Completed Projects

The Abuna Garima Gospels

In October 2006, after the assessment by four European specialists, work was undertaken to conserve Ethiopia’s two oldest manuscripts, the Abuna Garima Gospels. These are located in the Monastery of Abuna Garima in the Tigrai region. Tradition has it that they were written by Saint Garima and have been scientifically traced back to 6th century. Edges of the illustrated pages were conserved and their gilded binding repaired. Read more about this project by Lester Capon.

Read article by Martin Bailey in the June 2010 issue of The Arts Newspaper.

Read recent articles about our work on the gospels published in the London based Daily Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian newspapers.

The Wall Paintings of Debra Tsion Church

Situated in the region of Tigray, Debra Tsion church is a monastic cliff church, hewn from the rock around 1400 by the monk Abreham and his disciples. The main body of the church consists of four bays with decorated domed roofs supported by pillars and walls covered in paintings of figures from the New Testament painted in the years shortly after the church was built. 80% of them, covering more than 500m² of walls, pillars and ceiling can still be seen today. They are one of the only two ensembles of 14th to 15th century murals still in existence in Ethiopia.

This artistic masterpiece is of great cultural and economic importance. Due to water infiltration, the top layer of rock and the plaster have disintegrated in many places. The decay of the paintings has been rapid and we have had to work fast to stop further disintegration.

In 2010, the rock above the church was made water-tight. Jean- Remi Brigand returned to Debra Tsion earlier this year to complete and has now completed the stabilisation of the frescos. On our trip we visited the site and there appeared to be no sign of recent deterioration. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is now building a museum to house church treasures which will include the magnificent ceremonial fan that the charity worked on in 2007.

The Icon of Mary - Hayq

At the same time, further south, a 15th century masterpiece, the Icon of Mary was cleaned and repaired at the Monastery of Saint Stephen's, Hayq. A small museum had been built at the Debra Estifanos monastery on Lake Hayq and in 2006, The charity provided 12 glass showcases for the display of the icons, manuscripts and crosses.

The Rema Icon

In January 2007, a large 15th century Marian Panel, the Rema Icon was cleaned and repaired. This Icon, situated on the tiny Island of Rema in Lake Tana, was suffering from the dampness which resulted in the progressive flaking away of the fine paint layers. A split in the panel was also stabilised. This and the Hayq icon are amongst the two most celebrated icons in Ethiopia.

The fan of Debra Selam and Debra Tsion

The fan of Debra Selam and Debra Tsion are two of the six surviving 15th century liturgical fans.

Made of folded parchment, they are extremely delicate and needed to be reconstructed from fragments. They were repaired last year by Lester Capon and both looked in much better shape although we remain concerned that the Debra Tsion fan is suffering from being displayed to visitors. When the fan is fully opened, the weight of the parchment puts tremendous strain on the joints. Some of Lester's initial work is already looking fragile. Ideally, the fan should be in a display case.

The wall paintings of Bahera

This 15th century church is near the town of Hawzien. It is also one of the extraordinary rock hewn churches found in this particular area of Ethiopia. In the early 1990’s the walls were white washed. The limebased wash was splashed over the wall paintings of saints on the pillars and sanctuary of the church. These need to be cleaned.

Recent pictures of cleaning work at Bahera. From left to right, Saint Andrew before and after cleaning and St John before and after.

Maaqudi Book

Near Debra Maar in Tigrai, is the church of Maaqudi dedicated to Saint John of the Apocalypse. Hewn in the 17th century, it contains a 16th century Gospel. It is believed that the book was brought by the monks who founded the church. Loosely bound into the book are two illustrations from an early 15th century Acts of Martyrs. These are in dire need of preservation. The parchment needed repairing and the pages rebound. On a recent visit, Mark Winstanley who helped on the restoration of the Abba Garima gospels, retired to a cave at Maaqudi on top of one of the Gheralta peaks to undertake some repairs.

At the back of the 16th century book are 2 illustrations on parchment of Tekla at prayer and John the Baptist from an earlier Acts of Martyrs. These beautiful pages had been crudely sewn into the gospel and were becoming increasingly damaged as the book was opened. Mark removed the stitching and mounted the pages onto Japanese tissue. The tissue was then strengthened and rebound into the back of the book. This important project of conservation was achieved without any cost to the charity outside of travel and expenses.