IGNCA on the importance of conservation

The IGNCA and its group of conservationists restore artefacts to their hoary past, using science and creativity

From an Army Mess preserving the war trophy of a flag captured in a long-forgotten battle to maintaining a 5,000-year-old Harappan bronze dancing girl in the National Museum, Delhi, conservation comes in many forms. And, among the pioneering institutions involved in conservation in the country is the Indira Gandhi National Centre for The Arts (IGNCA).

The IGNCA focusses on several aspects of conservation — including research, training and re-organisation of museum spaces. It also recently held an exhibition ‘Conserving Values, Restoring Significance.’

The exhibition aimed to showcase the unique conservation work undertaken by the IGNCA, and educate the public about the importance of conservation. Sanjay Dhar, Consultant, Conservation Division, said they wanted to let people know what the department did, and how relevant and important the work was in one’s everyday life.

One wonders why museums have not focussed more on this area. Sources say there are only three full-time conservators at the National Museum, Delhi, to handle three lakh objects. In fact, India only has about 200 trained conservators.

The sheer diversity of the products restored at IGNCA over two decades, and the projects it has dealt with is impressive - the conservation lab was established in 2001. Each conservator works with sculptures, paintings, rock art and textile paintings, including ‘thangkas’, to manuscripts, wood, instruments and bronzes. The IGNCA conservation team has established laboratories in Thailand and Vietnam to help restore manuscripts, and assisted a museum in Guwahati re-organise its collection. The National Crafts Museum in Delhi is an ongoing project too.

Achal Pandya, head of the department, Conservation, shared that, initially, the laboratory was set up only to conserve the collections at IGNCA. Gradually, request calls from the Delhi Police, Supreme Court of India (for documents and mosaics) and the Rashtrapati Bhavan saw it expand its activities. The space in the new IGNCA campus will be approximately 10,000 sq ft, says Pandya.

Reorganisation of museum storage is a satisfying aspect of conservation, says Pandya. Unless one is aware of the contents, it is impossible to clean them, far less showcase them, he says. He spoke of a challenging project in a museum in Guwahati, where 15 of his staff worked for 15 days to reorganise the contents. The Craft Museum, Delhi, is an ongoing project too — initially, only 5,000 objects were relocated; now, 30,000 objects will be dealt with.