Standing in the conservation training institute building in Erbil, Iraq for the first time was nothing short of miraculous. It is one thing to scribble on a piece of paper and move rectangles around on a blueprint, and quite another to inhabit a physical space. I have to say that my colleagues from U. of Delaware, Winterthur Museum, the Nat. Park Service and I did quite a good job. And the Kurdish engineer on the project kept us from creating stairways to nowhere. Everything is even better than I imagined.
I met the students today. They come from Baghdad, Mosul and Erbil. They are earnest, smart, and dedicated to getting as much out of this training opportunity as possible. I began teaching them about identification of ivory and other materials used since antiquity that can be confused with ivory. They let me know immediately that they have been eagerly awaiting my arrival and want to learn all they can about the subject, especially in light of the tragedy that has befallen their treasured Nimrud ivories that were so badly damaged by flooding during the war. We began with the chemical and structural make up of these materials and how to identify them by sight, and I taught them a test to separate ivory from clever plastic imitations. I am still getting used to stopping at the end of each sentence to wait for the Arabic translation.
The students say they love it here. They are aware of the special opportunity they have been given and also the respite from the chaos and random violence in their lives. They have been through so much, but still have the will to look with hope toward the future. I admire them so much.
Terry Drayman-Weisser is a guest blogger here on Culture Comment, during her trip to Iraq. She is the director of conservation and technical research, at the Walters Art Museum, and travels to Iraq to assist with conservation efforts there.
Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum since 1994, has been with the Baltimore institution for more than 20 years. A native of Minnesota, Gary received his B.A. from Carleton College in 1967 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1976 before working as Senior Associate for Byzantine Art Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.