Sir, We wish to express our grave concern at the closure of the Textile Conservation Centre by the University of Southampton. While we appreciate that the university is ruled by demanding financial targets we must convey the strong objection of the international heritage community to this action.

The centre has enjoyed a reputation for excellence since being established in 1975, and this continued after it was welcomed into the university in 1998. What is now being lost is the centre’s world-beating research, its publications, its studio skills conserving textile treasures from Renaissance tapestries to historic and modern costumes, its outreach and annual conferences, but above all its teaching by outstanding staff and the high quality of and continued international demand for its graduates.

Closure of the centre is a severe blow to the care and preservation of the world’s textile heritage when the need for high-level expertise has never been greater.

It is in direct conflict with the recommendations of the House of Lords report on science and heritage; it also goes against the UK Government’s emphasis on the importance of knowledge-based industries, which is the case for heritage-based industries and their relationship to sustainable tourism.

If one university cannot sustain such essential skills then the future for other educational centres in conservation is similarly threatened and hence heritage itself.

We appeal to the UK secretaries of state for culture and universities to seek an alternative avenue for the centre’s future; this would contribute to the continuing preservation of the world’s textile heritage and validate Britain’s leading role in the international heritage preservation community.

Jerry Podany

President, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works

Mounir Bouchenaki

Director-General, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

Gustavo F. Araoz

President, International Council on Monuments and Sites

Alissandra Cummins

President, International Council of Museums

Marie-Claude Corbeil

Chair, ICOM Conservation Committee

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