MINAH SONG
PAPER CONSERVATION STUDIO
Minah Song is an independent paper conservator working in Arlington, Virginia, the Washington DC Metro area.
In 2015, after working in CCAHA in Philadelphia for 10 years, Minah opened her studio in Arlington and serves private and institutional clients throughout the country.
Currently Minah is a part-time contract conservator at the Library of Congress, and regularly works at the National Gallery, National Museum of African Art and National Portrait Gallery.
She worked as a contract conservator at the National Postal Museum, Folger Shakespeare Library, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum of American History, and the National Archives.
Over the course of her career, Minah has treated numerous works of art by major artists and important historical documents. Among them were artworks by Mary Cassatt, William Blake, Paul Cezanne, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Édouard Vuillard, Mark Rothko, Birds of America by J.J. Audubon, a parchment document by King Edward V, architectural drawings of the U.S. Capitol by T.U. Walter, and many other notable Asian materials such as Dunhuang manuscripts and Yongle encyclopedia,
Minah received an M.A. degree in Conservation from Camberwell College of Arts, University of Arts in, London, the UK in 2003, and an M.A. degree in East Asian Art History from the Academy of Korean Studies in Korea. Prior to working for CCAHA, she has completed post-graduate training at the Hammersmith & Fulham Archives and at Tate Gallery in London, UK, at the Library of Congress and at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, and in Worcester Art Museum, MA.
In 2011 Minah received an American Academy in Rome fellowship, funded by the William Penn Foundation, to study the collection of the Missionary Ethnological Museum at the Vatican Museums.
In 2006 she was selected for the international course “Conservation of Japanese Paper,” organized in Tokyo by ICCROM and the Japanese National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.
Minah is a Professional Associate Member of AIC - American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.
about
Preparation for treatment
- toning mulberry paper
Publications
Papers:
"Patterns of Appreciation: Papermakers in East Asia." In Papermaker's Tears Vol. 2, edited by Tatiana Ginsberg, The Legacy Press, 2023.
"Korean Bindings," "East Asian Handmade Paper," and "East Asian Manuscript and Printing Inks," In Conservation of Books, edited by Abigail Bainbridge, Routledge 2023
“Evaluation of the conservation quality Eastern papers regarding materials and papermaking process.” Proceedings for Adapt and Evolve Conference, ICON Book and Paper Group, London, April 9-11, 2015.
“The History and Characteristics of Korean Books and Bookbinding.” Journal of the institute of Conservation, Vol 32, No. 1 (2009):53-78.
“Permanence, Durability and Unique Properties of Hanji.” co-authored with Jesse Munn, The Book and Paper Group Annual 23 (2004):127-136.
Reviews:
Hanji Unfurld: Journey into Korean Papermaking by Aimee Lee, Hand Papermaking 28, no. 2 (Winter 2013): 41-43.
Fabriano: City of Medieval and Renaissance Papermaking by Sylvia Rodgers Albro,
Hand Papermaking 32 no. 2 (Winter 2017): 42-44.
“Understanding Asian Papers and their Applications in Paper Conservation"
Workshop taught at the Public Archives, Porto, Portugal