Conservation in Progress: A collaboration with UP

Preserving the Collection at the Constitutional Court Trust (CCT) goes beyond conservation, it is storytelling through care. Every brushstroke, texture, and colour carries the artist’s voice, and through careful stewardship, we ensure those voices continue to echo across time.

This August, we began an exciting new chapter with the University of Pretoria’s Tangible Heritage Conservation team, who started Phase 1 of restoring Ernest Ullmann’sUntitled (1956), our largest painting in the Collection, standing over two metres high and nearly five metres wide. The work depicts twelve figures in close communion, interconnected, holding hands, and engaging in deep exchange. Within the Court, the painting mirrors the value of community and open deliberation in resolving conflict, radiating a sense of unity and togetherness that remains deeply relevant today. Led by Dr Isabelle McGinn and visiting conservator Jean Dommermuth from New York University, the project became both a conservation treatment and a learning exchange. Six MA students participated in documenting and analysing the painting while exploring appropriate treatment techniques, and sharing insights into conservation and preservation practices with the CCAC team.

Our curatorial intern, Kamohelo, joined the process, assisting, observing, and documenting through photography. He was captivated by the use of specialised tools such as fluorescent photography to identify different varnishes under UV light, and raking light, a method where a strong light source is directed at a shallow angle to reveal surface irregularities like brushstrokes, cracks, and deformations. These techniques helped to non-destructively assess the painting’s condition, materials, and structural history. Discussions during the project also highlighted how artists today might consider the long-term conservation of their own works, reflecting on how during creation, the materials and techniques used may impact future care. As Kamohelo, also an emerging artist shared, “there was so much to learn from the team. Their insight inspired how I care for the Collection — and reminded me, as an artist, to think about the future conservation of my own work.”

This collaboration marks the start of a much bigger conservation journey. One that reminds us that behind every act of restoration lies a shared commitment to memory, creativity, and care.