Since 2024, the Malta Public Abattoir, the Notarial Archives Foundation, Xirka and world-renowned parchment expert Dr. Jiří Vnouček from the Royal Library of Denmark have been collaborating to revive the craft of parchment-making in Malta, potentially bringing this skill back for the first time in centuries. This crucial initiative has now been awarded a two-year EU fund under the project name Ġilduża, which will support the continued development of this traditional craft and its integration into Malta’s cultural and educational landscape. Notably, this project promotes core sustainability principles by utilising animal skins that would otherwise be discarded, and it directly supports the indispensable work of the Notarial Archives Foundation’s Conservation Department.
As part of our successful initial phase, we worked closely with the Public Abattoir and Dr Vnouček to test skins from local goat and sheep breeds for parchment production. As part of our community outreach, we showcased the craft at Festa Laħam at the Public Abattoir in May of 2025, engaging with the public and sharing the story behind this initiative. This collaboration represents a significant step forward in uniting skill, sustainability and innovation, promoting the recycling and reuse of materials while ensuring that these lost skills are both honed and preserved for future generations.
Watch this space for updates about this exciting project.
International Parchment-Making Workshop and Seminar
On 29 April, the Notarial Registers Archive hosted The Secrets of Parchment, a public seminar that explored parchment as a biological, material, and historical archive.
The seminar formed part of the wider Ġilduża Project, an initiative working towards the revival of parchment-making in Malta through collaboration between artisans, conservators, historians, scientists, and farmers. Co-funded by the European Union under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the project is a partnership between the Notarial Archives Foundation, the Malta Public Abattoir, and Dr Jiří Vnouček.
Bringing together specialists from Malta and abroad, the seminar examined parchment from multiple perspectives, ranging from traditional craftsmanship and conservation practice to scientific analysis and historical research. Through a series of presentations and discussions, participants explored how parchment can be understood not only as a writing support, but also as a source of information about animal husbandry, manufacturing processes, patterns of use, and the broader societies that produced and preserved it.
The event followed a four-day international parchment-making workshop held at the Malta Public Abattoir under the guidance of Dr Jiří Vnouček. Workshop participants received hands-on training in traditional parchment-making techniques, including the preparation and cleaning of animal skins, dehairing, stretching, drying, and surface finishing. Together, the workshop and seminar highlighted the value of combining practical knowledge with academic research and conservation expertise.
For institutions such as the Notarial Archives Foundation, parchment represents more than a historic material. Many of the documents preserved within the collections of the Notarial Registers Archive are written on parchment or incorporate parchment elements, making a deeper understanding of the material directly relevant to its long-term preservation and conservation.
The seminar provided an opportunity for researchers, conservators, heritage professionals, students, and members of the public to engage with current research and ongoing efforts to revive a craft that once formed an important part of Malta’s material culture. Through the Ġilduża Project, traditional skills, scientific inquiry, and heritage conservation continue to come together in support of a more sustainable and informed approach to the preservation of cultural heritage.
Ad servandum posteritati