Collection at the Palace Armoury

I refer to Tonio Bugeja's letter Saddened At Notte Bianca (October 17) and the comments made on the collection at the Palace Armoury.

For the past two years Heritage Malta has been undergoing an upgrading and restoration project of the national collection at the armoury including a comprehensive identification, chronological dating and restoration of its artefacts.

To date, the armoury section has been completed and describing these exhibits as "tattered" is unjustified.

Work is planned on the collection of weapons and other instruments to start early next year.

With regard to the drums in particular, Heritage Malta is currently carrying out a study on the correct dating of these artefacts with the purpose of determining whether they rightly belong to the Knights of St John or if they in fact date back only to the British period.

Until the dating study is complete, the instruments cannot be cleaned or restored as the conservation process would tamper with the dating study.

It is envisaged that the dating study will be complete by early next year, following which the conservation process on these instruments can be started.