Conserving, cleaning and caring for the fire damaged items. What do you think?

In conserving the See Yup Temple items, there are many questions.

• What should the See Yup Temple items look like out of respect for the temple god Kwan Tai and other deities?

• How much fire soot is there, can it be removed, is the material fully burnt, what are original materials and have items been repaired before?

It is not only the fire that has caused damage but also the years of use, burning incense and oils, and just their age.

Here you can see fire and soot damaged objects, a gilded carved section, burnt wood, flower basket and pompoms and braid from a ritual fan. It is possible to brighten some gilded areas with laser and gel cleaning methods when the surface is stable. But if the material has blisters it is less possible.

The final results after cleaning will vary. They may show how they have been used and their age—this can not be reversed.

The burnt braid and pompoms are probably made from natural materials such as silk and cotton. They are fragile and hard to repair. Should we keep them or replace them with new synthetic ones?

Robert Cripps Institute for Cultural Conservation, University of Melbourne (former Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation).  

修復、清潔與照護：火損文物該如何處理？我們想聽聽您的意見。

在保護四邑關帝廟文物的過程中，我們面對着多項重要的問題。

出於對關帝及廟內諸神的敬畏，廟内文物應呈現何種樣貌？

火災煙垢殘留程度如何？能否清除？材料是否已經完全燒損？原始用料是什麼？過往是否曾作修補？除了火災，多年使用中的香燭薰染、油脂積存以及歲月本身，均對文物造成不同程度的影響。

在此可見多件因火災與煙塵而受損的文物，包括貼金雕刻構件、燒損木材、木雕花籃，以及儀式用障扇上的絨球與編穗流蘇。在表面結構穩定的情況下，部分貼金區域可透過激光或凝膠清潔方法略作提亮；然而，若材料已出現起泡或嚴重損壞，相關處理的可行性則會受到限制。

清潔後的最終效果將因物而異。文物可能保留其使用痕跡與年代感——這些歲月烙印無法亦不應被徹底抹除。

燒損的流蘇與絨球可能由絲、棉等天然材料製成，因老化及火災影響而變得極爲脆弱，修復難度高。是應維持其現狀，還是以新的合成材料替換？

墨爾本大學羅伯特克里普斯文化保護研究所（原Grimwade文化材料保護中心）