THE BACHELOR IN CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION STUDIES (HONOURS) - B.CONS. (HONS) COURSE

Admission
The programme

Area A: Paintings and Polychrome Sculpture Area B: Ceramics, Glass, Metals, and Stone Area C: Textiles Area D: Books and Paper

The Bachelors in Conservation and Restoration Studies (Honours) is a four-year programme leading to the B.Cons. (Hons) degree awarded by the University of Malta. The course has an equal ratio of theory and practical components that combined are equivalent to 60 ECTS credits per year.

The B.Cons. (Hons) course aims at producing skilled professionals in the conservation-restoration of cultural heritage in four main areas of study. Conservation-restoration education at ICMCH is founded on the highest ethical standards of the profession, in line with ECCO education standards that aim at “respecting the uniqueness of cultural heritage and its aesthetic, artistic, documentary, environmental, historic, scientific, social, or spiritual significance.”

Study-units are taught in collaboration with Maltese and foreign specialists. This unique aspect of the course gives the student the opportunity to become familiar with and evaluate the different theories and methodologies belonging to the various schools.

During the four years of conservation-restoration education at ICMCH the B.Cons. (Hons) student is given the opportunity to work hands-on on cultural heritage artefacts and sites of local and international importance in Malta and abroad.

On completion of the course, graduates should be capable of working responsibly in the field of conservation-restoration of cultural heritage, including the more specialised technical, scientific and artistic aspects. Students will be able to demonstrate a holistic approach to conservation as well as be essentially autonomous in decision-making and carrying out conservation treatments. Moreover, they should be able to collaborate with all other professionals concerned with the preservation of cultural heritage.

The B.Cons. (Hons) graduate can opt to further his/her studies by following the M.Cons. course and continue to read for a PhD. The B.Cons. (Hons) also enables the graduate to acquire the skills to proceed to life-long education in the chosen field of expertise, and upon receipt of a warrant work as a professional conservator. The Bachelor degree is also valid overseas.

Admission

To be registered as regular students in the Course candidates shall, apart from satisfying the general requirements for admission as specified in the Admissions Regulations, be in possession of the following special course requirements:

• A pass at Intermediate Level in Chemistry at grade C or better; and
• A pass in the Entrance Examination organized by the Institute, which shall be designed to test the manual and intellectual aptitude of applicants and, in particular, their ability to pursue the area of study of their choice with profit.
• Applicants who possess a pass at Intermediate Level in Chemistry at grade D shall be admitted under those conditions as the Board may impose to compensate for the qualification deficiency. If, by the end of the first year, such students do not successfully complete all the requirements to progress regularly to the second year of the Course, and neither be entitled to repeat the year nor to progress conditionally as normally permitted under the Principal Regulations.

  The language of instruction is English.

The course will open subject to availability of resources. The number of students to be admitted will be announced prior to commencement of the course.

Course applications can be collected and submitted to the University of Malta. For further information contact the University of Malta or visit their website. B.Cons. (Hons) bye-laws PDF The programme B.Cons. (Hons) course overview PDF Candidates are to choose an area of study from the following:

Area A: Paintings and Polychrome Sculpture Area B: Ceramics, Glass, Metals and Stone Area C: Textiles Area D: Books and Paper

First-year study-units are common to all areas of study. Second-, third- and fourth-year students follow subject area and common study units. During the fourth year students are also required to write a dissertation on a specialised topic of interest.

Subject Area Study-units

The following subjects are covered according to the chosen area of study:

· History and manufacturing techniques

• Composition and properties
• Damage and decay
• Conservation treatments (theory and practical)
• Analysis of constituent materials and evaluation of conservation treatments
• Collections, storage and setting up of a conservation workshop

Practical sessions are carried out in-house in the spacious laboratories of Heritage Malta’s Conservation Division, Bighi or on site.

Area A: Paintings and Polychrome Sculpture

The second year programme focuses on wall paintings while the third year is dedicated to polychrome sculpture and easel paintings, mainly panels and canvases. The fourth year may include paintings conservation projects of a varied nature.

Area B: Ceramics, Glass, Metals and Stone

The second and third years of the programme cover topics in relation to ceramics, glass and stone. In the case of stone there is an emphasis on objects such as sculpture rather than architecture. Metals, including copper alloys, silver, iron and gold, are also covered. The fourth year focuses on study-units related to the packaging of artefacts and heritage management with reference to archaeological sites.

Area C: Textiles

The textiles programme focuses on fabrics, tapestries, carpets, costumes, lace, flags, banners and liturgical vestments. Students are given the opportunity to carry out textiles conservation through study-units dealing specifically with the study of different techniques and the relative conservation treatment.

Area D: Books and Paper

The second through to the fourth year are dedicated to theoretical and practical study-units in books and paper. Such study-units direct students towards the conservation theory and practical intervention of parchment and leather objects and bindings, the conservation of archival documents and manuscripts, printed works and other works of art on paper that can also include three-dimensional objects.

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Admission
The programme

The Documentation Division at Heritage Malta is committed to developing appropriate techniques for recording material heritage. Research is central to its activities. The Division is at the forefront of digital documentation in the conservation field.

The B.Doc. (Hons) is the only course of its kind in Europe. It gives students an interdisciplinary foundation to documenting material heritage. This enables the documentalist to bridge research from across different disciplines involved in the conservation of material heritage.

The training addresses all the skills required for the whole documentation process; from data collection to data management. The course presents the various approaches, philosophies and techniques that go into documenting cultural heritage. By the end of the course the student will be able to assess what type of documentation is appropriate to a site or artefact, depending on:

• the nature of the heritage
• the purposes of the record
• the cultural context

On completion of the course the students should be able to work in an interdisciplinary team (with art historians, museum curators, conservators and conservation architects), carry out and communicate their research, understand problems and formulate practical solutions for the documentation required. The Bachelor degree is also valid overseas.

Admission

B.Doc. (Hons) bye-laws PDF

The course shall be open to applicants in possession of:

• the General Entry Requirements of the University of Malta.
• a pass at Intermediate Level of the Matriculation Certificate Examination in either Physics or Pure Mathematics at Grade C or better.

The language of instruction is English.

The course will open subject to availability of resources. The number of students to be admitted will be announced prior to commencement of the course.

The programme

B.Doc. (Hons) course overview PDF

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