On February 11, UBC Library hosted a one-day workshop by renowned Japanese conservator Kazunori Oryū, who presented on Japanese scroll mounting and bookbinding in conservation. More than forty participants were in attendance, including local and out-of-town conservators, paper and print artists, members of Japanese heritage and cultural organizations, and UBC students, alumni, faculty, and staff.

In the workshop, Mr. Oryū not only outlined the basics of the structures and aesthetics of Japanese heritage materials as related to conservation, but also reported on his involvement as a technical supervisor in the multi-year rescue efforts for paper-based resources damaged during last October’s typhoon at the Kawasaki City Museum. Mr. Oryū also provided step-by-step demonstrations of how to handle heritage materials properly, and gave detailed explanations about preservation and conservation processes and techniques, using sample materials.

In the words of a participant, “thank you… for offering this fascinating event and for opening it up to the conservation community. Opportunities like this are rare.”

Mr. Oryū also met with library employees the following day to examine items from UBC Library’s own Japanese rare collections. He provided invaluable guidance with regards to the ongoing conservation needs of the items that were shown, and also espoused general strategies that could be used to care for the materials.

We are grateful to Mr. Oryū for sharing his time and expertise, and to Sheldon Armstrong, AUL Collections, for sponsoring this event.