On Thursday 24 February, the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage was pleased to welcome members of the European Embassies and Cultural Institutes (EUNIC) Malta cluster to view the conservation project currently being carried out by the Department on the Perez D’Aleccio Great Siege wall paintings in the Throne Room of the Presidential Palace, Valletta. Distinguished visitors included Austrian Ambassador Erika Bernhard, Hungarian Ambassador Gabor Gyorivanyi, Italian Cultural Institute Director Serena Alessi, British Council Director Ingrid Eomois as well as representatives of the Arts Council, Malta.

Accompanying the EUNIC members were Prof. JoAnn Cassar, Head of the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage, Ms Jennifer Porter, leader of the conservation project, and Mr Wilfred Kenely and Ms Sarah Lee Zammit, from RIDT. The visitors were also introduced to the conservation team members, who hail from six different countries in Europe and beyond. Ms Porter explained the painstaking work which is being undertaken to conservation these priceless wall paintings, while Mr Emmanuel Manuel Conti, Heritage Malta Senior Curator responsible for the Palace, gave interesting historic insights and later led the group to a tour of the other ongoing works at the Palace.

EUNIC, the European Union National Institutes for Culture, is the European network of organisations engaging in international cultural relations. EUNIC members join together in 132 clusters in 102 countries worldwide. Clusters are the network's branches, engaging in cultural relations, co-creating activities with partner organisations.