Description of My Profession
I have been working in the field of paper conservation for over twenty years. Throughout my career, I have specialised primarily in the recovery and conservation of family archives, an area I did not choose by chance, but which gradually emerged as a natural development of my professional path. My work includes the conservation of works on paper, consultancy for preventive conservation, risk management, and assistance in sensitive contexts such as inheritances, sales, or institutional transfers.
Alongside my studio practice, I have always been involved in teaching, which I consider an integral part of my profession. I have taught courses on the identification of printing techniques (UCLA), emergency management in the event of natural or accidental disasters (San Diego and later in Italy), art registration in collaboration with legal firms (IPSOA), the cleaning and handling of works on paper (SUPSI Lugano, Accademia di Brera), diagnostic techniques applied to conservation, and preventive conservation.
I have taught both in Italy and abroad, in Italian and English, in university contexts, international postgraduate schools such as San Gemini Preservation Studies, and also in secondary education, addressing topics such as the transition from manuscript culture to print. I am currently working on the organisation of new advanced training workshops.
Why This Profession
My interest in art began at a very young age. As a girl, I loved drawing, and winning a competition in middle school gave me the confidence to imagine a future in this field. I grew up in a family environment deeply connected to craftsmanship and creativity: during summers spent in the province of Belluno, I spent a great deal of time with a Scottish uncle who was a painter. Even without many words, we shared long days of observation, drawing, and silence along the river. These experiences profoundly shaped the way I look at the world.
Other family members involved in art and craftsmanship, my grandmother, my aunt, and several artist relatives, also contributed to creating a fertile environment. However, it was my encounter with conservation, through the studio of a conservator friend, that clarified the direction I wanted to pursue.
After completing my secondary education, I undertook a complex and challenging training path between Florence and Brescia, culminating in specialisation in paper conservation. In Florence, I found an intellectually stimulating environment capable of combining study, practice, museology, and teamwork. Later, the Botticino school offered me rigorous, hands-on training strongly oriented toward professional practice.
My desire to engage with international contexts led me to the United States, between Los Angeles and San Diego, where I was able to deepen a highly specialised approach to conservation and engage in dialogue with professionals who now work in major international institutions. These experiences broadened my perspective and strengthened my professional identity.
What I value most in my work is the possibility of combining technical precision, ethical responsibility, and human relationships: every archive and every work carries a story that deserves respect, attention, and care.
My Main Target Audience
Most of my clients are involved in the management of family archives: owners, insurance companies, consultants, collectors, or individuals engaged in sales and inheritances. These are often complex situations in which conservation intersects with legal, economic, and emotional aspects. Looking ahead, I would like to further expand my collaboration with public bodies and institutions.
Over time, my teaching activities have also addressed different audiences: initially conservation professionals, then university students, international postgraduate schools, and more recently a broader and more diverse public through dissemination and streaming platforms.
Materials I Use
After returning from the United States, setting up a studio that met the safety and quality standards I was accustomed to proved to be challenging. Dialogue with Italian companies was essential in identifying materials equivalent to those used in American and German laboratories.
I mainly use conservative and reversible materials: alpha-cellulose boards, Japanese and Korean papers, starch-based adhesives, nonwoven fabrics with different textures, Gore-Tex, and selected materials chosen to ensure maximum compatibility with the works treated. The selection of materials is always guided by criteria of quality, durability, and reduced environmental impact.
Techniques and Tools
My work is based on traditional paper conservation techniques integrated with contemporary diagnostic and documentation tools. Particular attention is devoted to preliminary analysis, photographic documentation, and object registration. I use digital tools for archiving, communication, and teaching, especially in training and dissemination projects.
Experience in Korea and Cultural Exchanges Between Korea and Italy
My relationship with Korea represents one of the most important guiding threads of my research and professional activity, developed continuously since 2015 and articulated through study, dissemination, training, and institutional cooperation.
My interest has focused in particular on the Korean papermaking tradition, on hanji, mulberry paper made from Broussonetia papyrifera, and on the origins of Korean typography, approached through a comparative perspective between East and West. This multi-year research has resulted in publications, scholarly contributions, and public lectures, contributing to a structured dialogue between Italian and Korean professionals.
Since 2015, I have actively collaborated with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Milan, participating as a speaker and moderator in conferences held at institutions such as the Turin Historical Archives, the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and the Vatican Museums. In these contexts, I explored the cultural, technical, and applicative aspects of hanji in the conservation of books and works on paper, also introducing the topic of the Jikji, the first book printed with movable metal type, recognised by UNESCO as Memory of the World.
In 2016 and 2017, I took part in international symposia organised by the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration and in major events in Korea and Europe. In July 2017, I was invited as a speaker to the National Assembly Auditorium in Seoul, where I was the only foreign speaker, to present ten years of projects carried out in Italy on the use of hanji paper in collaboration with public and private institutions, including the Vatican Museums, the Istituto di Patologia del Libro, and Gruppo 130. On this occasion, the recognition of hanji as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage was discussed.
In parallel, I contributed to the dissemination of these topics within the Italian academic and professional community. In 2018, at the Central Institute for the Restoration and Conservation of Archival and Library Heritage (ICRCPAL), I presented the project on Pope John XXIII’s globe, reintroducing in Italian a programme previously presented in Korea. In subsequent years, I participated as a speaker in conferences, study days, and meetings promoted by the Italian Association of Museums of Printing and Paper (AIMSC), addressing topics ranging from comparisons between Eastern and Western papers to international collaborations in conservation and emergency responses to flood-damaged books.
A particularly significant moment of outreach to the general public was my collaboration with the editorial team of Disney Italy (now Panini) on the creation of a comic story about the origins of printing in South Korea, published in Topolino no. 3053. The historical reconstruction I provided was adapted by the writers to the narrative language of the Disney universe, helping to introduce a fundamental yet little-known chapter of printing history to an intergenerational audience.
In recent years, this trajectory has intertwined with an increasing level of institutional engagement. In 2024, I served as President of the Italian Association of Museums of Printing and Paper, overseeing the organisation of the 17th AIMSC National Congress and representing the association in academic, museum, and cultural contexts. Since January 2025, I have served as a Board Member of the same association, continuing to actively contribute to national and international debates on the history of paper, printing, and conservation practices.
Overall, cultural exchanges between Korea and Italy have profoundly influenced not only my professional approach but also the national landscape of conservation and paper studies. They have contributed to greater attention to Asian materials, their traceability and quality, and to a broader vision of conservation as a meeting place of knowledge systems, cultures, and traditions, in which the transmission of knowledge is an integral part of conservation itself.
The Evolution of the Profession
Paper conservation is a profession in constant transformation. On the one hand, it must engage with new technologies, materials, and methodologies; on the other, it risks being weakened by regulatory uncertainty and a limited awareness of its value. I believe it is essential to invest more in training, research, and the transmission of skills to make this profession a solid career choice for future generations.
How I Learned
My learning path has been long and layered: school education, conservation schools, universities, laboratories, internships in Italy and abroad, self-directed study, and continuous exchange with other professionals. Becoming a conservator was not an endpoint, but an ongoing process of evolution.
Advice to Young People
To those approaching this profession today, I would recommend curiosity, patience, and openness. It is essential to build a solid technical foundation, but also to travel, engage with other cultural contexts, and never stop studying. Conservation requires rigour, humility, and passion: it is not an immediate profession, but it can offer a deeply meaningful human and professional journey.
Thematic Focus – Korea and Italy: A Cultural Dialogue
The experience developed between Korea and Italy has represented a privileged laboratory for comparison between different traditions, materials, and methodologies. The informed introduction of hanji paper into the Italian conservation debate has helped reconsider traditional Asian materials not as exotic alternatives, but as compatible, traceable, and scientifically grounded resources. This dialogue has fostered greater attention to fibre quality, the sustainability of production processes, and the value of transmitting artisanal knowledge as shared cultural heritage.
Selected Timeline – Korea–Italy Exchanges
Macro-categories:
Research · Education & Skills Transmission · International Cooperation · Cultural Mediation & Dissemination · Leadership & Governance
2005 – (Research · International Cooperation) – San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA): collaboration with SDMA, Balboa Art Conservation Center, and the Paper Museum of Pescia for the study and dating of the Indian sacred manuscript Bhagavata Purana; presentation of the poster “Investigation of Italian Watermarks in a Mid-19th Century Manuscript from Mysore” at the exhibition Domains of Wonder.
2007 – (Research · Cultural Mediation & Dissemination) – Verona, Civic Library: speaker and coordinator of the conference Verona Meets South Korea. Jikji 1377; English–Italian translation for the Korean delegation; presentation of an Italy–Korea exhibition project on Korean papermaking and typographic traditions. Second study trip to Korea.
2014 – (Research · Cultural Mediation & Dissemination) – Mele (Genoa), Paper Museum of Mele: participation in the round table on the Scartafascio di Mele, a rare 19th-century paper sample book.
2014 – (International Cooperation · Education & Skills Transmission) – Milan, Castello Sforzesco: organiser and speaker at the conference From Leonardo’s Codex to the Discovery of the Jikji, in collaboration with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Milan. Concept and coordination of the Hanji Meets Science project, with an international workshop and a scholarship for conservators; exhibition of the anastatic copy of the Jikji alongside Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Trivulzianus.
2015 – (International Cooperation · Research) – Launch of collaboration with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea (Milan); conferences in Turin, Milan (Ambrosian Library), and the Vatican Museums.
2016 – (Research · International Cooperation) – Participation in the Hanji Paper Symposium organised by the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration.
2017 – (Research · International Cooperation · Cultural Mediation & Dissemination) – Speaker at the National Assembly Auditorium in Seoul on the recognition of hanji as intangible heritage; Paper World Fair in Frankfurt; scholarly contribution to ICON Adapt and Evolve.
2018 – (Education & Skills Transmission) – San Gemini Preservation Studies: lecturer at the international Summer School Paper Media and Restoration Methods for international students.
2019–2023 – (Research · Cultural Mediation & Dissemination) – AIMSC lectures and contributions on international collaborations, paper history, scientific dissemination, and emergency management.
2022 – (Research · Cultural Mediation & Dissemination) – Vatican City, Vatican Museums: speaker at the Study Day Eastern and Western Papers in Conservation: A Comparison; presentation of the project L’aquilone by Mimmo Paladino.
2024 – (Leadership & Governance) – Presidency of AIMSC; organisation and moderation of the 17th AIMSC National Congress; institutional representation in academic and museum contexts.
2025 – (Leadership & Governance) – AIMSC Board Member; participation in national and European conferences and initiatives on the history of printing and paper.
Editorial Summary
A paper conservator with over twenty years of experience, I have developed ongoing research on the dialogue between Eastern and Western traditions, particularly between Italy and Korea. The study of hanji paper and the origins of Korean typography has profoundly shaped my professional approach and contributed to broadening the national debate on conservation, material quality, and the transmission of knowledge. Through research, dissemination, training, and institutional roles, I promote a vision of conservation as a space of cultural encounter and shared responsibility.
Institutional Profile
Paper conservator and consultant for the preservation of archives and works on paper, with international experience and research activity focused on Asian paper materials, particularly hanji. She has collaborated with Italian and international institutions, including the Vatican Museums, ICRCPAL, and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea. Former President and current Board Member of the Italian Association of Museums of Printing and Paper (AIMSC), she is committed to promoting cultural cooperation, scientific dissemination, and the enhancement of paper and printing heritage.
