MAREGA PROJECT WORKSHOP 1

Preservation andConservation ofJapanese Archival
Documents in the
Vatican Library
The Marega Collection asa Case Study
Vatican Library
National Institutes for the Humanities of Japan
Co-hosted byŌita Prefectural Board of Education
Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo

October 5th-6th, 2016
The Japanese documents collected by Mario Marega (1902-1978)
in the first half of the 20th century, recently discovered at the
Vatican Library, provide tracks for meaningful exchanges withJapanese institutions in the fields of historical research as well as
training in palaeography, and archival and conservation
techniques.
Within the frame of the international project to make available
the entire collection through conservation, digitisation, andcataloguing, conservators at the Vatican Library have beenworking with their Japanese counterparts on many specific casesof preservation and conservation techniques. Based on thisexperience of close co-operation, over two days the workshop
will introduce selected participants to Japanese archival
materials, and to the theory and practice of their conservation.

Attendance restricted to forty (October 5th) and sixteen (October6th) participants respectively. Deadline for applications: August15th. For details, please refer to the Vatican Library webpage.
This initiative has been made possible with the generous help ofthe Toyota Foundation.

In collaboration withWith the patronage ofToyota Foundation
Italian School of East Asian Studies

Università Pontificia Salesiana
Embassy of Japan to the Holy See
Istituto Giapponese di Cultura (The Japan Foundation)

PROGRAM
October 5th, Wednesday
Lectures
Scuola di Biblioteconomia Vaticana
Via della Conciliazione 1, Roma
Languages: Italian and Japanese (written English translations available)
8:30

Welcoming address

9:00Ángela Núñez Gaitán (Vatican Library)Surveying Methodology of Japanese Historical Documents in the Marega Project

9:45

Mutsumi Aoki (National Institute of Japanese Literature)
Preservation of Historical Documents in Japan: its Theory and Practice

11:15

Katsuhiko Masuda (Formerly Showa Women’s University)
On washi: the Paper of Documents and the Paper used for Conservation

12:00

Naohiro Ota (National Institute of Japanese Literature)
Formats and typology of Japanese Historical Documents

14:00

Masako Kanayama (Gangoji Institute for Research of Cultural Property)
Current Techniques for Conservation of Archival Materials in Japan and Traditional Methods

14:45

Maria Rosaria Castelletti, Silvia Foschetti, Marta Grimaccia (Vatican Library)Western Conservators Experiences with Japanese Archival Materials: The Marega Project

16:15

Maki Takashina (National Institute of Japanese Literature)
Introducing the Newest Salvage and Conservation Techniques Used after the 2011 Tohoku
Earthquake and Tsunami

17:00

Alessandro Sidoti (Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze)
Plan Disaster for Floods at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence

October 6th, Thursday
Practical Training and Demonstrations
Vatican Library, Conservation studio
Cortile del Belvedere, Città del Vaticano
Languages: Japanese (Italian and English interpretation)
8:30-17:00 Water mendingReattaching folios of jō type documents (demonstration only)
Reattaching manuscript strips on jō type documents (demonstration only)
LiningOpening jō type documents using Rayon
Twisted paper strings (koyori)
Conservation treatments on the binding: mending double folios, reinserting koyori(demonstration only)