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DEGREE PROGRAMME IN CONSERVATION

Conservation means all the measures taken to slow down or to prevent the decay of the cultural heritage. Conservation can be supplemented with restoration of missing parts. A conservator works together with scientists and experts of different fields to collect the data concerning objects and interiors of historical and cultural value. A conservator’s aim is to preserve the cultural heritage for present and future generations.

This work requires ability to independent, long term, accurate and careful work. A conservator is often a member of a team and is thus expected to be flexible and to have cooperation skills. Conservators work in a wide sector; in museums, conservation centres, archives, libraries, foundations, projects and universities. The education also prepares for working as independent entrepreneur in the field of conservation.

Students are admitted to the Bachelor's Degree Programme every fourth year. Conservation of historical interiors started in year 2006, other specialisation fields can be applied to through the joint application system in year 2008.

The Master´s Degree Programme started in 2006. The extent of the programme is 60 credit points and the duration is two years. The intake is every 3th year. The applicants are expected to have a Bachelor´s Degree in Conservation.

Goals of the Bachelor's Degree Programme

The Degree Programme in Conservation provides the preparedness to work as a conservator, the specialist responsible for the protection and conservation of the cultural heritage. Education is based on manual skills and on an extensive theoretical, technical and scientific education. In solving conservation problems, the students need to use also their creativity.

Studies


The duration of the studies is four years and the extent 240 credit points. There are six different specialisation fields: paper, furniture, painting and textile conservation, conservation of cultural historical objects and interiors. New students are admitted every fourth year, the degree title is Bachelor of Arts (conservation).

The studies include basic studies, professional studies and optional studies, which are closely connected to the chosen specialisation field. The degree also contains practical training (30 credit points) and Bachelor's Thesis. The subject fields are for example materials and technology, art, chemistry, analysis methods in conservation, photography, digital documentation, preventive conservation and different conservation methods which are applied in practical conservation tasks.

Cooperation and projects with working life during the study time familiarise the students with their future field of work. The working life duties may include for example research and condition surveying.


Specialisation Fields

Furniture Conservation

Furniture conservators are specialised in conservation of wooden material, its structure and surface treatment and in conservation of metal fittings and other materials. The aim is to preserve the historical stratification of the furniture. Studies are built on the techniques of furniture making, such as veneer, inlay, gilding, retouching and upholstery. Period furniture and wood anatomy are covered. Students are also familiarised with metals, leather and plastics.

Conservation of Historical Interiors

An interior conservator is in charge of the conservation and care of interiors of cultural historical value. Decorations and wall painting, castings, wallpapers, painted, gypsum and lime plaster surfaces are their specialities. Traditional surface materials and techniques together with binding media and pigment analysis are studied alongside practical conservation work at cultural historical building sites. The aim is to conserve living environment with original colour scheme, materials and working methods.

Painting Conservation

Painting conservators are acquainted with work of art on wood and canvas – icons, polychrome wooden sculptures, painting on canvas and modern art, conservation forming the core of the studies. Different conservation methods together with painting techniques and materials are combined with practical work. Frame conservation and gilding are also topics covered during the programme. Analyses based on chemistry and biology form an essential part of the problem solving.

Paper Conservation

A paper conservator works with a wide range of material from papyrus to DVD-discs. Documents, books and other printed matters together with art on paper and photographs are examples from the extensive variety.    Paper chemistry and fibre science, methods of interventive paper conservation as well as book binding, methods of graphic arts and photography are topics covered during the programme.

Textile Conservation

A textile conservator is a specialist in textile materials who works with variety of textiles including rugs, costumes, ecclesiastical textiles, banners, lace and ethnographic textiles as well as many others. Manual dexterity is combined with aesthetic appreciation of a textile artefact. Studies cover the theory and practise of interventive conservation techniques used in the preservation of textiles. Soil revoval techniques and stabilisation methods are included together with textile history and textile dyeing processes.

Conservation of Cultural Historical Objects

An object conservator is an expert in a range of various materials. Their expertise includes for example conservation of metals, ceramics, glass and lead glass, wood, bone, leather, stone and shell. Also finds from archaeological and marine sites together with cultural historical and ethnographical objects are covered. Object conservators focus on collection care and management in practical projects.


Practical Training and Bachelor’s Thesis

The degree requirements contain 30 credit points of practical training, which is completed in two parts during second and third study year. The students are encouraged to find training places abroad and to participate in international student exchange. During international practical training the students have an opportunity to improve their language skills, which will be an asset also in working life.

Bachelor’s Theses (15 credit points) will be written in the last study year. The Thesis is an extensive conservation project, its design, research and implementation work or other research, development, survey project on the field of study. The subject fields of the theses are selected in most cases from working life. Bachelor’s Thesis is the student's most important work which, together with the practical training, familiarises the student with practical duties.

Goals of the Master´s Degree Programme

The Master's Degree Programme represents a further development in the formal education of  Conservator in Finland. It takes into account the resent changes in the status of the conservation profession and the role of conservators within the heritage sector. The programme has been designed to allow the individual student to develop on the area of expertise during the study.

The degree includes methodological studies, advanced-level professional studies and Master´s Theses. The professional studies give good professional and applied theoretical knowledge, good skills for development and problem solving in the field of the Conservation. Master´s Theses (30 credit points) is an extensive development or research project, its design and research work on the field of the study. The subject fields of the theses are selected in most cases from the working life. Master´s Theses is the most import work which deepen and widen the students knowledge in the field of Conservation to olive complex problems in Conservation and save and maintain our Cultural Heritage.

After the studies the graduate should have an ability to solve complex problems and can function effectively in a variety of contexts in a selected field of specialisation.

International Co-operation

The field of conservation is very international. Several specialists from other countries visit the Institute of Art and Design yearly. Institute of Art and Design has contacts with organisations and educational institutions of the field all over the world. Conservator’s profession is international and working in this field is not tied to the country where the studies were completed. Conservation is a profession of constant change and which is also taken into account in the studies. In the future the conservation education will be within a common framework in EU-countries. This also improves the labour mobility in EU.


Contact Information

Head of the Degree Programme
Principal Lecturer Tuula Auer
telephone +358 20 7553 430
tuula.auer@evtek.fi

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