The course, to be held at the premises of the Regional Centre for the Restoration of Monuments based in Tirana, Albania, will display a series of lectures, discussions, demonstrations, laboratory sessions and practical activities aimed to supply participants with the latest and more relevant conservation and restoration techniques, in compliance with internationally recognized conservation principles and standards.

The primary goal of the course is to improve the trainees’ skills in the conservation of archaeological materials, providing them with an understanding of the chemical and physical features and related decay and deterioration of ceramics, disseminating effective conservation methodologies and ensuring a practical understanding of appropriate restoration methods and long-term conservation strategies.

The programme - full time from Monday to Saturday - will last two weeks. During the first week, trainees will approach theoretical and practical lessons, including lectures on raw materials, photographic and graphic documentation, various tests, and other topics concerning ceramics, its deterioration and its restoration techniques. The second week will focus more on practical activities, working directly on materials and with different analysis techniques.

A team composed of two experts, one Albanian and one international, will conduct the training activities, under the joint coordination of the Regional Centre for the Restoration of Monuments of the Institute for Cultural Monuments (IMK) and the UNESCO Venice Office.

The intensive course is designed to provide educational and practical experience in both classroom and laboratory settings. As part of the practical exercises, trainees will apply the knowledge acquired during the first week of the training, with non-original objects to test the performance, quality and suitability of the restoration intervention. The second week, on the other hand, will be dedicated to practical work on original artefacts (to be chosen according to size, constituent material and state of conservation) selected by the Institute for Cultural Monuments from Albania’s public collections or others. The laboratory work will aim to develop applied hands-on experience on the subjects covered during the theoretical lectures.

At the end of the workshop, a certificate of attendance will be granted by the Centre for the Restoration of Monuments to trainees who have completed at least 90 % of the course.  

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This is not a first-of-its-kind initiative launched by UNESCO Venice Office in Albania. Last year, a regional training workshop on the restoration of Ottoman cultural heritage in South-East Europe was held in Tirana and Berat, in cooperation with the Regional Centre for the Restoration of Monuments. This 2-week training which focused on the restoration of wall paintings from the Ottoman period was organized with the support of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).