The international conference on the conservation of grotto sites, Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road, held in Dunhuang 3-8 October 1993, was attended by some two hundred delegates from thirty countries worldwide. With more than sixty papers presented on art history, science, management, and conservation techniques, the conference was a signal event in bringing together East and West for the benefit of the cultural heritage of China and beyond.
Formal Evaluation of the Collaboration Project
Evaluation of the collaboration between the gci and the sbcr was envisaged from the beginning to be essential to the project. The purpose of the evaluation was, as with all such assessments, to learn from past experience to be able to improve on possible future undertakings. The evaluation team comprised three independent evaluators chosen by the gci and three independent evaluators from within China. Their charge was to visit the sites, interview the project staff, and assess the overall projects in terms of
Design, implementation, results, and areas for improvement. Specifically, the evaluators were asked not to judge the performance of individuals or project teams but rather to assess the overall aspects of the project that were relevant to the attainment of common objectives.
Preliminary meetings were held in China and in the United States, to brief the evaluators on their objectives and to work out the logistics of the two-week trip to the sites of Mogao and Yungang, with wrap-up meetings in Beijing.
The evaluation trip occurred in July 1994. Allowing time for report writing, and translations from English into Chinese and vice versa of the independent reports of the gci and the sbcr, the final meetings were held in Los Angeles in June 1995. These were attended by directors from the gci and the sbcr and project leaders, as well as certain evaluators.
The results of the evaluation process were most useful to both sides in that they established a methodology for evaluation of collaborative projects of this type, examined the project design and objectives, addressed the implementation of the project, and evaluated the results achieved and their effectiveness.
The findings of the joint evaluation overall were favorable in each of the categories of evaluation, while identifying certain weaknesses of logistics, coordination, duration of campaigns, and sustainability that need to be addressed in any future collaborative undertakings.
Future Collaboration between the GCI and the SBCR
Following the evaluation and the subsequent meetings in China in late 1995, the parties concerned are in the process of discussing future needs in conservation of the cultural heritage in China. During 1996, implementation of this work will have begun, building on the solid base of collaboration and friendship established in previous years of work by the Getty Conservation Institute and the State Bureau of Cultural Relics in the People's Republic of China.
World History
