How can you preserve your great-grandmother’s photograph, a prized painting, a treasured letter written decades ago by your grandfather, or a rare jewel box that once belonged to your grandmother?
Only a few know that there is a centre in Bengaluru that specialises in conservation of art objects.
The monthly Parichay programme of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Bangalore chapter, will on Saturday familiarise participants about the INTACH Chitrakala Parishath Art Conservation Centre (ICKPAC) located on the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (KCP) premises.
“When ICKPAC started in 1993 in collaboration with the KCP, most people with art collections were reluctant to come to us to show them, let alone allow us to treat them! But now, we have an overwhelming response and our hands are full,” said Madhu Rani K.P., director, ICKPAC.
ICKPAC is a non-profit, self-sustaining organisation with the aim to conserve cultural heritage.
“Since we are the only centre of its kind in south India, we cater to the material heritage conservation needs of all the States down south. We undertake conservation of art objects brought to our laboratory by individual owners, art collectors, and custodians of art, and also travel to and work at sites from where art objects cannot be brought to the lab. There are no other conservation labs working in Bengaluru,” she added.
In 2015, two oil on canvas portraits of Mahatma Gandhi in the Vidhana Soudha were restored by ICKPAC.
“One of the portraits took a week’s treatment in situ, while the other one had to be worked on for nearly six weeks. These portraits had faded, developed cracks, and the paint was flaking. They had to be dealt with for increasing their longevity,” said Ms. Rani.
Range of art objects
So far, art objects ranging from oil paintings on canvas and on bromide paper; watercolours/water-based colours on paper; miniature paintings; paintings on cloth; prints from the Colonial period to the present; drawings; bronzes and other metallic objects; wooden sculptures; papier-mâché articles; leather puppets, and folk art paintings, have been conserved at the centre, which receives damaged/deteriorated art pieces from museums, art collectors, art galleries, and individuals. Depending on the piece, the restoration could cost anything from ₹5,000 to lakhs of rupees.
“We receive a lot of traditional Mysore and Thanjavur school paintings. One of the projects that was gratifying was the conservation of wall paintings at the Thyagaraja Swamy temple at Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu which date back to the early 1700s,” said Ms. Rani.
