Mural Art Conservation Data Recording (SCIMA): The Graart Project

Abstract

Urban art in Italy is experiencing a remarkable evolution that has quickly modified urban spaces, especially in suburban areas. More and more often, we are witnessing the birth of works of art that have been commissioned by festivals, or institutional projects next to spontaneous street artworks. These large projects, often defined as “urban renewal”, when carried out through a well-thought-out design, can become real open-air museums. The proliferation of these creative and legal projects has raised the question of whether street art should be preserved over time. The conservation, or even restoration, of urban art has recently become a controversial topic in scientific debate. In Italy, different associations of researchers are developing new methodologies for preserving street artworks; everyone agrees on the importance of the implementation of good conservation practices. The documentation of the existing condition of a work of art is the first step to start taking care of it. In this article we introduce SCIMA (Scheda Conservativa Informatizzata Mural Art), a digitizing conservation data report that is specific for mural art. The aim of SCIMA was to define the existing condition of the work of art, starting with the socio-cultural and artistic importance, to describe its environment, to define the materials used and its deterioration problems, to suggest conservative interventions. It was born as an analogical tool (sheet) but we are working on digitizing it (database) in order to maintain access to the data recorded for the future.