Press release
To Avoid Having to Transport all the Samples: University of Applied Sciences Potsdam Sets Up a Laboratory at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gelati
A chemical laboratory has been in operation at the Gelati monastery complex in Georgia since this summer. Prof Dr Steffen Laue from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam provided technical guidance for its installation. It is intended to enable the on-site conservators to carry out analyses independently in future. The initiative was prompted by severe damage to the wall paintings at this UNESCO World Heritage Site, some of which date back to the 12th century.
The laboratory was planned and set up in stages over a period of two years, initially as a temporary facility. It has now found a permanent home in a container on the monastery grounds, where it will remain for the entire duration of the project, initially until 2030. There, samples of building materials, salts and pigments are examined using microscopy and microchemical analysis.
This offers three key benefits. Results on material-related issues are available more quickly, as not every sample needs to be sent to Potsdam. Preliminary on-site investigations reduce the number of samples that actually need to be sent to the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam for more complex analyses. And in the long term, analytical expertise is being developed that will remain in Gelati even after the project ends. Twice a year, when Professor Laue is on site, he trains the restoration team; in between, the restorer works independently in the laboratory.
The Gelati monastery complex is situated north-east of Kutaisi, Georgia’s second-largest city. It dates back to its foundation by King David IV in 1106. All the churches are entirely covered in frescoes, and the apse of the main church features a 12th-century mosaic. In 1994, UNESCO inscribed the site on the World Heritage List.
For several years now, the roof of the main church has been leaking. The water that has seeped in has caused damage to the wall paintings, in some cases severe. The biggest problem is salt crystallisation on and beneath the surface: it is causing layers of paint to flake off, and in some areas entire images have been lost. Since 2023, an international team of restorers and conservation scientists has been working to understand the damage processes and implement conservation measures.
The scientific laboratory of the Conservation and Restoration degree programme has been involved since early 2024. It has been commissioned by the Gelati Rehabilitation Committee to carry out analyses and is examining salts, plasters, pigments and binders, as well as modern repair materials from the 20th century, which themselves cause damage. Alongside Laue, Antonia Höhne (head of the scientific laboratory for Conservation and Restoration) is involved in the work. There are plans to involve students through work placements and final-year projects.
The analyses carried out in Potsdam form part of an international project: The Gelati Rehabilitation Committee is coordinating the work, with overall restoration management in the hands of the British conservators Lisa Shekede and Stephen Rickerby, alongside a Georgian restoration team of around ten people and experts in microbiology and climatology from Italy.
“It is a highly rewarding project, the likes of which one rarely experiences,” says Steffen Laue. “Selected experts are working together on an interdisciplinary basis, and there is sufficient time available to truly achieve the objective: to conserve the murals and the architectural heritage of Gelati and to develop a sustainable concept for their preservation.”
For the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, the collaboration is also paying off: new materials, methods and approaches arising from the interdisciplinary exchange are being incorporated into teaching and future research projects.
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