"Conversations on Conservation" | Presentation of the CAPuS Project

In June 2021, the Conservation of Art in Public Spaces (CAPuS) project was completed. The academic project was co-financed by the European Union through ERASMUS+ and Knowledge Alliances, a pilot initiative to innovate and modernize higher education in Europe through partnerships with companies. 

The consortium – formed by fifteen full members including Montana Colors and two associate partners from seven countries – defined bases and procedures that resulted in the creation of a master's degree in the conservation and restoration of urban art, led by the Centro Conservazione e Restauro "La Venaria Reale", part of the Università degli Studi di Torino, in Italy. 

The international project was composed of public institutions, universities and research centers, alongside private companies from five different countries: Italy, Germany, Croatia, Poland and Spain. The common goal was to develop guidelines to safeguard and preserve contemporary works of public art, street art and urban art, as well as the introduction of an innovative educational unit in secondary schools. 

Through close collaboration between researchers, students and teachers, CAPuS has introduced operational protocols for specific interventions on these types of artworks, establishing a structured dialogue with artists and the categorization of works of art that has facilitated the development of specific methods and conservation products along with specific guidelines on conservation. 

With a final event held on June 5th - 6th in the form of a videoconference open to the public, the results of more than three years of work and research by the teams, universities and companies that contributed their knowledge in the field were presented. 

The teaching module that serves as the basis for the specialized university-level course will be taught in different European universities. The results of the research were published on an open source platform, constituting the basis for the creation of an innovative training unit for its introduction in higher education institutes. 

The Product Development, Innovation and Research departments managed by MTN Technical Director Jordi Portella, Innovation, Color and Quality Manager Lluís Hortigüela and the Culture Department of Montana Colors made significant contributions to different phases of the project. 

It is worth highlighting the dialogue produced between the public art restoration teams with the technicians and managers in different areas of the project through product tests and ageing studies, using QUV accelerated weathering tests. 

Forming part of the teaching module, Montana Colors has contributed the documentary "Conversations on Conservation" which has just been published online, in which several artists and writers contribute their vision regarding street interventions and how best to treat the pieces that they create. 

This film presents a series of conversations about the conservation of art in public spaces, selecting and interviewing a group of artists – mostly related to street art – to talk about some of their pieces and the techniques and materials used to produce them. 

The underlying intention behind these talks is to analyze, discuss and capture different points of view on the conservation of public art by allowing artists to speak their minds, share their findings, and investigate the practicality of art conservation in public spaces. 

The documentary piece, made by our filmmaker and video editor David Bernardo Villafañez and directed by Marc Mascort i Boix, MTN Cultural Manager, includes an outstanding cast of artists such as Aryz, Axe Colours, Jorge Rodriguez Gerada, Kenor, Lily Brick, Mina Hamada, Sixe Paredes, TV Boy, Roc Blackblock and Zosen. 

Finally, the Montana Colors team has developed a complete glossary of graffiti and street art terms, thanks to some outstanding contributions by Alberto Feás Bergaz, MTN Content Editor. The document aims to lay the foundations of an ever-growing terminology related to these disciplines. 

With the participation in the CAPuS project, Montana Colors affirms its commitment to education, research and culture, demonstrating its commitment to public art and underlining its important transformative role in society.