Exhibition of Russian restorers' know-how

The second specialised exhibition entitled "ReConTec. The Technology of Cultural Heritage Preservation," which has opened in the Central House of Artists in Moscow simultaneously with the 14th Russian antiquarian exhibition, demonstrates the latest developments of Russian leading companies in the field of restoration, conservation, reconstruction and museum work. Laboratories for the reconstruction and restoration of architectural monuments, the developers and producers of restoration and museum equipment and materials, workshops for the restoration of facades and interiors, specialists in the field of landscape restoration are demonstrating their achievements at the exhibition. Among the exhibition's participants are scientists and restorers working at such famous and complex facilities as the Moscow Kremlin, the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Church of Christ the Saviour and many others. The section of construction and architectural restoration and reconstruction features the entire range of problems, which specialists have to overcome to preserve these monuments of culture. Many of the exhibition's participants, for example, the central scientific and restoration design workshops of the Russian Culture Ministry, are directly engaged in the restoration of the most important historical and architectural monuments of Russia. The section of object restoration deals with other, no less important aspects of struggle for the long life of cultural heritage and sometimes for its rebirth from the state of non-existence. The exhibition's exponents include the Grabar All-Russian Art Scientific and Restoration Centre, the Moscow Kremlin state reserve museum, the institute of ethnology and anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the restoration unit of the Russian State Library, foundry and icon-painting workshops. Of special interest is the exposition of the Federal Archive Service of Russia whose specialists have learnt to revive almost faded photos and bring half-decayed manuscripts back to life. All these achievements are the developments of Russian specialists, which, incidentally, have few strong rivals in the world.