Multidisciplinary approach to alteration, alterability and conservation of Soares dos Reis geomaterial sculpture: breaking boundaries in museum paradigms and creating value in changing societies through cultural heritage

GEO-SR is a multidisciplinary project which aims to fill a gap in scientific and technological knowledge regarding the material, conservative and symbolic components of 19th-century geomaterial sculpture, in museum context through the study of 35 sculptures by António Soares dos Reis (1847-1889). GEO-SR responds to this main motto through the material characterization of marble, granite, plaster and terracotta sculptures, mainly in National Museum of Soares dos Reis (Porto, Portugal) and by the innovative and sustainable experimentation and adaptation of safe, economic, portable non-invasive analytical techniques used traditionally in the diagnosis of building anomalies (thermography and UPV). This component of the project aims to define parameters of degradation and fragility of sculptural objects, comparing the degree of decay in materials, in indoor and outdoor environments (two scultures - Public Art). The gathered information will be applied in the elaboration of innovative, safe, portable, non-invasive, objective and more affordable evaluation methods, which will make possible to redefine ethical issues and protocols for the conservation, exhibition, storage, handling, security and transportation of geomaterial sculpture. This will have repercussions in the economic activities of the business and industrial sectors (in short and medium terms) that provide related products and services. GEO-SR also aims to encourage the investigation and valorisation of 19th century geomaterial sculpture as an important part of Cultural Heritage that must be interpreted with proper objectivity and valued. One of the outcomes of the project will be the much needed repositioning of Soares dos Reis? sculptural work in European and Western sculpture. In this sense, the GEO-SR intends to translate part of the results obtained into the creation of value, through the re-evaluation of the offer for cultural Tourism in museums, and by the re-evaluation of museums as interfaces in changing societies. The idea is to create international networking, based on the scientific, cultural and economic potential of 19th-century geomaterial sculpture, through the suggestion of cultural touristic itineraries with two Parisian museums (Musée Rodin and Musée Camille Claudel) and a Roman museum (Galleria Nazionalle of Modern Art), as Soares dos Reis studied and produced in these cities, as a grant student. The final outcomes of GEO-SR will be a video documentary, a website (database), a cultural tourim application (iOS and Android), a final monograph for open access and a first scientific meeting subordinated to the importance of geomaterial sculpture in the creation of value in societies. GEO-SR is led by CITAR (UCP-CRP) researchers and gathers top researchers from Center of Physics of Minho University and GeoBioTec - University of Aveiro.