BIA

JANVIER 2015
restauration », assure Khalîfa. Ce sont aussi les
experts japonais qui sont responsables du
Centre de restauration des antiquités, annexé
au GEM, et qui travaillent actuellement dans la
restauration des pièces qui seront exposées
plus tard dans le musée. « Ils ne se contentent
pas de la restauration : ils nous aident dans la
formation des jeunes restaurateurs égyptiens en
utilisant des techniques sophistiquées »,
reprend Khalîfa.
Cette égyptomanie japonaise est de même
bien présente chez l’ensemble de la population
japonaise. Le Japon accueille d’ailleurs
actuellement une exposition des acquisitions du
roi Toutankhamon à Tokyo depuis septembre
dernier et jusqu’en octobre 2015. « Cette
exposition remporte un grand succès, ce qui a
poussé le gouvernement japonais à demander
d’accueillir une autre exposition pour les pièces
restaurées au Centre de restauration du
GEM », lance Khalîfa. (Dalia Farouq, « Japon :
Toujours aussi attentif à l’Égypte », Al-Ahram
Hebdo du 28 janvier 2015).
- -
Jeudi 29 janvier 2015
Glancing through the newspapers earlier this
week and coming across a photograph of the
damaged beard of the iconic gold funerary
mask of boy pharaoh Tutankhamun, many
people will want to know exactly what
happened to the famous mask. Was it
damaged? Scratched? Was it unprofessionally
restored using epoxy resin? Is the restoration
reversible or is the mask permanently
damaged?
Newspapers reported that the blue-and-gold
beard of the mask was broken during cleaning
at the Egyptian Museum and that conservators
hurriedly glued the beard back on with epoxy
resin, damaging the artefact. They also
published evidence that the colour of the mask
has changed and that it has been damaged as
a number of scratches are visible, perhaps
made when someone tried to remove the
epoxy resin with a spatula.
There was an immediate outcry over the
condition of the mask and the museum’s
treatment of the country’s archaeological
heritage, and the International Council of
Museums (ICOM) asked questions regarding the
condition of the mask.
Muhammad Sâmih ‘Amr, Egypt’s ambassador
to UNESCO, the UN cultural organisation, said
that the concerns were justified given the
importance of the mask, adding that Prime
Minister Ibrâhîm Mihlib had asked for the way
to be cleared for international experts to visit
Egypt in order to evaluate its condition. ‘Amr
said that if the mask is found to have been
damaged, Egypt will work with ICOM to restore
it.
Meanwhile, to calm the public’s concerns
the Ministry of Antiquities held an international
press conference on Saturday at the Egyptian
Museum in Tahrîr Square in order to show
reporters the condition of the mask and its
protruding beard. Hundreds of photographers,
journalists and TV anchors crowded into the
museum’s second-floor exhibition hall, where
the mask is housed. For one hour the media
people were able to admire the priceless mask
and take photographs of its condition.
Then the conference was held in the small
hall in the museum’s garden. At the invitation
of Minister of Antiquities Mamdûh al-Damâtî,
German conservator Christian ECKMANN, a
specialist in conserving metal objects, examined
the mask and wrote a detailed report on its
condition. ECKMANN previously restored the metal
statues of kings Pepi I and his son Menenre,
which had been severely damaged. He is
currently involved in restoring gold fragments
from the treasure of Tutankhamun.
ECKMANN told reporters that the mask is in a
very good state of conservation and there had
been no endangering of the mask. “The
measures that have been taken are all
reversible,” he said. “The colour of the mask
has not changed as reported, and up till now
BIA LI — Janvier/Juin 2015 28