Recently, on January 14–15, 2025, the Central Institute for Restoration (Rome, Italy) hosted an M24 Plenary meeting within the framework of the AURORA project, which was attended by representatives of Lviv Polytechnic National University – Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and International Relations, Doctor of Economics, Professor Nataliya Chukhray and Associate Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences Taras Maksymiuk.
The AURORA project aims to demonstrate how chemical marking, miniaturised devices, artistic deep scanning techniques, and cloud and blockchain-based platforms can be combined to create a cost-effective, non-destructive, and non-invasive means of countering illicit activity while preserving artefacts. The technologies researched and implemented in AURORA will be combined into a digital tool that will allow relevant stakeholders, art dealers, curators, auction houses, logistics services and law enforcement to easily verify the authenticity and provenance of artworks, allowing the movement of artworks to be tracked.
The meeting began with a speech by a Central Institute of Restoration representative, who stressed the importance of cooperation in preserving cultural heritage. Domenico Romano from AVVALE presented the overall goals of the AURORA project, emphasizing the creation of easy-to-use, inexpensive, and valuable solutions at different levels. During the event, they discussed modern technologies for protecting artworks. The blockchain in the NFT market can counteract illicit trafficking, and tracking methods provide localisation accuracy of up to 30 cm. For authentication, barcodes, QR codes, and transparent chemical markers are used without the need for numbers.
Participants also discussed the progress of the AURORA project, noting significant achievements and the need to consolidate results in the final year of implementation. Also,
progress on each Work Package was demonstrated. Special attention was paid to technological innovations, particularly the use of carbon dots and chemical markers. It was emphasised that different materials require different coatings to implement an anti-counterfeiting strategy effectively. The project partners have conducted numerous tests using external agents, inks, accelerated aging, and photo-aging on various materials such as paper, sandstone, marble, ceramics, wood, historical paper, and limestone. The results of these studies are currently being analyzed.
The team of Lviv Polytechnic scientists has been assigned, among other things, a special task to assess the extent of the impact of military operations on the state of museum heritage in Ukraine and the criminal trafficking of art objects. The meeting emphasized the importance of Lviv Polytechnic’s participation in the project, as foreign partners expressed concern about the events in Ukraine and approved the possibility of testing the developed chemical markers on art objects in museums and churches in eastern Ukraine. The scientists expressed their hope that the system of chemical markers for moving national heritage sites in the frontline regions of Ukraine will provide an additional chance to identify the national heritage status of these sites in the event of occupation of the territory or their theft by the enemy.
The participation of Lviv Polytechnic representatives in such events emphasizes the university’s active position in international projects aimed at preserving cultural heritage and introducing innovative technologies.
