Conservation in Latin America:
Current Trends in Cultural Context

Part Three: Training

The Archivo General de la Nación is raising awareness in another manner that exemplifies creativity in training strategies. A new occasional publication, entitled Con-Tacto, provides preventive conservation tips for staff at 3000 regional archives in the country. The well-designed and illustrated publication is informative and attractive, and receives rave reviews from its target audience. The September 1994 issue, for example, provides a handy two-page chart on various types of deterioration normally found in archives settings. The convenient format enables staff members to determine how, by changing variables such as light levels and temperature, they can effect either positive or negative outcomes for the collections. It is hoped that other governmental institutions will follow Colombia's lead and raise awareness of preservation issues with printed media¹¹  .

In contrast, more advanced training is more difficult to procure within Latin America, although some opportunities for conservation education do exist. Unfortunately, however, most conservation programs exclude book and even paper conservation from the curriculum. Suzanne Deal Booth, former Training Coordinator for the Getty Conservation Institute, reported in 1991 that Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela could all boast some type of conservation training, with Brazil and Mexico having two facilities each.¹²   The first Latin American conservation training program, founded in 1971 and designed for inter-American study at various skill levels, was the Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía in Mexico City, now renamed after its founder, Paul Coremans.¹³   As well-established and respected as this program is, however, it stresses fine art conservation in such areas as paintings, ceramics and textiles.¹⁴  

Luckily, it seems that there are a few, more recent, Latin American conservation training programs with at least some focus on paper (although not book) conservation. Since 1980, the Centro Nacional de Restauración (COLCULTURA) in Bogotá, Colombia has operated a five-year professional program that admits up to 20 students every other year and may include some archives work in its courses. Also, there is the Centro de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Muebles (CECOR) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, that Booth names "one of the strongest centers for the training of conservators in Latin America." Founded in 1978, this graduate program includes paper conservation and conservation science as specializations.

Despite the encouraging growth in the number of conservation programs, Latin American conservators also hope to improve the quality of training provided.¹⁵   An important step to this end was the 1985 meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, hosted by the ICOM Committee on Conservation, to discuss the "exclusion of courses on the conservation of paper, metals and textiles from the professional training curriculum." Moreover, participants addressed the need for better and more short-term training opportunities for technician-level staff and encouraged exchanges of professors and conservators with specialized backgrounds in order to exploit the talents of the limited number of available professionals. As an incentive to act upon the recommendations made during the conference, in February 1990 the Getty Conservation Institute offered fifteen Latin American conservation instructors the chance to visit U.S. conservation facilities and apply their new ideas and knowledge towards strengthening the curriculum in existing Latin American programs.¹⁶

Beyond formal training, continuing education opportunities are available on a small scale and are often financed by foreign agencies. Organizations like UNESCO, the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), the Organization of American States and the Getty Conservation Institute provide the finances for conservators in third world countries to attend meetings and present papers abroad.¹⁷   UNESCO, for one, funds conference and workshop visits for Latin American professionals wishing to complement to existing advanced skills. Furthermore, private endowments like the Judy Segal Trust, established in memory of a British paper conservator, furnish money specifically for conservators in developing countries to further their education and establish training programs for staff in their institutions.¹⁸

Despite the significant progress being made in all levels of preservation and conservation training, the overwhelming majority of staff in Latin American libraries and archives remain inadequately trained. For one, there are not established training venues in all zones of Latin America. In addition, even in those areas where educational resources are available, the courses stress conservation of cultural patrimony normally housed in museums at the expense of paper and book conservation. Program directors may wish to establish library and archives conservation specialties, but if no trained paper and book conservators come forward willing to teach, such efforts are in vain. Finally, lack of funds, even with international support, is still a constant struggle for conservation efforts everywhere, and Latin American in particular.¹⁹

Please send comments to wbaker@pop.uky.edu.