As a committee we have two missions. We have to document the mosaics of the greek, roman and Byzantine period and if it is necessary to make a restoration, to attract the attention of the archaeological community and the museum community. Our aim is not only to record this richness of mosaics, but also even to do everything for saving them. Our members will present offers concerning the restoration of the mosaics.
For collect the information and supply the connection, a research centre should be built in the university in Konya (research centre for mosaics in Turkey ). This centre will also be connected with the AIEMA ( Association Inernationale pour L´Etude de la Mosaique Antique), with there central office in Paris . I read the letter, I got from the director of AIEMA, Prof. Henri Lavagne, in the colloquium.
Another result of this colloquium was that we need, for the documentation of all the mosaics from the different time periods, detailed information about their ground cover and the architectural context, and we also need pictures in high- quality, which have also a standard format. So we fixed 18 different historical regions in Turkey and for every region we ordered someone, who should make mosaic researches in this area. The catalogue should have the form of the mosaic catalogues of the other Mediterranean countries.
This project of the catalogue should be a long lasting one, and in the next 3 years different volumes about the mosaics of Ephesos, Xanthos, Kilikya and Zeugma should be published. In some of these regions the examination still goes on. We were lucky that also Fatih Cimok, a good photographer and an owner of a publishing house in Istanbul , joined our meeting. He is desire to publish our catalogue of mosaics with coloured pictures. Cimok also published the most popular publication of the mosaics of Istanbul and Antakya.
One of our decisions was that we would like to continue our work in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, especially with the section for museum and cultural assets. We need for all of the examinations and publishing licenses from the Ministry. Also we will cooperate with archaeologist, for the documentation of the insitu mosaics and the surveys. The archaeologist of the Museums in Istanbul , who were present and the trustee of the mosaic collection of the museum, Dr. Ş ehrazat Karagöz, supply an official communication between our team and the directorate of the museums and the cultural assets.
We planed that our next meeting should be in June 2005, but the definitive date will be fixed and proclaimed as soon as possible.
