From 29 June to 4 July 2026, Toruń, Poland, hosted the participants of the first E-RIHS.pl Summer School! The event was organised in cooperation with the Centre for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the University’s Institute for Advanced Studies.
The Summer School focused on the applications of advanced physicochemical methods in the examination of cultural heritage objects. The following analytical and imaging techniques were presented:
• macro X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF);
• X-ray powder diffraction;
• non-invasive X-ray diffraction;
• digital radiography;
• FTIR microscopy;
• optical coherence tomography (OCT);
• high-resolution infrared reflectography;
• ground-penetrating radar;
• 3D scanning.
The programme also included three thematic study visits:
• the architecture of Toruń’s Old Town;
• the collections of Gothic art, decorative arts, painting and sculpture at the District Museum in Toruń;
• the surroundings of Toruń from an art historian’s perspective.
The lecturers included members of staff of Nicolaus Copernicus
University in Toruń: Magdalena Iwanicka; Magdalena Kowalska; Aleksandra Cyganiuk; Adam Cupa; Teresa Kurkiewicz; Piotr Targowski; Jarosław Rogóż; Magdalena Kumorowicz-Brzeska; Krzysztof Wroński, PhD; Piotr Birecki; Paula Śwituszak-Żywica; and Szymon Tadeusz Żywica.
The teaching team also included staff members of the Department of Polish and European Art at the District Museum in Toruń: Anna Kroplewska-Gajewska, Katarzyna Sinoracka, and Agata Grodź.
The Summer School was attended by 21 conservation professionals representing different prestigious institutions: the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw; the Museum of Photography in Kraków, MuFo; the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków; the National Museum in Kielce; the National Museum in Kraków; the National Museum in Warsaw; the District Museum in Toruń; the Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica; the Podlaskie Museum in Białystok; the Museum of the Mazovian Nobility in Ciechanów; the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw; the Dr Tytus Chałubiński Tatra Museum in Zakopane; the Wrocław Contemporary Museum; the Malbork Castle Museum; the Museum of the Eastern Territories of the Former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a branch of the National Museum in Lublin; the Museum of the Tarnów Region; and the Royal Castle in Warsaw Museum.
Visit https://www.e-rihs.pl/index.php/aktualnosci/ to see the full image gallery!
