Le problème des moulages : préservation du site des girafes de Dabos (Niger)
La problématique concernant ce site est double.
1. Pourquoi préserver ce site ?
C'est une œuvre exceptionnelle,
des girafes gravées dans la pierre de façon très réalistes,
et d'une taille imposante.
C'est le témoignage d'une civilisation particulière, les gens
du désert, dont les touaregs sont les derniers représentants.
Le site subit des dégradations naturelles et est soumis depuis quelques
temps, avec le développement du tourisme à des actes de vandalisme.
Il est nécessaire de faire connaître le site aux milieux scientifiques
et autres.
2. Quelle est la meilleure solution pour préserver ce site exceptionnel ?
The Problem of Casting: Conservation of the Giraffe Site at Dabos (Niger)
The problematic concerning this site is double.
1. Why preserve
the site?
· This is an exceptional work of art: huge giraffes realistically carved
in the rock.
· They bear witness to a particular civilization, that of the desert
people, of which the Tuareg are the last remaining descendants.
· The site has naturally deteriorated, and due to the development of
tourism, it has recently been submitted to vandalism.
· It is necessary to make the site known to scientific and other circles.
2. What is the
best solution to preserve this exceptional site?
· The approach: Steps to be taken must be defined. Casting seems to
be the solution. In order to do so, a diagnosis of the support and several
preliminary tests will be necessary. It is essential that the original work
be conserved. However, even minor interventions must be expected to have an
impact on the work.
· The operation's feasibility: Meeting with the different intervening
parties concerned: the project owner, the Bradshaw Foundation, the scientific
committee, Jean Clottes and David Coulson, and the restorers-casters, Pierre
Mérindol and Claude Tribouillard. Travel to the site for diagnosis
survey and preliminary testing. Implementing logistics for transporting equipment
to the desert site, setting up a life base and a workshop, and return trip
of the cast to Avignon.
· Reflection on the creation of the cast : Define the intervention
area, the cutting of the parts, the parting surface, the elastomer fixation
systems.
· Choice of the material and methodology to be used.
· Detailed description of the operations.