London:
The British Museum will restore eight ancient glass artefacts broken in last year’s Beirut port explosion, the London cultural institution announced on Tuesday.
The glass vessels have been shattered immediately after 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in Beirut’s port triggered a blast that devastated the city on August 4, 2020.
Workers will piece with each other hundreds of glass fragments at the British Museum’s conservation laboratories in London with funding from The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF).
“These objects hold immense historical, artistic and cultural significance. Their return to their rightful form is a powerful symbol of healing and resilience after disaster,” mentioned TEFAF chairman Hidde van Seggelen.
The artefacts have been held in a case displaying 74 Roman, Byzantine and Islamic-era glass vessels in the American University of Beirut’s Archaeological Museum, situated 3.2 kilometres (two miles) from the blast.
The explosion triggered them to shatter into hundreds of pieces, which have been mixed with broken glass from cabinets and windows.
Only 15 vessels have been deemed salvageable and eight protected to travel to London for restoration.
Sandra Smith, head of collection care at the British Museum, explained that glass reconstruction is a “delicate process” as shards move out of shape and have to be drawn back beneath tension.
The vessels, dating back to the initially century BC, document the evolution of glass-production technologies in Lebanon, with two believed to have been imported from Syria or Egypt.
The functions will temporarily go on show at the British Museum just before returning to Beirut.
Director Hartwig Fischer mentioned the British Museum’s “expertise and resources” would let the artefacts to be saved and “enjoyed in Lebanon for many more years to come”.
The August 2020 blast killed more than 200 people today, triggered millions of dollars’ worth of harm and forced the Lebanese government to resign, exacerbating the country’s wellness and financial crises.
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