The GCI has joined with the Ministerio de Cultura del Perú, the University of Bath, and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú to form the Seismic Retrofitting Project. The project combines traditional construction techniques and materials with high-tech methodologies to design and test easy-to-implement seismic retrofitting techniques and maintenance programs to improve the structural performance and safety of earthen buildings.

Learn more about the Seismic Retrofitting Project.

In January, the Director-General of the Department of Antiquities (DoA) of Jordan, Prof. Ziad Al-Sa'ad and his Chief of Staff, Catreena Hamarneh, visited the GCI to discuss the nationwide implementation of MEGA in Jordan.

MEGA—a joint project of the GCI and the World Monuments Fund with the DoA—has been recognized by Netexplorateur as one of the 100 most significant innovations of the year in digital technology. The selection recognizes pioneers who break new ground in culture or education, create new forms of solidarity or citizenship, or transform management methods and business models.

Watch a video demonstration of MEGA-J.

Learn more about this project.

The symposium—March 28-29, 2011—will focus on the development or adaptation of analytical techniques for analysis of cultural heritage objects; how new and emerging partnerships foster such development; and the impact of these efforts on a broad range of scientific disciplines. The symposium is part of the American Chemical Society's spring 2011 National Meeting in Anaheim, California.

Find out more about this symposium.

In January, the GCI welcomed three Conservation Guest Scholars who will be in residence at the Institute. Thalia Kennedy, Director of the Turquoise Mountain Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture in Kabul, will carry out research on the revival of artistic traditions; Tim Winter, Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia, will focus on how Asian societies negotiate their past; and Ian MacLeod, Director of Collections Management and Conservation at the Western Australian Museum, will study the conservation of shipwrecks.

Find out more about the GCI Conservation Guest Scholar Program.

The GCI is seeking your views on AATA Online. Is it is meeting your research needs? Staying current with trends in conservation management and the online environment? Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey by February 18, 2011. Your views are greatly appreciated.

Take the survey.

Hab Touch, Director General, Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in Cambodia and the former director of the National Museum of Cambodia (NMC), and Paul Jett, head of the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, discuss the conservation of bronzes from the NMC, followed by a conversation with the GCI's Sean Charette on Cambodia's cultural heritage and the role the NMC has played in its preservation.

This event is presented by the J. Paul Getty Museum in collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute.

Find out more information about this free event and make a reservation online.

By Eric Doehne and Clifford Price

This second edition highlights the growth of research in stone conservation, providing a strategic overview of the research in the last fifteen years and an updated critique of the field's strengths and weaknesses. The accompanying bibliography summarizes material published between 1995 and 2009.

This book is available for purchase or as a free online resource.

Entre Dos Terremotos: Los Bienes Culturales en Zonas Sísmicas

This handbook investigates issues related to the management and protection of historic structures, sites, and monuments in seismic zones. In Spanish.

Also available in English, for purchase.



Technical Analysis of Renaissance Bronzes for Provenance Studies: Pilot Project

This pilot project was initiated to investigate whether or not technical data, when combined with art historical information, can contribute to provenance determinations of Renaissance sculptures and to establish the possible extent of such contributions.

Recently acquired titles in the Conservation Collection in the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute are available to readers on site at the Getty Center. Some materials are available through your library's interlibrary loan service.

Access the list of recently acquired titles from the GCI Information Center page.

The APA has selected the SurveyLA Public Participation Program to receive the 2011 National Planning Excellence Award for Public Outreach for the nation's largest and most ambitious local historic resources survey. SurveyLA—created by the City of Los Angeles in collaboration with the GCI—is the city's first-ever effort to identify, inventory, and document historic resources in the city.

Find out more about SurveyLA and the GCI's role in the initiative.