A death

In Memoriam
Rikhard Halldor Hordal, 1946-2001

It is with extreme sadness that ICCROM received news of the death of
Rikhard Halldor Hordal, painting conservator and head of the
Department of Conservation Studies at the EVTEK Institute of Art and
Design, Vantaa, Finland. He passed away in Helsinki on March 19,
2001 following a traffic accident in January. Rikhard worked closely
with ICCROM in several projects and was well known throughout the
conservation-restoration field as a lecturer and as a dynamic
exponent on issues dealing with training and education.

Born in Canada of Canadian-Icelandic parents, Rikhard began his
career in conservation after graduating from the School of
Conservation at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen.
He later worked at the Munch Museum in Oslo and the Morskinskinna
Conservation Center in Iceland. In 1992 he began lecturing at the
Vantaa School of Arts and Crafts in Finland and soon became actively
involved in the rapidly growing school. In 1994 he became the
director of the school's conservation department (which around that
time became the EVTEK Institute of Arts and Design) and in 2000 he
was named senior lecturer in conservation.

Rikhard Hordal played a significant role in several international
initiatives. Three recent interim meetings of ICOM-CC working groups
were held at the Vantaa Institute and he was the coordinator of the
ICOM-CC working group on Education and Training. At the European
level he was one of the founders of ENCORE (European Network for
Conservators-Restorers Education) and represented the Vantaa
Institute in several EU projects in which ICCROM was also a partner.
One of these was the European Preventive Conservation Strategy
project for which Rikhard was coordinator. This project culminated
in a highly successful meeting in Vantaa in September 2000, where
representatives of 23 countries finalized the recommendations as
"The Vantaa Document". Another project close to his heart was
"Kaleidoscope" which is preparing a European Conservation Glossary
in six languages, due to be published by the end of 2001.

As a dedicated professional, Rikhard always aimed for the highest
standards and the conservation-restoration profession has benefited
greatly from his creative and dynamic spirit. He will be remembered
as a citizen of the world with an unwavering belief in people and
many colleagues from around the world had the privilege of
experiencing his contagious joie-de-vivre. In remembering an
exceptional person, ICCROM extends its deepest sympathy to Rikhard's
family, friends and colleagues.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:54
                  Distributed: Friday, April 13, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-54-002
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