Editorial staff

Chief editor – Ing. Alena Selucká

Alena Selucká studied at the Department of Materials Science at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Brno University of Technology. From 1991 to 1997, she worked at the Moravian Museum in the Department of Museology, where she developed a conservation laboratory and focused on emission spectral analysis, metallographic research, and the verification and application of conservation technologies. She also participated in organizing and teaching post-secondary students in the Conservation of Collection Objects program at the Moravian Museum and the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts in Brno. Since 1997, she has been working at the Technical Museum in Brno, first as head of the Collection Management and Protection Department, and now as deputy director of the Methodological Center for Conservation. Her research focuses on surface treatments of metal artifacts, the application of electrochemical methods in metal conservation, and preventive care of museum collections. She is also involved in teaching and instructs students in the field of conservation-restoration chemistry at the Faculty of Science and museology at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University. She is the secretary of the Commission of Conservator-Restorers of the Czech Association of Museums and Galleries and also its representative in the European Conservators’ Confederation (E.C.C.O.). In addition to her educational activities, she is also involved in publishing and editing.

Editor, secretary of the editorial board – Mgr. Pavla Stöhrová

Pavla Stöhrová graduated in 1999 with a degree in ethnology and museology from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University in Brno. She then joined the Technical Museum in Brno as an editor and curator, where she still works today as an editor and deputy head of the science and technology documentation department. She is the author or co-author of exhibitions and displays at the Technical Museum in Brno, as well as specialist articles on museum collections and ethnographic research. She has lectured at the Institute of European Ethnology at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University (history of ethnology, chapters on urban ethnology) and at the College of Library and Information Services (introduction to museum studies and museology, cultural heritage protection). As an editor, she has contributed to the preparation of a number of publications, including catalogs, professional conference proceedings, and monographs from the Technical Museum in Brno’s series Studies in the History of Technology and Industry.

Editor – Mgr. Jana Fricová

Jana Fricová studied history and museology with a focus on museum conservation at Silesian University in Opava and history and museology at Masaryk University in Brno with a focus on preventive conservation and the Middle Ages. Since 2013, she has been working at the Methodological Center for Conservation at the Technical Museum in Brno as a coordinator and project manager. She participates in the implementation, documentation, and presentation of conservation work, as well as research projects. She organizes workshops and conferences held by the MCC TMB (Conference of Conservator-Restorers, Protection and Security of Memory Institutions, Course of Preventive Conservation, etc.). She is also involved in the creation and management of the specialized library, the MCK web portal, and the processing of publication outputs.

Technical cooperation – Marek Audy
Translations – Mgr. Romana Sommerová
Language proofreding – Mgr. et Mgr. Blanka Kohoutová

Editorial board

Editorial Board Chairman – Ing. Ivo Štěpánek

Ivo Štěpánek was born in Brno in 1958, where he studied at the Secondary Technical School from 1974 to 1978 and then at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (VUT FS) of the Brno University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology. While still a student, he worked in the conservation workshops of the Technical Museum in Brno (TMB). After graduating from VUT, he worked as a technologist at the Moravské energetické závody manufacturing company in Brno-Židenice (MEZ Brno). In 1986, he was employed as the head of the TMB conservation workshops. From 1990 to 1993, he completed postgraduate studies at the Institute of Archaeology and Museology of the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University in Brno, specializing in museology. Since then, he has been working at this university as an external employee, where he has been involved in shaping the professional content and teaching conservation courses and four post-secondary study programs in Laboratory Processing of Museum Collections organized in cooperation with the Moravian Museum and the School of Arts and Crafts in Brno. From 1998 to 2002, he also participated in the preparation of materials for the accreditation of the bachelor’s degree program in Conservation-Restoration Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University, which was then accredited in 2002. In 1996, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department of the TMB, a position he still holds today. Between 1997 and 2003, he was the team leader for the construction of the new museum and fourteen exhibitions at the TMB. This project was subsequently awarded first place in the Exhibition of the Year category in the Gloria Musaealis 2003 national competition organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Museums and Galleries of the Czech Republic, and in 2004 it was awarded membership in the Club of Excellence in the global competition The Best in Heritage organized by the European Cultural Heritage Association in 2006 in Dubrovnik. Since 1995, he has continuously served as chairman of the Commission of Conservators-Restorers of the Association of Museums and Galleries and is a member of its Senate. Since 2006, he has been the representative of the Association of Museums and Galleries at the Czech Blue Shield Committee. Since 2004, he has been a member of the Exhibition Council of the National Museum in Prague. From 2005 to 2007, he was a member of the Commission for the Assessment of Applications for Grants from the ISO Program for the Preventive Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage from Adverse Environmental Influences of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. In 2006 and 2008, he was appointed by the Ministry of Culture as an evaluator of projects within the 2nd and 3rd calls of the EEA/Norway FM for the priority area of Preservation of European Cultural Heritage. In 2009, he was elected a member of the Czech ICOM Committee.
He participated as head of the editorial board in the preparation of the publication Conservation and Restoration of Metals. Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects Made of Metals and Their Alloys. He participated in the preparation of a number of publications, projects, concepts, and grants. In 2017, he was appointed director of the Technical Museum in Brno.

Ing. Pavel Jirásek

Pavel Jirásek is the managing director and CEO of Culture Tech s.r.o. From 2006 to 2009, he was the technical director and co-owner of Cultureplus, spol. s.r.o. Until 2006, he was the director of the Department for the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage, Museums, and Galleries at the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (since 1999) He is one of the main creators of the Integrated System for the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage program of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. He has participated as a consultant, coordinator, and developer in a number of projects in the field of cultural heritage protection and presentation and the creative industry. He has practical experience in preparing strategic materials for the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (preparation and organizational management of the EEA/Norway Financial Mechanisms 2004–2009 and the 2007–2013 programming period of the Structural Funds) and in the practical use of European Commission programs, EEA/Norway Financial Mechanisms, and EU Structural Funds to support projects by cultural organizations, owners of museum collections, and historic buildings. From 2001 to 2007, he was chairman of the executive committee of the International Section for the Security of Cultural Institutions at the International Council of Museums (ICMS ICOM), and from 2006 to 2009, he was chairman of the Council of the Center for Documentation of Property Transfers of Cultural Assets of Victims of World War II, Institute for Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He publishes both domestically and abroad, mainly on topics related to the development of cultural institutions, the protection of cultural heritage, and the restitution of cultural property. He collaborates on a number of international projects organized by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Council of Europe, the European Union, and UNESCO.

Ing. Jan Josef

Jan Josef is a conservator-restorer with thirty years of experience in the field of preventive and remedial conservation-restoration, technology, and non-destructive examination of collection items. He is a member of the Commission of Conservators-Restorers at the Association of Museums and Galleries, and from 1991 to 2002 he was a member of the Czech Ministry of Culture’s Commission for the Supervision of the Restoration of the Reliquary of St. Maurus. Among other things, he is co-author of the Document on the Profession of Conservator-Restorer AMG and the publication Conservation and Restoration of Metals – Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects Made of Metals and Their Alloys. He lectures on preventive conservation at the School of Museum Propaedeutics of the Association of Museums and Galleries. He currently works as a conservator in the restoration department of the National Heritage Institute in Prague.

doc. Akad. soch. Petr Kuthan

Petr Kuthan graduated from the Secondary School of Applied Arts, specializing in woodcarving. At the Academy of Fine Arts, his professors included Vincenc Makovský, Karel Lidický, and the great figure of the Czech school of restoration, Prof. Bohuslav Slánský. In 1989, Petr Kuthan was a founding member of the professional association Archive of Historical Art Technology, which publishes the Technologia Artis yearbook, and in 1990 he also became a member of the founding group of the Association of Restorers. He has been its chairman since 1995. He is a licensed restorer of polychrome and non-polychrome sculptures, murals, and sgraffito. From 2002 to 2016, he was the head of the restoration department at the National Gallery in Prague. Since 2018, he has been employed at the National Heritage Institute in České Budějovice as the main guarantor of the NAKI MK ČR project Language of Material – Traditional Craft Technologies for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Lifestyle (co-researchers: Charles University in Prague, National Technical Museum in Prague).

doc. Dr. Ing. Michal Ďurovič

Michal Ďurovič studied at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague from 1979 to 1983 (specializing in Polymer Production and Processing Technology, Laboratory of Chemistry for the Restoration of Works of Art), defended his dissertation in the same field in 1995, and habilitated at the same university in 2013. From 1983, he worked as a technologist in the restoration department of the National Library, and from 1989, he worked at the National Archives in Prague as a researcher (from 1995 as head of the Department of Physical Care of Archival Materials). In 2014, he became head of the Institute of Chemical Technology for the Restoration of Monuments at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. He has long been involved in scientific research in the field of conservation and restoration of paper documents, leather, parchment, and photographic materials. He has led or co-led a number of research projects (e.g., Mass Deacidification of Paper Archives, The Effect of Light and Ultraviolet Radiation on Archival Documents, Protection of Archival Materials from Natural Disasters in the Network of Archives of the Czech Republic, Methodology for Evaluating the Effect of Air Quality on Library and Archival Collections, Biodiversity of Black-and-White Photographic and Cinematographic Materials in Archival Collections and Methods of Their Disinfection, etc.). He is the author or co-author of a number of works in the field of archival conservation and restoration. Among his most significant publishing activities is the publication of the book Restaurování a konzervování archiválií a knih (Restoration and Conservation of Archives and Books) by Paseka Publishing House in 2002. He is a member of the scientific councils of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Pardubice, the National Library of the Czech Republic, the National Archives, and the Art Council of the Faculty of Restoration at the University of Pardubice. He was a member of the International Council on Archives and the European Working Group on Disaster Prevention. In 2006, he participated in the training of Iraqi restorers in Irbil, Iraq, and in the establishment of a restoration workshop for the Iraqi National Library and Archives in Baghdad. In 2004 and 2010, he lectured and trained Peruvian restorers in Lima.

Ing. Radka Šefců, Ph.D.

Radka Šefců specializes in historical painting techniques and the identification of art materials, pigments, dyes, and binders using analytical methods. After graduating from the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague at the Institute of Chemical Technology for the Restoration of Monuments, specializing in the restoration and conservation of monuments, she worked for three years in a private company as a technical expert. In 1998, she joined the chemical laboratory of the National Gallery in Prague, where she still works today. Since 2016, she has been the head of the NGP chemical laboratory. Her research specializes in scientific investigations that are implemented into a comprehensive knowledge of the material nature of works of art and serve as a basis for assessing painting and polychromy techniques. As part of her work, she develops and implements new instrumental techniques used for non-invasive and non-destructive analysis of works of art. She is the principal investigator of several scientific grant projects within the programs of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic. She participates in research projects at the National Gallery in Prague (GAČR, NAKI MK ČR) as an expert collaborator. As part of her professional expertise, she collaborates with other state collection institutions (National Museum in Prague, National Heritage Institute, National Library) and professional institutions, such as the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, the Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, the Institute of Art History and the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the Criminalistics Institute of the Czech Police. She has published dozens of peer-reviewed articles, contributed to several monographs, catalogues, other professional publications and lectures. She is a member of ICOM-CC, the European Microscopy Society, the Czechoslovak Microscopic Society and the Commission of Conservator-Restorers at AMG.

Akad. mal. Igor Fogaš

Painter and restorer, holder of a license from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic for the restoration of cultural monuments using techniques of painting on canvas, wood, metal, murals, and polychrome sculptural works. Court expert in the basic field of economics, specializing in pricing and estimates with a specialization in restoration, conservation, and restoration work, and in the basic field of education and culture, specializing in fine arts with a specialization in drawing, painting, polychromy of fine and applied arts, conservation, and restoration. He graduated in the restoration of two-dimensional disciplines from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (1990). In 1998, he received a scholarship from the Adalbert Stifter Verein in Munich for the restoration of oil paintings on canvas. From 2001 to 2017, he worked at the Moravian Gallery in Brno as the head of the restoration department, which provided comprehensive restoration of collection items, restoration preparation for exhibition projects, and research activities. He is one of the researchers in the international MOLAB project for the research of paintings within the EU grant – ARTECH. He is the principal investigator of the grant Research into Techniques and Materials in Painting, Sculpture, and Applied Arts. He is the author of a modification of infrared image capture technology and the exhibition The Art of Restoring Art. He collaborates with the Pro arte fund, where he assesses the authenticity, condition, preservation, and value of works of art.

doc. Mgr. art. Jakub Ďoubal, Ph.D.

Jakub Ďoubal is the head of the Stone Restoration Studio at the Faculty of Restoration at the University of Pardubice and the guarantor of study programs. He studied stone restoration at the Institute of Restoration and Conservation Techniques in Litomyšl, then continued at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. After obtaining his master’s degree, he completed his doctoral studies at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague and in 2017 he obtained the title of associate professor in the field of restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. After completing his studies, he participated in the prestigious “Stone Conservation” course in Rome, organized by ICCROM and The Getty Conservation Institute under the auspices of UNESCO.
In addition to his teaching activities, he specializes in the restoration of sculptures. During his professional career, he has participated in the restoration of important monuments such as St. Barbara’s Cathedral, the Plague Column and the Stone Fountain in Kutná Hora, the Gothic tomb of Arnošt of Pardubice in Kłodzko, Poland, and the sculpture of St. Francis Seraphim and the statue of Bruncvík on Charles Bridge in Prague.
He specializes in the cleaning of monuments and conducts research in the field of stone restoration, plaster casts, and polychromy. Jakub Ďoubal is the author of numerous professional articles in international and national periodicals, as well as several books, including Stone Monuments of Kutná Hora: Restoration and Care of Sculptures, Introduction to the Restoration of Stone Monuments, and Plaster Casts: Restoration and Care of Sculptures. He is also a member of international expert committees, such as the Scientific Committee of the International Congress on the Deterioration and Conservation of Stone, and the editorial board of the International Journal of Young Conservators.

doc. Mgr. Karel Novotný, Ph.D.

After graduating from the High School of Chemistry in Brno and completing a master’s program in Analytical Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University (Mgr. degree awarded in 1993), he continued his doctoral studies in the research and development of membrane techniques in connection with atomic absorption spectrometry under Prof. Komárek (Ph.D. degree awarded in 2000). In the late 1990s, he became a researcher at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at Masaryk University’s Faculty of Science and, as part of the establishment of the Laboratory of Plasma Sources for Chemical Analysis (LPCA), he worked with Prof. Kanický and Prof. Otruba on the development of laser ablation and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP OES) techniques. He is one of the pioneers of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in the Czech Republic. He has also achieved international recognition in this field thanks to his close collaboration with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Brno University of Technology and Prof. Kaiser’s group, which focuses on the development of instrumentation and advanced techniques. In 2014, he was appointed associate professor at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, focusing on atomic emission spectrometry methods. He is the author or co-author of more than a hundred scientific publications. In addition to basic lectures in analytical chemistry, his teaching activities focus primarily on atomic spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, laser-excited plasma spectroscopy, and laser ablation techniques.
He has long been involved in the use of plasma in analytical chemistry, including the analysis of cultural heritage objects. In the past, some graduates of the master’s program in chemistry for conservation and restoration have continued their studies in his doctoral program in analytical chemistry, where they have further developed their research in the field of cultural heritage protection (ceramics, paintings, metal artifacts, etc.). In the study program Chemistry and Technology of Materials for Conservation-Restoration, he lectures on the basics of analytical chemistry, teaches laboratory exercises in basic analytical chemistry, and also participates in a lecture block on selected analytical methods and conservation techniques.
In 2023, he was appointed the new guarantor of the study program Chemistry and Technology of Materials for Conservation-Restoration at the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, replacing Prof. Jiří Příhoda.