The J. Paul Getty Museum, California's largest art museum, and the State Museum of the State Cultural Centre of Turkmenistan have completed a second mission to preserve and restore the head of a 5th-century Buddha that was found in ancient Merv.
This joint project was made possible thanks to the Ambassadors Fund for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage program.
The restoration of the Buddha's head is the 30th project of this Foundation in Turkmenistan.
The delegation included the head of the antiquities department of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Suzanne Gensicke, a conservator in private practice, Fabio Colombo, and a professor at the University of Padua, a specialist in 3D computer visualization, Giuseppe Salemi.
During the three-week mission, Getty Museum experts reached one of the project's most important milestones, completing the removal of materials applied to the head fragments during previous restoration work.
To prepare for this work, the Getty team placed the fragments in 3D printed shells, data for which was collected during the Getty Museum's first mission to Ashgabat in 2023.
Experts also took photogrammetry of the interior surfaces of the fragments to document the condition of the artifact before, during and after processing.
The Getty Museum and the State museum are planning additional missions to continue work on the Buddha's head in late 2024.
The Getty Museum will first design and create 3D printed internal supports to prepare the pieces for assembly and ensure the structural integrity of the artifact throughout the restoration process.
The ultimate goal of the project is for the restored Buddha's head to be displayed in the State Museum of Turkmenistan and for experts to publish their findings about the Buddhist heritage in Turkmenistan.
The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Program is an annual grant competition established by the U.S. Department of State.
Since its inception in 2001, AFCP has supported over a thousand cultural heritage preservation projects in more than 130 countries.
