Lecture by Dr Theresa Zammit Lupi – My Life with Books: a book conservator’s perspective

As part of the series of monthly talks held at Din l-Art Ħelwa, 133, Melita Street, Valletta, on Thursday 12^th April,

Theresa Zammit Lupi will deliver a talk on the meaning and purpose of the book as seen through the eyes of a book conservator. She will present the historical, technical and aesthetic values of the book as being an object that stores knowledge as well as beauty. The talk will also shed light on the importance to see the conservator’s role develop from that of a craft to a scientific and academic profession. Examples of the nature of the book conservator’s work as well as the complexities it carries, will be presented by discussing projects performed both in Malta and abroad. Theresa wants to raise awareness for the immediate urgency to invest into the rescue of Malta’s national identity by highlighting how conservation can save our irreplaceable national collections.

Theresa Zammit Lupi graduated in history of art from the University of Malta in 1996. She then studied book and paper conservation for three years in Florence at the Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro, Palazzo Spinelli. In 2002 she obtained her Masters in book conservation with distinction from Camberwell College in London, where she carried on reading for a PhD in the conservation of manuscripts. Her doctoral thesis focuses on the codicology and conservation of the L’Isle Adam choir books. Theresa was employed with Heritage Malta for several years as a conservator after which she worked on various freelance conservation projects in Malta, the UK, Italy, Switzerland and Egypt. She currently works in a private conservation laboratory in Cambridge, UK. She is the author of the book ‘Cantate Domino – Early Choir Books of the Knights in Malta’.