Prof. Antun Karaman, Ph.D., Croatia
RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION OF ARTEFACTS
MADE OF WOOD, PAPER, TEXTILE, METAL AND CERAMICS

About the Department
The Department of Art and Restoration, established in 2005, is the youngest
department of Dubrovnik University, and also its first course that has international features.
The Department currently provides a course in restoration and conservation of artefacts made
of wood, paper, textile, metal and ceramics, which makes the Dubrovnik restoration course
the only one of its kind in the Republic of Croatia.
The international profile of the course is the result of close cooperation with the
Florence Arts and Restoration Institute Palazzo Spinelli. Some of the classes and practical
training in each course year take place in the Palazzo Spinelli laboratories. The course has
been harmonized with the Bologna Declaration, and it reflects its model of 3 + 2 years.

Why this course?
The faster and more technologically diverse our life becomes, the more threatened are
our cultural heritage and natural environment. However, cultural and monumental heritage,
and all other anthropogenic factors or bio-resources, are inexhaustible stores of experience
and innumerable traces of human existence, perseverance and survival, both at the global
level and at the level of our national territory. For this reason, it should be carefully
preserved.
One of the ways to preserve cultural and artistic heritage is through their protection,
which is achieved, inter alia, by various conservation and restoration procedures that require
very complex multidisciplinary and multicultural approaches. To that end, the Dubrovnik
course in restoration and conservation of items made of wood, paper, textile, metal and
ceramics makes use – both in its theoretical lectures and in its practical training – of the
latest scientific, artistic, technological and professional achievements in this field.
Furthermore, the choice of the above specializations within the conservationrestoration profession, offered by the Dubrovnik course, separates it from the programmes of
the conservation-restoration courses at the universities of Split and Zagreb, which focus
mostly on paintings, sculptures and works in stone.

Who is the course intended for?
The course in restoration and conservation is intended for everybody who is interested
in education and work in the field of professional and scientific activities relating to the
protection and preservation of cultural and monumental heritage. In that respect, the course
has been designed to prepare students for a wide range of jobs: along with professional
training for all tasks related to the conservation and restoration of wood, paper, textile, metal
and ceramics, the course provides students with basic knowledge concerning the
management of cultural property, its legal protection, the management of monumental and
other cultural entities, resources or facilities and similar.
For this reason, although it is primarily intended for the education of students, this
course is recommended as a professional development course or introduction to scientific
work for trained restorers and conservators
The labour market is large, since the services and know-how of experts trained on the basis of
this course curriculum are demanded by many: state administration, regional and local
government administrations, museums, galleries, public and private collections, religious
institutions, restoration and conservation workshops, archives, libraries and a wide circle of
private owners of valuable old furniture, books, items of clothing and other objects of pure or
applied art.

How is the course organized?
The restoration and conservation course curriculum and programme is executed (as it
currently stands) over three course years that are divided into six semesters. One part of the
teaching takes place in Florence, in the laboratories of the Arts and Restoration Institute
Palazzo Spinelli, for a duration of five weeks during each of the three course years. The
graduate course (the 4th and 5th year) will be similarly organized.
Having successfully passed all exams and completed their practical training, students
must demonstrate that they have mastered the required knowledge in their graduation thesis,
in which they have to solve a conservation problem. After the completion of the
undergraduate course, the students have 180 or more ECTS (three years x a minimum of 60
ECTS) and a diploma of bachelor in conservation-restoration with a specialization
(conservation and restoration of wood, or paper, or textile, or metal, or ceramics).
If they continue their studies on the graduate course (for two more years) and acquire
an additional 120 ECTS, the students will receive a diploma of master in conservation–
restoration. The degrees and diplomas acquired for this course are internationally recognized,
and valid in Croatia and in all member states of the European Union.
In addition, having completed the undergraduate course, a student who is interested
in doing so may attend practical training organized by the Palazzo Spinelli Institute in one of
the Florence museums (300 hours). After such practical training, the student may take an
exam and earn a diploma of manager of museums and galleries.

Main features of the course curriculum and programme
The course is based on the most advanced technical, technological, professional and
scientific principles of conservation and restoration.
The teaching encompasses high-level theoretical lectures and top-quality professional
development that is a result of practical training in well-equipped classrooms, laboratories and
restoration workshops.
The teaching is organized in close cooperation with renowned Croatian and foreign
experts and institutions following a multidisciplinary approach.
Excellent Croatian and foreign experts and recognized scientists have been involved in
the teaching.
The curriculum and programme, as well as the organization of the course, have been
fully aligned with European criteria, in accordance with the provisions of the Bologna
Declaration, which has resulted in the course’s compatibility and allowed an exchange of
students and lecturers with other universities in Croatia and the EU, as well as their mobility.
Furthermore, the course is characterized by intense IT usage and the learning of two
foreign languages – Italian and English.
Classes taught during the 1st year of the course
Basic informatics I and II, General and inorganic chemistry I and II, Material physics,
Drawing I and II, History of art of Antiquity, History of art of the Middle Ages, Iconography I
and II, Maintenance I and II, Restoration (general) I and II, Economics and company
organization, Museography, Photography, Italian language I and II, English language I and II,
Practical training in Florence I (after the first semester the students must choose their
specialization).
Classes taught during the 2nd year of the course
Data processing systems I and II, Organic and applied chemistry I and II, Introduction
to inorganic materials, Natural stone characteristics I and II, Relief I and II, Basic painting I
and II, Art of the Renaissance and Baroque, History of modern and contemporary art, History
of architecture I and II, History of restoration I, Restoration (of wood, paper, textile, metal or
ceramics) I and II, Biology and applied biology I and II, Cultural property law, Sociology of
cultural processes, Italian language III and IV, English language III and IV, Practical course in
photography, Practical training in Florence II.
Classes taught during the 3rd year of the course
Database creation, Catalogues and conservation catalogues, Conservation and
climatology, History of restoration II and III, General theory of heritage I and II, History of art
techniques I and II, History of material technology I and II, Restoration (of wood, paper,
textile, metal or ceramics) III and IV, Cultural property management I and II, Italian
language V and VI, English language V and VI, Practical training in Florence III.

Cooperation with other institutes of higher education
The course is organized in close cooperation with the Florence Arts and Restoration
Institute Palazzo Spinelli, and prominent scientists and lecturers engaged by the Department
come from the Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb Faculty of Mining, Geology and
Petroleum Engineering, Split Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Education, Široki
Brijeg Arts Academy, Zagreb Ruđer Bošković Institute, Mostar Faculty of Philosophy etc.
In addition, the Department has established successful cooperation with the Zagreb
Croatian Conservation Institute’s Dubrovnik Restoration Workshop, and with museums and
other institutions in Dubrovnik, which contributes to the diversity and high quality of the
teaching process on the Dubrovnik course in restoration and conservation.

Enrolment criteria
A candidate for enrolment is subject to an entrance procedure consisting of four
elements:
- secondary school grades
(the sum of grades from the end-of-year certificates for 1st - 4th class and the final secondary
school examination) ................................................................................ up to 25 points
- written knowledge test
(knowledge of general culture and art history)………………………..up to 50 points
- manual skills test (drawing of a given motif in pencil) ................................. up to 30 points
- interview with the candidate ................................................................... up to 30 points
The candidate must accumulate no fewer than 90 points to enrol in the course.
Enrolment capacity in the year 2009/10
(pursuant to the Senate's decision of 30 Jan 2009)
Course title
Restoration (wood, ,
textile, paper, metal
and ceramics)

Regular students
Do not
Share the
share the
course
cost
course
cost
10
15
Foreign
citizens
Irregular
students
Total
5
5
35
What are the course fees?
The amount to be paid for a course year (pursuant to the relevant University
Ordinance) is the following:
1st year: HRK 9,500 + € 1,600
2nd year: HRK 9,500 + € 1,800
3rd year: HRK 9,500 + € 2,000
(The amount in euros is paid in Croatian kuna in accordance with the exchange rate on the
day of payment, and it is intended to cover the costs of the five-week practical training in
Florence, in the workshops and laboratories of the Palazzo Spinelli Institute in the previously
set time period. This amount is payable one month before departure for Italy, or directly in
Florence at the Palazzo Spinelli Institute.)
The transportation costs of students in the 1st and 2nd years are covered by the University,
while students in the 3rd year cover their own costs.
The students need to organize food and accommodation in Florence. (The Department
can provide them with information on potential lodgings.)
The price of the course year is subject to change, depending on the decision of the
University Senate.
Prof. Antun Karaman, Ph.D.
University of Dubrovnik
Head of the Department of Art and Restoration
Croatia
E mail: rektorat@unidu.hr
www.unidu.hr