Not for sale : Stop auctioning Chandigarh’s legacy abroad
The Tribune Editorial: A city celebrated globally for its modernist vision, cannot afford to discover missing artefacts only when they appear in foreign catalogues
CHANDIGARH’s iconic furniture shows that heritage is not merely about monuments; it is also about the objects that give them meaning. UNESCO’s request to Chicago’s Wright Auction House to suspend the transfer of six Pierre Jeanneret-designed furniture pieces sold for around Rs 83 lakh has changed what appeared to be a routine design auction into an international heritage dispute. The teak chairs, benches and stools were never conceived as luxury collectibles. Designed in the 1950s as part of Le Corbusier’s vision for Chandigarh, they were integral to the city’s institutional identity — from Panjab University and the PGI to government offices. Since Chandigarh's Capitol Complex became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, preserving these objects has become inseparable from preserving the city’s authenticity.
