Mashhour Altfiehat, Nemer Alzouby, Mohammad Sh’Yyab, Firas Tbayshat, Mohamad Moutaz Alshaieb, Taieb Belgacem, Ferhani Chihaoui and Hamadi Sillini are the eight participants of the current MOSAIKON training course: MCC JST 2014.
They will be in Belmonte in Sabina (RI), Italy, for four weeks, learning about the conservation of detached mosaics.
Mashhour A A Altfiehat, from Mulayh (Jordan), trained in the Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration of Madaba and he is currently working for the Madaba Institute as a teacher in mosaic restoration and production.
“I am very glad to be part of this course, the Getty Foundation gave us a great opportunity by inviting us to participate. I am learning many new things, both from a theoretical and practical point of view.
I think that similar training courses should be organized every year, in different countries, to contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage in the world. Indeed, cultural heritage is a world heritage and it should be preserved everywhere.”
Mohamad Moutaz Alshaieb, from Damascus (Syria), graduated in Archaeology in 2013 and works for the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums. He has already partecipated to the 2nd Module of MCC Libya 2014.
“This is my second time participating to a MCC course and I am very happy because I can see my competence growing in a constant manner, although I am still at the very beginning of my path. I will be able to share this experience with my colleagues in the Damascus Citadel Conservation Laboratory. To share my experience with them is particularly important considered the delicate and critical period my country is going through, and it will allow us to take better care of the Syrian cultural heritage”.
Nemer I H Alzouby, from Amman (Jordan), trained in the Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration of Madaba and he is currently working for the Madaba Institute both as a teacher and a restorer.
“I am very satisfied with this course, and I think it would be very important for more courses like this to take place in the future. Indeed, during any training experience it is possible to learn new methods and lessons that we will later be able to apply in our workplace.”
Taieb Belgacem, from Nabeul (Tunisia), works for the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP) of Tunisia, in the archaeological site of Pupput. In the past he has participated to training courses organized by the Getty Conservation Institute and the INP.
“Courses like these are a great opportunity for conservators from different countries to interact, and share of information. It is important that similar courses are going to happen again in the future, to continue in facilitating such a process of information sharing among different countries.”
Ferhani Chihaoui, from El Fahs (Tunisia), works for the Institut National du Patrimoine of Tunisia as mosaic restorer.
“I am very glad and grateful for being able to participate to this training course. The field of mosaic conservation is like an open sea, and despite you may have gained a lot of experience, this is never enough, and there is always something more to learn. What I am learning here is very useful and I am happy to be increasing my knowledge.”
Mohammad A Y Sh’Yyab, from As Sarih (Jordan), works for the Department of Antiquities of Jordan in the city of Irbit and trained at the Scuola per il Restauro del Mosaico in Ravenna, Italy.
“I hope that I will be able to apply in my daily work all the new information that I am learning during the course, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. In this way I hope to contribute to the preservation of the Jordanian cultural heritage.”
Hamadi Sillini, from Utique (Tunisia), works for the Institut National du Patrimoine of Tunisia, in the archaeological site of Utica.
“I have been working in the field of mosaic conservation for 15 years, but until now my experience has always been related only to in situ mosaics. Therefore this course is very important for me because it gave me the opportunity to learn the laboratory techniques. I am sure that this course, and if I will attend more in the future, will be useful for increasing my knowledge and, as a consequence, my competence in preserving cultural heritage”.
Firas M M Tbayshat, from Souf Camp (Jordan), works for the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, in the archaeological site of Jerash.
He has been working in the field of archaeological conservation since 1997, taking part to excavations and learning the techniques of stone carving. This is his first experience working in mosaic conservation.
“Being this my first experience with mosaics, I am learning a lot, especially in relation to appropriate techniques and materials to be used in the conservation interventions. I hope to learn all that there is to learn about mosaic conservation, and I am grateful to CCA and to the directors of my department for having invested on my professional development.”