Tratto da Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList)
Mail di Valeria Orlandini
Behind the scenes of an incredible and invisible work from the media about the preservation of artworks and archives damaged after the DANA’s disaster on October 29 in Valencia, Spain. Conservators, archivists and many volunteers rolled up their sleeves to save cultural heritage that had been hard hit by this disaster. The commitment and passion for preserving their collective memory are admirable. These photos show how technical and colossal the tasks have been; but how essential it is to help in the recovery. It also makes us aware of the importance of setting up a Cultural Property Safeguarding Plan (PSBC), although it is difficult to envision having enough material resources to cover everything.
The current situation of Spaniards colleagues, paper and book conservators and other specialties like photographs, paintings, textiles and objects is alarming after the DANA. In more than 40 municipalities, consumption fell by more than 80%. In terms of Spain’s GDP, the initial damages of the DANA are close to those caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in the US, which resulted in the loss of 1,833 people and reached US$125 billion at the time, almost 1.0% of the US GDP that year, 20 years ago.