34TS.5 27PS
5.Restoration of a Kong at Bakan gallery, Angkor Wat Temple:
The Ad Hoc group of experts considers positively this proposal and would like to have more details in a report presenting the state of the object at the time of its discovery, and the nature of damaged products, with, if possible evidence of manufacturing methods and traces of use.
The restoration of the Kong will be carried out in a laboratory as it is movable.
The Ad Hoc group of experts while recognizing the importance of the documentation already produced, recommends that action should be done in using one of the most common and potentially useful methods of documenting archaeological metal which is the use of radiograph X Ray.
The group Ad Hoc of experts notes and appreciates the solutions in 7 phases proposed by the APSARA Team, based on the advice of their professor, and further recommends for the cleaning of such an archaeological metal object which shall be done mechanically, to make use of a low-power microscope.
The Ad Hoc group of experts recommends the use of small tools such as needles, bamboo probes, surgical scalpels, paintbrushes and glass fiber brushes.
The project plans for the restored object to be later exhibited at the APSARA National Authority Museum. This is positive for the future conservation of the object but detrimental to the temple’s attractiveness, as it would lose one of its major components.
Maybe the project could include the making of an exact copy of a new instrument that would be not as fragile and that would be put back in the monument with a relevant notice of information and explanation.