Tczew Shipwreck Conservation Centre - the premiere of the new branch of the National Museum of Art

After two and a half years since the foundation stone was laid, the Shipwreck Conservation Centre and the Studio Warehouse will be opened to the public on 2 July. The Tczew branch of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk is the only such place where you can learn about the techniques of building old boats and ships, see the “treasures” of Polish sailing and watch museum conservators at work. After the official inauguration on 13 June 2016, the grand opening – together with a special programme for residents and guided tours of the facility – will take place on the first Saturday in July.

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Project – finance and cooperation

The value of the Shipwreck Conservation Centre project is over PLN 22 million, of which 85% is from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, and 15% from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The project was implemented in partnership with two Norwegian institutions: Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo and Museum of Cultural History – University of Oslo. – With the employees of the first partner, we exchanged experiences and good practices in conservation of wet archaeological wood, while with the second partner we discussed methods of digitalisation of antiquities,” says Szymon Kulas, deputy director of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk and project manager of the CKWS construction project.

Subject: Tczew from the very beginning

Located in the centre of Tczew, the Shipwreck Conservation Centre is adjacent to the Vistula River Museum, which is one of the few museums in the world dedicated to the economic exploitation of the river. – Tczewplayed an important role in Poland’s relationship with the sea – says the director of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk, Dr. Jerzy Litwin. – It was here, after World War I, that the first Maritime School was established, and it was here that the construction of a seaport was planned. In the place where the walls of the new branch stand today, there used to be a museum’s conservation workshop: our specialists worked then in difficult conditions, inside former factory workshops. Now, thanks to Norwegian funding, it has become possible to build a centre of the highest standards. With the opening of CKWS, we are opening a new chapter in the history of our institution and making one of our common dreams come true – a dream of a place which is hard to find in Poland and hard to find in Europe,” adds Director Litwin.

The building – modern and open

The Shipwreck Conservation Centre combines the historical, industrial context of the neighbouring 19th century buildings with modern architecture. The new branch of the National Maritime Museum was designed by FORMA architekci Sp. z o.o. architects, under the direction of Aleksandra Wojtczak – Duch. The contractor for the investment was Skanska SA.

The building consists of two interpenetrating masses, whose shape reflects the internal division into two basic parts: The Conservation Studio and the Studio Warehouse, connected to each other by a communication division and a few offices. – This place fulfils the principle of openness, i.e. the participation of visitors in the everyday work of the Museum,” says Anita Bober, chief specialist for investments and renovations at the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk. – The building was designed and constructed with respect for the natural environment: the choice of appropriate materials and the use of renewable energy sources, including a system of flexible photovoltaic cells on the roof were conducive to this.

One of the primary spaces is a visitor-accessible study warehouse, where selected monuments are presented using a steel substructure with a system of electric chain hoists and special slings.

Monuments – treasures from the Vistula and the Baltic

The study storehouse presents structural elements and relics excavated from wrecks explored by the NMM Underwater Research Department, including a 16-metre-long keel, bulwark, a piece of the side, an anchor and part of the cargo from the 15th-century wreck we call the “Copper Ship”. Impressive is the wall of the warehouse with a collection of fishing boats, boats and canoes from the museum’s collection. The warehouse also exhibits historical yachts: “Opty” – the yacht on which Leonid Teliga circumnavigated the globe as the first Pole, “Dal” – the first Polish yacht on which Andrzej Bohomolec, Jerzy Świechowski and Jan Witkowski sailed to the United States and the welded “Kumka IV” – a monument of Polish technical thought. The conservation of the historic yachts and making them look like they did in their glory years was handled by the Puck-based company ComplexJacht Sebastian Kulling. One of the spaces of the Studio Warehouse will be equipped with partially glazed, sliding shelves. They will exhibit smaller museum items, such as examples of ship’s cargo and fragments of ship’s equipment. There will be short descriptions next to the artefacts. Through mobile applications and computer stations it will be possible to find out more about the place where the monument was found and its history and construction.

Conservation – setting global trends

The Conservation Laboratory of the Shipwreck Conservation Centre is equipped with the equipment necessary for the entire conservation process, from securing the artefacts at the site of their excavation to the implementation of conservation prophylaxis. The space for conservation and reconstruction work at the CKWS is impressive. A large hall, not divided by walls and operated by a 5 tonne overhead crane, allows for the conservation and assembly of large-size monuments. Well-equipped workshops: blacksmith’s and locksmith’s workshop and boatbuilding and carpentry workshop, will allow for reconstruction work on old boats and ships, while mobile platforms will facilitate monitoring and conservation of monuments hanging in the exhibition.

We have one of the best examination instruments in the industry,” says Irena Rodzik, head of the Museum Preservation Department. – The X-ray laboratory and the scanner, which speeds up and facilitates the processing of X-rays, deserve special mention. The equipment for the conservation of wet archaeological wood, i.e. a system of baths which makes it possible to carry out conservation using specialist baths, is of the highest class, as is the equipment for the conservation of metal – a stream cleaner and micro-cleaners for removing rust deposits on metal artefacts.

Education – virtually and for children

The Shipwreck Conservation Centre will also serve as an educational institution. No other museum in Poland has such an educational offer: only here will our guests learn what the work of an underwater archaeologist looks like, and what route the exhibits take from the seabed to the museum display case. – We have been working out lesson scenarios for a long time, thinking how to adapt the museum lessons to the character of the institution. With the youngest visitors in mind, interactive educational stands were created in the building,” says Przemysław Węgrzyn, deputy head of the NMM Education Department.

One of the main attractions of the Shipwreck Conservation Centre will be augmented reality (AR) – a technology that has begun to be used by museums around the world. Using the application, available for Android and iOS phones, it will be possible to watch special presentations describing historic yachts and the side of a medieval ship, as well as undergo virtual conservation of objects excavated from wrecks. As part of the project, the Virtual Maritime Museum has also been created. It is a set of applications available both on desktop computers and on mobile devices – as well as a platform supporting educational activities and facilitating access to information about the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk and the presented museum pieces.

The project “Shipwreck Conservation Centre with a Studio Warehouse in Tczew” is implemented under the programme “Preservation and Revitalisation of Cultural Heritage” and has been supported by the Norwegian and EEA funds from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as well as by national funds. The total cost of the project is PLN 22 million. The task is implemented in Polish-Norwegian partnership with the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo and the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.

Source: nmm.pl