Saturday, July 05, 2003

The Nimrud Gold on Display in Baghdad... For a Few Hours by Joanna Mackle 03 Jul 03 BAGHDAD, IRAQ. On Thursday 3 July the Assyrian gallery in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, will be open to the public for a few hours and a small part of the gold treasure found in the tombs of the Assyrian queens at Nimrud will be on display. This treasure was evacuated to a vault of the Baghdad Central Bank for safekeeping during the recent war. The opening of this exhibition has provided the staff of the Iraq museum with an opportunity to tidy up the museum after the widespread damage caused by the thefts and looting which occurred during the war. However, this is only the beginning of what will be a very long process of conservation and reconstruction. A British Museum curator Sarah Collins is now working in the Iraq Museum with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). As part of the international conservation programme the British Museum has invited Iraqi colleagues to London during the summer for training in new techniques and a team of conservators drawing together expertise from around the world will be sent to Baghdad in the autumn. [The Art Newspaper] 11:17:51 AM  Google It!