IAFA conservatory for rare artwork

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 22

Initiating its restoration process for over 5,000 pieces of art in its collection, the Indian Academy of Fine Arts (IAFA) has constituted a team of curators, under the guidance of noted curator and restorer Ahmed Ali from Salarjung museum in Hyderabad. With 40 years of experience, Ali conducted a workshop for four months with students at the art gallery on restoration techniques using organic tools, including coconut and lime and also advanced techniques like spectrometry and fibre integration.

The IAFA project aims at restoring the valuable artworks that comprises works by artists, including SG Thakar Singh, Amrita Shergill and Soba Singh.

“We have several paintings that are 80 to 100 years old, made with natural colours. Such colours are quite difficult to recreate today. Therefore, a team of specialists has been prepared and we will initially begin work on six paintings which require intensive restoration,” said Arvinder Chamak, general secretary, IAFA.

Noted works among 50 heritage paintings include SG Thakar Singh’s ‘After the Bath’, one in his series of seductive paintings of women, in 1924 for which he was honoured by then queen.

The heritage paintings have been stored at a laboratory which will also serve as conservatory for these rare and exclusive paintings. “The laboratory has a controlled environment. The restorative process has a budget of over Rs 10 lakh that we are trying to generate out of our own,” he says.

The gallery currently houses these heritage paintings in a separate hall that is kept temperature controlled and under 24×7 surveillance.