Monumentenwacht Utrecht gathers knowledge
This year, RIGO Verffabriek attended the Monument Fair in 's-Hertogenbosch for the very first time. This trade fair is a meeting place for heritage professionals and allows visitors to gather knowledge about the maintenance and restoration of monuments.
by Quinty, technical consultant paint
I always bring a buddy to trade fairs: my easel. When I'm painting with our products, people often come by to see what I'm doing and what I'm painting. This time was no different, and Vera Berkeveld, project manager at Monumentenwacht Utrecht came to have a look.
We started talking and found out that we had been enrolled in the same study programme. She was impressed by the paint and the story behind the linseed oil paint, and said her colleagues could use some more knowledge in the area of paint. As such, we exchanged contact details and I invited her to visit the factory in IJmuiden.
In early October, I had the joy of welcoming Vera and her colleagues to our paint factory. They had compiled a list of questions about our linseed oil paint and the issues they regularly encounter during their monument inspections. We put these questions into a presentation with a lot of images that Vera's colleagues would recognise.
The day started with a delightful lunch. With a well-filled stomach, Vera took the floor and told Rigo Verffabriek and her colleagues about the activities of Monumentenwacht Utrecht. I was surprised to hear that they aim to inspect and maintain about 2000 monuments with only 12 people. Afterwards, Toon took the floor to talk about the linseed oil paint and the history of RIGO Verffabriek.
This was an interactive presentation, allowing Vera and her colleagues to perform the paint recognition test themselves. We thoroughly discussed the causes of moisture issues and even Sinterklaas had a spot in the presentation.
Of course, a factory visit is not complete without a tour, and our guests got to see the paint production craftsmen at work. In the end, our guests got the opportunity to paint with the "jewels" of the factory, the Dutch linseed oil paint Toplin and Toplin Aqua. We ended the day with a cosy round of drinks in our indoor garden.