Restoration workshop

1. The role of the laboratory

The Restoration Laboratory of the Cagliari State Archives plays a vital role in the protection of the documentary heritage.
Its task is to ensure the physical preservation of documents by intervening on paper supports and bindings to safeguard their physical integrity, legibility, and long-term accessibility.
The laboratory’s work forms part of the Archive’s broader institutional functions and is carried out in accordance with scientific principles and established methodologies in the conservation of archival and library materials.

2. Areas of intervention

The laboratory works mainly on the materials preserved by the institution, including:

• paper, leather, parchment supports
• historical and contemporary documentary materials
• loose documents
• registers and bound units
• seals
• drawings, large-format maps, and graphic works on paper or parchment
• photographic materials on paper or on glass plates
• library materials supporting research

In addition to restoration, the laboratory staff monitor the conservation conditions of the preserved heritage, organising preventive campaigns through environmental monitoring, archival holding mapping, priority setting for interventions, and scheduled dusting operations.
They also take part in preparing temporary exhibitions, both those held in the Archive and external ones, ensuring the correct display of the documents and their state of preservation.

3. Principles and purposes

Restoration activities are aimed at:

• preserving the historical and documentary value of the sources
• slowing down or halting deterioration processes
• making documents accessible again, where possible
• ensuring appropriate conditions for their future preservation

Each intervention is designed in accordance with the specific characteristics of the material and its archival context, avoiding invasive practices and favouring compatible and reversible solutions.

4. A service supporting heritage protection

The laboratory does not operate as a commercial service or on request from the public, but as an internal tool for protection, supporting the preservation, rearrangement and enhancement of archival heritage.
In this sense, restoration is not conceived as an isolated intervention, but as an integral part of a broader strategy for safeguarding documentary memory, coordinated with the institution’s other activities.