Conservation in Historic Places of Worship: Tales from Westminster Abbey

Conservation in Historic Places of Worship: Tales from Westminster Abbey

Date: 14 October 2016 (Friday)
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Asia Society Hong Kong Centre

For more than 1,000 years, people have been worshipping on the site of Westminster Abbey. Marie Louise Sauerberg takes a closer look at how to find a balance between the preservation of the World Heritage site and its collections with the functional demands of daily worship in a church at the heart of the British nation. Specialising in the conservation of painted and gilded surfaces, she has worked on a number of extraordinary objects from the Abbey, including the late 13th-century Coronation Chair on which all but three English Monarchs have been crowned since 1399.

Speaker: Marie Louise Sauerberg

Marie Louise Sauerberg trained at the School of Conservation of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. In 1998, she joined the Hamilton Kerr Institute at the University of Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum, becoming Assistant to the Director in 2008. From 2007 to 2014, she worked with the team at Westminster Abbey, first as a consultant for the conservation of painted surface and later as part of the Conservation Department at the Abbey. She is currently Director of Keith & Sauerberg Ltd.

HKU Faculty of Arts’ Behind the Scenes Lecture Series, initiated by the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Fine Arts, aims to bring high-profile speakers from the international art world to highlight the work of professionals who help to keep art accessible for audiences now and in the future.

The 2016 Lectures are generously supported by Qatar Airways and AXA ART.