Picture: Denise Nistor during the presentation of her thesis in Berne.​​​​​​​

 

On Friday 12 April 2024, the three Master’s theses nominated for the “Swiss Conservation-Restoration Master Award” were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Swiss Conservation and Restoration Association held in Bern as part of Cultura Suisse.

For almost twenty years, the institutes of the Swiss CRC-Conservation-Restoration Campus (of which SUPSI is also a member) have been collaborating with the professional association dedicated to conservator-restorers.

Each year, each Swiss CRC institute selects one of the best theses that, in addition to scientific and academic quality, also meets other criteria, such as usefulness for other students and professionals, but also the originality of the topic addressed or the methodological approach and collaboration with other campus locations in the use of human or scientific resources.

The thesis presentations were introduced by Brigitte Bachelard, President of the Swiss CRC.

The Master of Arts in Conservation-Restoration of the SUPSI-Department of Environment Constructions and Design was represented by Denise Nistor, a 2023 graduate, who presented her work “The grotto-decorated Chapel of the Hermitage of St. Mary Magdalene in the Nymphenburg Park, Munich (Germany)”, supervised by Marta Caroselli, lecturer and researcher at SUPSI in Mendrisio.

Built in 1728, the Hermitage of St. Mary Magdalene (Magdalenenklause) is a building located in the Nymphenburg Palace Park in Munich. The surfaces of the chapel inside the building were elaborately decorated, cave-like, using many materials.
The chapel had never been studied before. The aim of Denise Nistor’s thesis project was to determine the materials used, the techniques adopted and the deterioration phenomena with a view to the conservation of the chapel.

Denise received a mention for her brilliant project. Another mention went to Ash Dupuis of the Haute Ecole Arc Conservation-restoration (HES-SO-Haute Ecole spécialisée de Suisse occidentale, Neuchâtel). The “Swiss Conservation-Restoration Master Award” was won by Magdalena Ritler from the Hochschule der Künste Bern (BFH-Berner Fachhochschule).