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Areas Social action Culture and Historical Heritage MAEF and Consell display Roman amphoras recovered south of Barbaria Cape

MAEF and Consell display Roman amphoras recovered south of Barbaria Cape

foto 2021 expo MAEFFrom 7.00pm this Tuesday, the Archaeological Museum of Eivissa and Formentera (MAEF), in association with the Consell de Formentera, will pull the curtain back on “Sota el mar de Formentera. Els materials ceràmics subaquàtics recuperats al sud del Cap de Barbaria” (Under the sea of Formentera: Underwater ceramic materials recovered south of Barbaria Cape) — an exhibition that is scheduled to run until 25 September at Sant Francesc’s ‘Ajuntament Vell’ gallery.

In summer 2020, four amphoras from the Roman period were fortuitously recovered from the waters to the south of Barbaria Cape. Likely belonging to the wreckage of a ship that came to rest more than 110 metres below the surface of the sea, the one-of-a-kind pieces were first brought to the Consell de Formentera; the island’s government subsequently passed them on to the Conservation and Restoration Lab, a division of the MAEF which is overseen by the Balearic Ministry of European Funds, University and Culture. And so began the project to restore the underwater ceramic objects featured in this new temporary exhibition.

Formentera’s undersea heritage is one of uncommon richness and variety, but it is also fragile and vulnerable. Removing objects from the sea is an irreversible process that is irreversible and exclusively reserved for situations where it is necessary for the sake of conservation and when appropriate manpower and technical mettle are available. Techniques employed at sea are not the same as those used on land, and operations are performed by archaeologists and restorers who have received specialised training.

The exhibition’s architects at the museum sought to recreate the inside of a lab where items retrieved from the sea are being restored, offering a vision of the objects’ journey from the seafloor to the showcases of the MAEF.

The exhibition is open to the public from 7.00pm to 9.00pm Monday to Saturday, and from 11.00am to 2.00pm Tuesday to Saturday.

13 September 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Xarxa de Biblioteques

Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics

Enciclopèdia d'Eivissa i Formentera