Chicago Area Conservation Group (CACG)

The 1998-1999 Season for the Chicago Area Conservation Group will be
begin September 24, 1998. We will be guests of the Haifa Faisal
Collection of Saudi Arabian Traditional Arts at 1255 S. Wabash,
Suite 6N, Chicago, Illinois.

Since the reunification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 and
the discovery of oil in 1936, life on the Arabia Peninsula has
undergone swift transformation. The material culture of the region,
influenced by climate, terrain, and the Islamic faith, has changed
dramatically in the wake of rapid modernization over the past half
century. As urban living and a market economy supplant Arabia's
ancient nomadic, town, and agrarian cultures, time-honored
materials, processes, and lifeways vanish and distinctive tribal and
regional differences fade.

The more than 4,000 artifacts in the Haifa Faisal Collection--from
tents to toothbrushes--offer an excellent representation of life in
all regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Presently located in Chicago, but ultimately to form the nucleus of
a traditional arts museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Haifa Faisal
Collection is managed by a Director and a staff of conservators and
technicians who augment, catalogue, and maintain the holdings
according to current museum standards.

Virginia Heaven has been Director and Curator of the Haifa Faisal
Collection since 1991. Prior to that she was Assistant Curator of
Costumes at the Chicago Historical Society. Additionally she has
consulted on exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural History,
Washington, D.C.; the American Museum of Natural History in New
York; and the Harvard Semitic Museum in Cambridge. Ms. Heaven will
be speaking about the Collection and giving a tour of the facilities
which include a conservation lab and research center.

Gretchen Shearer, Ph.D, a Research Chemist at McCrone Associates,
Inc., Westmont, Illinois, has been conducting material analysis
utilizing an infared microscope on organic materials in the
Collection. Ms. Shearer has been working with several dresses and
bowls. She presented her findings at the international Inter/Micro
98 Conference that was held in Chicago in August and will talk about
her research with the CACG.

Space is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible, Contact
Kathleen McCarthy at 312.986.0011, or leave a message.

For more information about the meeting or CACG in general, contact
Craig Deller at craig1708 [at] aol__com

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:24
                Distributed: Thursday, September 3, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-12-24-007
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