Art damaged in the 2010 earthquake, awaiting conservation efforts. Photo by American Art's Hugh Shockey
American Art's Mandy Young is receiving reports from our conservator, Hugh Shockey, who is in Haiti to help with the rehab of the country's artworks after the recent earthquake there. For additional coverage visit our Flickr set of Shockey's photographs and our Facebook page.
The Smithsonian is leading a team of cultural organizations to help the Haitian government assess, recover and restore Haiti’s cultural materials damaged by the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. A building in Port-au-Prince that once housed the United Nations Development Programme will be leased by the Smithsonian and will serve as a temporary conservation site where objects retrieved from the rubble can be assessed, conserved and stored.
Smithsonian American Art Museum objects conservator Hugh Shockey is traveling with several other Smithsonian employees on the recovery team, and has been sending us updates and pictures of the tasks at hand. Hopefully, with the hard work of Hugh and his colleagues, Haitian conservators can be trained to take over the restoration and protection of objects displaced by the earthquake, ensuring their safety and preserving Haiti’s rich heritage for generations to come.
