05-07-16 Tsipras, Fotakis inaugurate Greek-Chinese laser art restoration lab in Beijing

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and the Alternate Minister for Research & Innovation , Costas Fotakis, inaugurated a joint laboratory for cultural heritage between  the Institute of Electronic Structure and Lasers  (IESL-FORTH) and the Palace Museum of the Forbidden City.

“NIKI”, as the laboratory is named, is working on the  restoration of the ancient city’s monuments with the use of advanced laser technologies developed by researchers at the IESL-FORTH in Heraklion, Crete.

Speaking at the event, Alternate Minister Costas Fotakis said that, “The operation of a joint laboratory is the beginning of a cooperation between our two countries in the fields of culture and technology”. The laboratory is named "NIKI" after the ancient city of Nigia in the Yunnan Province of China in which the descendants of Alexander the Great were settled.

The creation of a joint research lab is based on pioneering methods of analysis, diagnosis and restoration of objects and monuments of cultural heritage, with laser techniques developed by the institute in Crete.

The groundwork was set last summer, when the deputy director of the Forbidden City Museum, Song Jirong and researcher from the museum’s department of restoration visited the facilities of the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL). 

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