Asia’s top archaeologists explore (sea) wonders of Subic Bay

Objects held in collections worldwide serve as precious resources for society.

Twenty-two archaeologists working with underwater heritage collections in the Southeast Asian region joined a study tour to explore the wonders of Subic Bay .

The National Museum of the Philippines co-hosts the Collasia 2010 International Course on “Conservation of Underwater Archaeological Collections.”

The course runs from September 7 to 28, 2009 and venues are being held at the National Museum in Manila and at the Magellan’s Maritime Museum in Subic Freeport. The group is being assisted by Brian Homan, as deputized by the National Museum, who manages a museum in Subic featuring pre-Hispanic and Hispanic period collections from southern Philippine islands and fascinating Japanese artifacts from WWII.

“This archaeological study is important for Subic for us to foster our admiration for cultural diversity,” Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Ecology department head Amethya dela Lllana-Koval said.

While in Subic, the group will focus on the underwater context dedicated to both the maritime history of Southeast Asia and its scientific principles of how sea water, sea bed and sea currents function.

Safe diving practices will be discussed and practiced as well as principles of deterioration of organic and inorganic materials, and its reaction and behavior upon being exposed to air.

Sheldon Clyde Jago-on, senior museum researcher of the National Museum, told NewsCentral that the study will also focus on alternatives in methods of safe recovery of artifacts from underwater, including underwater simulations.

The good practices of planning and carrying out transportation will be discussed and practiced while decision-making process in underwater diving operations will be also be analyzed.

The importance and techniques of documentations in all project stages will be addressed and the conceptual frameworks of “object biography and significance” and the “risk management” will be introduced and put into practice side by side.

Local approaches and strategies of underwater resource management, including tourism development and the role of underwater heritage in this work, will be explored with specialists from these sectors as well as the local community.

This program is sponsored by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts (SEAMEO-SPAFA).

Up to 22 heritage professionals from Southeast Asian countries such Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam participated in the program.

The faculty is drawn from various countries such as Finland, Italy, Thailand and Brazil.

CollAsia 2010 is a seven-year program (2004-2010) launched by ICCROM-SPAFA which aims to improve the conditions for conservation of moveable heritage collections in 11 Southeast Asian countries.

Among the objectives of the program is to have an increased awareness and knowledge about objects in Asian collections such as materials, construction methods, sensitivity and conservation.

Relevant to this is to have an adequate capacity and resources for the implementation of conservation strategies including local preventive conservation initiatives and the creation of dynamic and sustainable regional networks of institutions and professionals.

The modules for the workshops are presented in an interactive, problem solving approach to training, learning and professional development.

Target groups of this course are heritage and museum professionals including conservators, curators, directors, registrars, documentation and collection care staff, researchers, university lecturers, conservation scientists, and heritage administrators.

This is the second time that the Collasia 2010 course is held in Manila . The first was in 2006 with the theme “Conservation of Asean Collections in Storage” sponsored by the University of Santo Tomas , the UP Vargas Museum, the National Museum of the Philippines, the Getty Foundation and UNESCO.

The latest among the series of Collasia 2010 courses before this was held in Jakarta, Indonesia. Rey Garcia