izv. prof. art. Neva Pološki

She was born in Zagreb on January 17, 1975. In 1998 she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts (academic painter-graphic artist). From 1997 to 2012 she worked at the Croatian Conservation Institute, mainly in the conservation and restoration of wall paintings. She is the head or associate in the conz.-rest. works on a total of 32 protected cultural monuments. At the same time, she performs authorial work on a dozen wall paintings. In 2007, she acquired the professional title of conservator-restorer for the narrow specialty of wall painting, and in 2012 a license to perform the protection and preservation of cultural property. In 2008, she enrolled in the postgraduate study of restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, which she completed in 2013 (Master of Arts). In 2012, she was employed at the Academy of Fine Arts (OKIRU), where in 2023 she acquired the artistic-teaching title of full professor. She teaches and teaches 8 courses, thematically related to conz.-rest. wall paintings. Since 2014, she has been the leader of 8 scientific and artistic research projects, two of which are of an international nature. She participates in the organization and realization of 10 international scientific and professional conferences and workshops. Since 2018, she has been teaching at the University of Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa in Naples. She is a reviewer of a domestic scientific and professional journal, and in 2020 she is reviewing a foreign proceedings. In 2024, she is a member of the editorial board of two international publications. She is a permanent member of several expert judging bodies. In 2024, she won the ALU Award. She participates in numerous international projects; e.g. 2021 – 2023 in the project "International Summer School for the Conservation-Resoration of Wall Paintings – Gradišče Summer School 2021 – 2023" (ZVKDS, ALUO Ljubljana, SUPSI, ALU Zagreb) and 2020 – 2024 in the project "Up close" (MSU Zagreb, ALUO and MG/MSM Ljubljana). She organizes and leads numerous conz.-rest. internships of OKIRU students on wall paintings in cooperation with domestic and foreign institutions and the private sector. Since 2012, she has been a long-term manager of conz.-rest. projects at 3 sites, and works as an associate at 19 facilities. She organizes and leads more than 30 field classes. She mentors graduates and numerous student papers exhibited at international conferences. She publishes professional and scientific articles thematically related to conz.-rest. wall paintings and participates in domestic and international conferences, workshops and exhibitions. She is continuously professionally improving in the country and abroad.

The heterogeneity of the work performed by the conservator-restorer of wall paintings is an incentive for Neva Pološki for a wide range of research interests. They most often stem from confrontation with a certain work of art and the specific reasons for its deterioration, which she approaches critically and analytically, for the purpose of implementing well-founded conservation-rest. interventions. Specific research that she has recently conducted in collaboration with domestic and foreign scientists and students, is focused on the technology of wall painting, and on the other hand, on finding the optimal cons.-rest. methods. In the research of source materials and techniques, she strives to apply instrumental methods that are less available and less common in everyday analytics, which often provide more precise and reliable data. Thus, the analyses of the original binders of the painted layer of several wall paintings were performed by immunofluorescence microscopy (IFM), which specified the origin of the protein binder detected by common, but not so precise FTIR spectroscopy. Furthermore, in order to determine the strength of certain plasters for the purpose of formulating optimal recipes of replacement plasters, the resistance of the original plaster to drilling was measured using the DRMS system. Part of the research was related to specific contamination of wall paintings, i.e. the most adequate methods of their removal. At the same time, the effectiveness of various cleaning systems based on gels was examined at several sites. A more recent research of this kind was conducted on an urban mural owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. At the same time, the perspective of the conz.-rest. approach to the preservation of this contemporary artistic expression, which, unlike traditional works of art in our areas, does not exist for the time being. One of the research in which N. Pološki is currently involved, which is carried out by an international team of conservators-restorers and art historians, refers to the broader picture of the protection of our cultural heritage, and it is about the preparation of a study of the state of wall paintings in Istria. Since the Zagreb and Petrinja earthquakes, she has been participating in research and conservation. interventions at several sites, where she also works as a consultant. She devotes special interest to the aesthetic reintegration of damage to wall paintings, on a theoretical and practical level. The results of research and related cons.-rest. procedures that contribute to the profession and education due to an approach that is innovative and rare in our areas, are presented to the public at conferences and in the form of professional and scientific articles.

The courses are thematically related to the conservation-restoration of wall paintings. Theoretically, and then through practice, they deal with the basic stages of conservation-rest. work; from the research of original techniques and materials, causes and products of deterioration, through documenting the state of conservation and conservation-rest. interventions, to practical interventions for the purpose of preserving the material, historical and aesthetic integrity of a work of art.

– Felici A., Pološki N., "Painting technique", in: Mladenović, A., Osojnik, M. (eds.), The Church of St. Helen and Gradišče pri Divači: International Summer School for the Conservation-Restoration of Wall Paintings - Gradišče Summer School 2021 - 2023, RES.8, ZVKDS Restoration Centre, Ljubljana, 107.-118. 2024. – Roters J., Pološki N., Jazbec A., "Aesthetic reintegration - What is it about?" in: Mladenović, A., Osojnik, M. (eds.), The Church of St. Helen in Gradišče pri Divači: International Summer School for the Conservation-Restoration of Wall Paintings - Gradišče Summer School 2021 - 2023, RES.8, ZVKDS Restoration Center, Ljubljana, 167.-175. 2024 (28/05 – 25/08) –– exhibition of the conz.-rest. intervention on the mural "Open My Eyes That I May See" by the artist OKO, at the exhibition "Up Close" (co-authorship with H. Bosnić), Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb 2024. – Kosel J., Kavkler K., Pološki N., Ropret P., "Immunofluorescence microscopy for the characterization of paint binder in wall paintings: A two-step procedure of using anti-ovalbumin and anti-casein antibodies on the same micro sample", Journal of Cultural HEritage, 66, 271.-181. 2024 – Bosnić, H., Pološki, N., "Street art as part of a museum: Cleaning the mural on the MSU plateau", in: Trček.Pečak, T., Pavić, M., Madžarac, N. (eds.), From Close/Up CLose: Conservation, Protection and Conservation-Restoration of Modern and Contemporary Works of Art, UL ALUO, MG+MSUM, MSU, Ljubljana / Zagreb, 345.-366. (27. 05.) –– presentation of the poster at the professional conference "24. Expert Meeting of Conservators-Restorers", poster title: The use of antiovalbumin and anticasein antibodies for the analysis of the color binder of Croatian wall paintings (co-authored with J. Kosel, K. Kavkler, K., P. Ropret), Brežice, Posavina Museum 2023 (22/05) – exhibition of posters at the expert conference "23. Professional meeting of conservators-restorers", poster title: International Summer School Gradišče pri Divači, 2022 (co-authored with S. Damiani), Posavina Museum, Brežice 2022 – 2023 – exhibition of conz.-rest. interventions on the mural "Open My Eyes That I May See" by the artist OKO, at the exhibition "From Close / Close / Up Close" (co-authorship with H. Bosnić), Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana 2019. – Pološki, N., Horvat-Kavazović, B., "Cleaning wall paintings: Methodological approach with low chemical risk", News in Conservation, 70, 23.-25. 2016 – Hacker, B., Pološki, N., "Research of the composition and properties of medieval plaster in the church of St. Mary near Lokve and comparative studies of commercial materials for grouting", Portal, 7, 85.-101.