(Vienna, 24 August 2022): The Loosdorf Castle collection of valuable porcelain pieces from three centuries from Europe and Asia – destroyed during the Second World War – is on the move: 2023 was not only the year of the return of restored objects after an exhibition tour through Japan, but also the start of the artistic research project ‘Broken Collection’, carried out by the Institute for Conservation and Restoration at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (lead by Gabriela Krist). The project started with the exhibition ‘COMEBACK – for more’. The show, which opened on 20 May, presented the porcelain returned from Japan, provides information about the project and allows visitors to observe the work on the shards.
The Japanese objects, which returned to Loosdorf in March, show the results of the work of the organisation ROIP – Reviving old Imari Project at Loosdorf Castle, which was set up by Verena Piatti, Machiko Hochina and Professor Masaaki Arakawa, Gakushuin University, in their partly fragmentary, partly restored state. Valuable groundwork was carried out here to organise, date and restore the shards. From 2020 to 2022, a special exhibition entitled ‘The Tragedy of Loosdorf Castle’ was organised at the Okura Museum of Art in Toyko and further exhibitions were held at the Kyushu and Aichi Museums, where selected objects from the collection were shown internationally for the first time.
