Artifact conservators Ed Bowkett and Daniela Kolbach PORTRAIT / PROFILE
C ANDICE V ETTER candice.vetter@eap.on.ca
Cemetery in Montreal, the Molson Mausoleumdoors,BillingsEstateMuseum, andalmosteverymuseuminOttawa. Of them all Bowkett’s favourite is the NationalWarMuseum.Daniela,whoisfrom Berlin,findsthatamusing,asherhomecity featuresananti-warmuseum.Bothsaythey like working with their hands, like the flexibilityoftheirlifestyle,couldn’tstandto be stuck in an office, and love learning the stories that go with the objects. They also enjoy learning about and working with different materials, such as amber from Saskatchewan. They have one child and are involved locally as well, as members of the Russell HistoricalSocietyandofVintageIron.They married in the Cumberland Township museum.EdBowkettisfeaturedonceamonth on CBC Radio’s Ontario Today as a guest expert. His next show is April 20 between 12:30 and 1 p.m. on 91.5 FM.
RUSSELL | Alife’spassionisararething to share with a life partner, and is somethingRussell Village residents Ed BowkettandDanielaKolbachappreciate, becausetheyshareanunusualpassion, theexactingdisciplineofrestoringand conservingoldartifacts. Neither of themstarted out in that field. BowkettwasstudyingchemistryatCarleton UniversityandworkingatFortHenryforthe summerwherehebecameinterestedinthe museum’s artifacts. Kolbach was an Art HistorymajorinMontreal,whichshefound too theoretical and not enough hands-on. Both of them ended up taking Art Conservation at Sir Sanford Fleming in Peterborough, where they met. Kolbach worked three years with the Canadian Conservation Institute and one year with the National Gallery. Bowkett interned at Fort Henry then was hired by the National Museum of Science and Technology. The steamlocomotivetherewasrestoredbyhim andhisfather,andBowkettgoesbackevery summer during a special exhibit to run the train. Afterafewyearsofemploymentatnational institutions, they decided to strike out on theirown,doingcontractconservationwork for government institutions and private ownersofpricelessitems.Manyoftheirjobs have been fascinating, and scary. Says Kolbach,“Whetherit’sworthfivedollarsor a million, the pressure not to break it is daunting.” The pair say the work involves knowing about all kinds of materials. They work on three-dimensionalobjectslikesculptureand architecture, as well as stone, metal, wood, paper and paintings. Living near Ottawa is handy with all its museums and heritage buildings,andtheyhaveworkedextensively ontheongoingParliamentHillrestoration. Every job presents special challenges. While working on the renovation of the Museum of Nature they uncovered the originalwalls,anddiscoveredhugepainted murals. The museum was in a panic, the demolitioncrewwasreadytogo,andBowkett and Kolbach barely had time to cut each mural into six pieces of 400 pounds each while suspended 15 feet above the floor. In theendtheycutouttheplasterwallsections, thinnedthemdownasmuchaspossible,and placedthemonaluminumframes,bringing their weight from 2500 pounds to a few hundred, then mounted them on a steel frame. They’ve worked on New Brunswick lighthouses, Fredericton’s Robbie Burns statue, coastal defences, Mount Royal
photo Candice Vetter Ed Bowkett and Daniela Kolbach, Russell residents and professional artifact conservators, standwith an unsigned bronze sculpturemade using the lost wax method, which they will be cleaning up and restoring for a client.
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