At the end of the 19th century, Josep Xarrié  Moragas (1880 – 1962), carpenter, studied drawing at l’Escola d’Arts Aplicades de Llotja in Barcelona. Josep Xarrié  Moragas´s greatest achievement was to provide his son, Domènec, with the necessary and vital foundations in craftsmanship to become an art restorer.

Domènec Xarrié Mirambell´s (1909- 1984) first assignment from the then general director of the Junta de Museos de Barcelona, Joaquim Folch i Torres, was to conserve and restore his personal collection of musical instruments. This was in 1929, the year of  Barcelona’s World Exposition. In the year 1932, after having finished Joaquim Folch i Torres´ assignment, Domènec Xarrié  Mirambell worked in Barcelona’s museums in the impromptu workshop of the Museu d’Art del Parc de la Ciutadella, under the direction of Manuel Grau i Mas who had just returned from Italy where he had learned the latest restoration techniques at the time. In 1934 the MNAC Museu d’Art de Catalunya workshop was created, and he became the second paint restorer of the group.

Twenty-six years later, in October of 1960, his son, Josep Maria Xarrié  Rovira (1943) became a restorer for the MNAC Museu d’Art de Catalunya workgroup. This was until 1974, when he became  the   academician of the Conservation Department of the Fine Arts Faculty (University of Barcelona).

After 1981, he left the academic world to fully dedicate himself to conserving objects of cultural heritage for the Catalan public administration, where he became Director of the S.R.B.M de la Generalitat de Catalunya, where he currently works today.

He has been a restoration consultant for UNESCO in various Latin American countries, as well as founding member since 1976 of the organizing committee of the congress on restoration of cultural objects in Spain, promoted by ICOM. Recently he has written the book “Restauració d’obres d’art a Catalunya”.

Roger Xarrié i Poveda (1972), has a degree en Art History from the UB (1996) and specialised in restoration at the I.C.R (L'Istituto Centrale per il Restauro) in Rome continuing the generational legacy, and since 1997 he has continued the family tradition as started by his grandfather, Domènec Xarrié, and continued by his father, Josep Maria Xarrié, on the noble art of the restoration and conservation of our cultural heritage.

Mireia Xarrié Poveda (Barcelona, 1970) has a bachelor degree in Art History  (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and currently is writing her Ph. D about art conservation terminology (Universitat Pompeu Fabra).

Her family has a long tradition in art conservation (since 1929), she learnt  this discipline from his father, Josep Mº. While she was at the university, she had some mural painting conservation practices in Switzerland and in Egypt.

In 1995 she opened her own business,  Balaam.  Five years later she began to organize international conservation courses with teachers and participants from Europe and America. She participates on several international conservation organizations about documentation and education.   

Since 2004, she is the author and the publishers of the conservation series "Glossary of art conservation", books about art conservation terminology, the topic of her  Ph.D. The books will be translated to other languages soon.

Balaam Escoles pies 76 pral 1 Barcelona 08017 (Spain)  

Fax ++1 206 600 4606 USA ++34 934 171 347 Spain or by E.mail.