Two international conferences on the conservation of ancient sites on the Silk Road were co-organized by the Dunhuang Academy and the Getty Conservation Institute at the Mogao Grottoes. The first International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites was held in October 1993 (prior to the Cave 85 project) and followed the completion of the first phase of the collaboration between the Academy and the Institute. This conference (and its proceedings) focused on site-related issues including site stabilization, research into the causes of deterioration, development of innovative techniques to control windblown sand, treatment of thin-roofed caves, monitoring of environmental conditions, and site management.

The Second International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites, held in 2004, presented results of the next phase of the collaboration with a panel session of eight papers on the Cave 85 project. Papers from an international group of specialists that emphasized a holistic approach to the conservation management and study of sites were also presented.

Comprehensive results were published in the proceedings of the 2004 conference, and a monograph of the entire project was published in 2013. (See "Resources" and "Related" sections.)

Other Documents and Publications

Neville Agnew and Fan Jinshi, "China’'s Buddhist Treasures at Dunhuang,” in Scientific American, 277, no. 1 (July 1997): 40–45.

Robert Gowing, "Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road. Second International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites,”, in Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, vol. 7 (2005): 117–124.

Training

Training has been an important component of the Getty Conservation Institute and Dunhuang Academy collaboration in Cave 85. Advanced training for Dunhuang Academy staff members has taken place annually through periods of work at the Institute.

As part of the Cave 85 project, the Getty Conservation Institute, the Dunhuang Academy, Lanzhou University, and the Courtauld Institute of Art worked together to develop a three-year master’s degree course in wall painting conservation based at the Mogao Grottoes. China has considerable teaching resources in the sciences and other related disciplines but does not yet have a tradition of professional education in conservation. The course covers all aspects of conservation and includes students from universities across China. Conservators who participated in the project supervise the teaching. This provides an integrated education in which theoretical teaching (by Courtauld Institute of Art and both Lanzhou University and Dunhuang Academy staff) is applied in a closely supervised context that encourages the development of individual skills and critical judgment.

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