Experts at Intach-CKP help treat artwork affected by the high humidity in air
For automobile mechanics, plumbers and doctors, monsoon is a busy time. In the city, however, there is a set of other specialists too, who get busy during this time in particular – working away at rain damage control for pieces of art.
When there is moisture in the air, fungus crops up in old paintings, murals, heirloom clothes and antique furniture. Art experts at Intach- Chitrakala Parishath Art Conservation Centre (ICKPAC) in Bengaluru are busy this time of the year with conservation and restoration work.
The centre with a small team of around 10, housed in Chitrakala Parishath premises, has its hands full with rain treatment as a good chunk of Bengalureans are art connoisseurs and possess a variety of heritage and heirloom articles, most of which could have been handed down over generations.
The little-known centre had earlier handled prestigious restoration projects, including the Velankani Church, Vidhana Soudha paintings and art pieces at Puttaparthi Sai Baba ashram. “Bengaluru’s weather is such that a lot of moisture is in the air during monsoon. This allows growth of fungus in paintings, furniture, clothes and art objects, which need to be treated. Treating is not a permanent solution but we can call it remedial conservation or preventive conservation. We have a team that has specialised in art conservation and we take up such work. It is highly niche work. People come to us with their old paintings, clothes, wooden work, murals and different kinds of art pieces, which we treat for fungus,’’ Madhu Rani, director of Intach Chitrakala Parishath Art Conservation Centre, told Bangalore Mirror.
The centre has done work not just in the state, but it also takes up work commissioned by other parts of South India. Their earlier work of restoring 300-year-old murals in Thiagarajaswamy temple, Tiruvarur, was a landmark project. These paintings go back to the Nayaka period and are on the ceiling of the thousand-pillared hall in Thiagarajaswami Temple premises. Conservation of mural paintings in Nalaknadu Palace, Kodaganadu, restoration of Mother Mary altar at Velankani church, are also noteworthy. The centre is carrying out restoration of the collections in Puttaparthi Sai Baba ashram — old European paintings gifted by Maharajas of Jamnagar.
“We are documenting all wall painting sites in Karnataka at palaces, temples or old houses. We have the inventory of such sites and are documenting the status of the paintings,’’ Rani said.
OPEN FOR ALL
On Saturday morning, a Parichay will be organised to introduce people to ICKPAC’s works — conservation of paintings, documents, temple murals and oil paintings. This will be led by Madhu Rani and her team. Rani will talk about how you can preserve your great-grandmother’s photograph, or that treasured letter written by your grandfather. Or may be a book that has been handed down generations. The Parichay will be held at Chitrakala Parishath and will be for about two hours. Those interested can mail intach.blr@gmail.com and the event comes with a nominal fee.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangaloremirror.com / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Kushala Satyanarayana / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / September 20th, 2017