Programs and Events

Project to Preserve Murals at Vat Sisaket Ends
August 30, 2005

U.S. Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach and Mr. Viengkeo Director, Division of Archaeological Research, Department of Museum and Archeology, Minister of Information and Culture.

The U.S. Embassy, in collaboration with the Lao Ministry of Information and Culture, held a closing ceremony for the one-month training course on Conservation of Wall Paintings at Vat Sisaket on Friday, September 2, 2005. U.S. Ambassador to Laos Patricia M. Haslach represented the United States, and Mr. Houmpheng Sinpaseuth, Chief of Cabinet, Ministry of Information and Culture, represented the Lao government.

The training course was conducted by Rodolfo Lujan, a leading expert on conservation and restoration of Asian wall paintings. Participants in the course included students from the Faculty of Fine Arts, who were selected through a competition.

The training course was part of a larger project to stabilize the walls and preserve the murals at Vat Sisaket. That conservation effort was led by Rodolfo Lujan, and organized by Mr. Viengkeo Director, Division of Archaeological Research, Department of Museum and Archeology, Minister of Information and Culture, and Dr. Alan Potkin and Dr. Catherine Raymond, both from Northern Illinois University.

The entire project was funded by a grant from the U.S. State Department's “Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation,” which was established by Congress in 2001 to assist countries in preserving museum collections, ancient and historic sites and traditional forms of expression. Since its inception in 2001, the program has awarded 292 grants in 106 countries. This year the fund is supporting 87 cultural preservation projects in 76 countries.