MEPPI 2011 Course

MEPPI Beirut Course 2011

Download full MEPPI Beirut Project update for 2011 here.

Workshop date: 10 – 18 November 2011
Workshop venue: American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Distance mentoring: December 2011 – July 2012

Follow-up meeting: Rabat, Morocco, September 2012

MEPPI Beirut 2011, co-ordinated by the Arab Image Foundation (AIF), the Art Conservation Department at the University of Delaware, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Getty Conservation Institute, was the first of a series of three, 8-day photograph preservation workshops in the Middle East.

MEPPI Beirut 2011 welcomed 18 participants from leading photograph collections of the greater Middle East, including national archives and libraries, museums, press agencies, and universities from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Syria. Participants and instructors engaged in theoretical and practical sessions addressing the identification, preservation, and display of photographic materials, whether analog or digital. Participants were provided with preservation toolkits and sample housing materials. Selected participants were provided with state-of-the-art environment monitoring data loggers, to gather data on storage conditions. The workshop included collection visits to the American University of Beirut, the Arab Image Foundation and the Hashem el Madani studio in Saida, South Lebanon. A public talk at the Beirut Art Centre addressed the critical challenges and best practices associated with digital print preservation.

The workshop was directed by Debra Hess Norris (University of Delaware) and Nora Kennedy (The Metropolitan Museum). Speakers included Franziska Frey (Harvard Library), Bertrand Lavédrine (Centre de Recherche sur la Conservation des Collections), Tram Vo (Getty Conservation Institute), Zeina Arida (Director of the Arab Image Foundation), Akram Zaatari (artist and founding member of the Arab Image Foundation) and Issam Nassar (scholar and historian of photography; Arab Image Foundation board member).

The Beirut MEPPI course included:

- An eight-day workshop in Beirut with lectures, demonstrations, hands-on projects, collection visits, and case studies.

Topics covered in the workshop
- History of photographic materials- Characterization and identification of albumen, silver gelatin, and chromo
genic color print materials, glass plate and film base negatives
- Introduction to the characterization of other, more rare photographic materials
- Environmental assessment and practical control measures
- Mitigation from airborne contaminants and pollutants
- Storage and exhibition practices, including cold storage
- Handling guidelines
- Cleaning and stabilization procedures
- Emergency preparedness, response, and recovery
- Balancing collection preservation and access
- Best practices for digitization for access
- Prioritization for preservation
- Contemporary materials: future directions in exhibition and long-term preservation

- An eight-month period of assigned practical work that participants carried out in their own institutions while remaining in contact with an instructor. The instructor mentored participants by providing advice, guidance and additional information either electronically or by telephone to assist them in their work with their collections. The MEPPI website was also developed to allow participants to share information with one another and to take part in joint assignments and projects. Participants were expected to spend from five to ten hours each month on practical work and distance mentoring with an instructor.

- A final four-day meeting in Rabat for the participants and several of the instructors to share the results of their experiences and to consider the potential next steps in advancing the preservation of their collections.

Course Participants

Grand Egyptian Museum (Egypt)

Qasr el Doubara Institute for Historical Research (Egypt)

Independent researcher (Iran)

Iraq National Library and Archive (Iraq)

Photographic Memory (Iraq)

Department of Antiquities (Jordan)

National Library of Jordan (Jordan)

Royal Court and Royal Protocol (Jordan)

American University of Beirut (Lebanon)

An-Nahar (Lebanon)

Arab Image Foundation (Lebanon)

Daralhayat Information Center (Lebanon)

Fouad Debbas Collection (Lebanon)

Bibliothèque Générale et Archives de Tetouan (Morocco)

Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc (Morocco)

Palestine News and Information Agency, WAFA (Palestine)

City of Aleppo Archive (Syria)

Download the MEPPI Beirut 2011 course announcement here in Arabic, English, or French.

Subpages (2): Participants Public talks

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