SUMMER 2006: NUMBER 53
New Staff, Interns & Student
Staff Chart
Conservation Department Staff Chart (click image for larger version)
The staff complement of the V&A Conservation Department changes continually with new arrivals and departures of both permanent and contract staff, students and also interns and placements.
The Staff Chart is consequently updated for each Journal issue. Please click the image on the right for the full scale Staff Chart associated with this Journal.
New Staff
Jonathan Kemp
Jonathan Kemp, Sculpture Conservator
Sculpture Conservator
I have over fifteen years experience as a sculpture conservator working extensively on a range of movable and immovable cultural objects dating from between around 2000 BC to the twentieth century, made of stone, plaster, fresco, ceramic, artificial stone and metals. I have been working as a senior conservator and consultant to both public and private collections over the last twelve years liaising and collaborating with other conservation professionals, curators, heritage institutions, architects and allied professionals. I have worked internationally on projects in Spain and Ukraine, was project manager/senior conservator on large scale sculptural and architectural conservation programmes and I have also trained and taught students and recent graduates of various institutions and nationalities.
The Medieval and Renaissance Galleries are to be redeveloped as a part of V&A FuturePlan and a small team of sculpture conservators have been appointed to undertake all aspects of preventative and interventive conservation. I will be involved in the technical examination, assessment and documentation of the sculptures, and will be also devising and executing a range of conservation strategies from the deconstruction and reconstruction of large scale objects to the cleaning and consolidation of small artefacts.
Angela Knight
Angela Knight. Conservation Administrator
Conservation Administrator
It is an amazing coincidence that my first permanent post was with the Government Art Collection. Since then I have worked for various types of organisations. These include, Camberwell Health Authority setting up one of the first Cervical Recall schemes in the South-East, and Action on Elder Abuse where I formed part of a team lobbying the Government to change legislation and took harrowing calls on the Elder Abuse response line. On a lighter note I spent a year working for John Lewis plc, behind the scenes, in the Home Decorating Buying Office; surprisingly not one of my happier positions.
I work in Conservation Admin, providing administrative support to the large team of conservators. My main responsibilities are maintaining adequate stocks of stationery and chemicals for use in the various studios/laboratories and ensuring equipment is serviceable. I also work closely with the Head of Information Management and Administration to ensure that departmental budgets are monitored throughout the year. My post offers a lot of variety; from the mundane filing of paperwork to the more complex reconciling of bank statements. I believe the work I do behind the scenes is very important and ensures that the conservators can focus on their specialities.
Hanneke Ramakers
Hanneke Ramakers. Ceramics & Glass Conservator
Ceramics & Glass Conservator
In 2001 I graduated from the Institute for Cultural Heritage in Amsterdam after studying glass and ceramics conservation for four years. During one year of the course, I spent time gaining further experience as an intern at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and also in London at the British Museum and Plowden & Smith Ltd. After graduating I worked as a freelance ceramics conservator in a private workshop in Amsterdam for a year. In 2003 I moved to London to work at Plowden & Smith Ltd, becoming Senior Conservator of Ceramics, Glass & Related Materials and Head of the Ceramics & Glass Department in 2005. The range of objects worked on was vast: from archaeological to contemporary pieces; miniatures to large marble sculptures and extensive tile panels.
I joined the V&A Sculpture, Metals, Ceramics and Glass Conservation Section in May 2006. Based in the Ceramics & Glass Conservation Studio, I shall be involved in all aspects of the conservation of objects made from ceramic, glass or related materials in the collection for forthcoming gallery projects, exhibitions and loans.
Lisa Wagner
Lisa Wagner. Sculpture Conservator
Sculpture Conservator
In 2000 I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden, Germany, with a specialisation in the conservation and restoration of retables (altar screens), panel paintings and polychrome works of art. After an internship with emphasis on the structural treatment of panel paintings at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge, I began a PhD in conservation from the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden. My dissertation describes a collection of fine art materials dating from 1704 kept in an oak cabinet from Queens' College, Cambridge. Over the course of my studies I gained work experience in private studios, museums and governmental institutions responsible for the preservation of cultural heritage.
My work at the V&A will involve the preparation of sculpture and architectural details for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries (due to open in November 2009) and the British Sculpture Gallery. The job entails preventive and interventive conservation, with treatments such as consolidation and cleaning of the artefacts, and will also include technical examination of the objects, along with their assessment and documentation. In addition to wooden sculpture, I will also be working with objects in ivory, plaster, terracotta and stone, as well as their polychromies.
New Interns
Ilse Entlesberger
Ilse Entlesberger. Paper Conservation Intern
Paper Conservation Intern
After studying at the Higher Technical Collage for Graphical Design in Linz, from 1996-2001 I then worked as a Graphic Designer at an Advertising Agency in Linz until 2002. Since October 2002 I have been studying the conservation and restoration of paper, photographs, book and archival materials at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
During my internship I hope to widen and deepen my technical as well as theoretical knowledge in the area of book and paper conservation. Additionally, I wish to improve my technical English relating to conservation and I look forward to gaining insight into the V&A's interesting collection.
Priya Kapoor
Priya Kapoor. Paintings Conservation Intern
Paintings Conservation Intern
Currently I am working as a conservator with Sanskriti Pratisthan Museums in New Delhi, a noted charitable trust, with which I have been associated for the last three years.
I joined Sanskriti in 2002 with the responsibility of setting up the Museum of Indian Textiles at its premises. The process saw me establishing a storage and fumigation chamber for the textile collection of Sanskriti, and doing preventive conservation for the same.
During my next project with the NGO (Non Government Organization) in 2004 I became involved with the two museums at Sanskriti - 'Museum of Everyday Art and Museum of Indian Terracotta'. I not only took the initiative of establishing a conservation laboratory for the purpose of carrying out restoration work for these museums, but have also been looking after their documentation, storage and restoration.
My involvement with a prestigious project in collaboration with NMCL (National Museum Conservation Laboratory) and INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cutural Hertage) - Delhi Chapter, gave me the opportunity to work on the restoration of "Qajar Paintings" at the President's House, New Delhi.
I have also been involved in organizing a number of workshops on preventive and remedial conservation in association with Sanskriti Pratisthan and National Museum Institute, New Delhi. I would like to thank Charles Wallace Trust for sponsoring my internship.
New Student - Mazarin Chest Project
Adel Elmahdy
Adel Elmahdy. 3 year PhD, Loughborough University
3 year PhD, Loughborough University
I obtained my bachelor degree in physics (optics & laser) in 1993 after which I taught experimental physics in Helwan University, Egypt. Whilst working there, I obtained a masters degree for which my thesis was titled 'Optical Behaviour of Annealed Polymeric Fibers as a Function of Draw Ratio'. My particular fields of interest were speckle interferometry and optical interferometry measurements.
The provisional title of my PhD is 'Optical and Numerical Examination of the Effect of Western and Japanese Consolidation Treatments of Micro-cracks in the Surface of Aged Japanese Lacquer (Urushi)'. My PhD is a joint experiment and modelling project to consider the effects of traditional Japanese and western surface consolidation materials on lacquer artefacts. The deformation and damage characteristics of the material will be assessed using optical interferometery techniques.
