Three Documentation Scenarios for the Long-Term Preservation of Decorated Surfaces in the Church of Kuñotambo, Peru

Abstract

Abstract. The church of Santiago Apóstol of Kuñotambo is located in the southeast area of the Cusco province of Acomayo, containing remarkable interior mural paintings that contribute to the heritage value of the building and the area. The building was studied, conserved and seismically retrofitted as a model project for the Seismic Retrofitting Project (SRP), a collaborative project between the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and the Ministry of Culture of Peru in Cusco. Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) participated in the documentation of the decorated surfaces with an initial campaign in 2013, organized a series of workshops on documentation theory and practice with international experts and local professionals in 2017, and carried out a final recording after the conclusion of the site work in 2019. This last documentation phase provided a comprehensive documentation baseline and acquisition guidelines to plan the future long-term care of the decorated surfaces after their conservation. This paper presents the documentation carried out in 2019 and focuses on the three documentation scenarios proposed for the long-term preservation of decorated surfaces in the church: (1) Visual Documentation; (2) Digital Documentation; and (3) Comprehensive Digital Documentation. These different scenarios considered the particularly isolated location of the temple, the availability of equipment, the level of expertise in the different techniques proposed, and the frequency of future monitoring activities. Finally, the required tasks, necessary equipment, and potential challenges are presented for each of the documentation scenarios, with the objective being to offer a sustainable framework over time that serves the future Monitoring Plan for the heritage site.