Chantal Karli
Conservator-restorer of books and documents
Lausanne

« Book restoration goes beyond aesthetics. It has to do with the intimate. The repaired object is stored in a library and not exhibited as a work of art. »

Chantal Karli has always been drawn to books and the treatment of paper. She began by learning bookbinding before training in the conservation and restoration of books in England with the master Christopher Clarkson. Independent for a long time, she works throughout French-speaking Switzerland but also across Sarine, mainly for public institutions.

« This profession is in perpetual evolution, many researches are in progress. We never get bored, we always learn something. »

Chantal Karli must operate in phases and thus work on several works in parallel: it is necessary to wait for the first operations to dry up to move on. This job therefore requires patience and knowing how to adapt to materials, objects, their history and specific problems in order to restore as faithfully as possible works that sometimes date back to the Middle Ages.