Knights of the arts

Oscar Wilde is known to have said ‘All art is immortal’. No offence to Wilde but the thought of anything lasting forever seems to be a myth, especially where great work of art are concerned. You don’t have to take the writer’s word for it. Just ask the phenomenally talented group of restorers who spend all their time working on neglected and damaged art pieces.

 “The walls of temples and other historically important places have ‘forever love’ messages and marriage proposals engraved on them. People don’t realise the value of our heritage,” rues Sreelatha Rao, assistant superintending chemist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Chennai.

Dilapidated conditions

Rao has worked extensively in Lepakshi temple in Anantpur district, Andhra Pradesh, and also on the temples in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. “The murals in Lepakshi were in a terrible state. We didn’t even know there was a painting until we began cleaning the surface. Most temples in Thanjavur also shared the same fate.”

A veteran in the field with over two-decades of experience, Rao has also worked on stone artefacts, oil paintings, photographs, heritage buildings etc. “Today, there are many people who specialise in restoring paper paintings or oil on canvas. But when I started, art conservation and restoration were virtually unheard of,” she says.

Is there a difference between the two? “Art conservation and restoration are similar and different,” explains KP Madhu Rani, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Bangalore. “Conservators examine art pieces, assess and establish causes of damage and suggest means to prevent further deterioration. Restorers remove residue like soot, moss and varnish from sculptures or paintings. We may try to bring the artefact back to what we think it looked like. But it can be undone at a later stage.”

Rani has restored the botanical paintings from Lal Bagh, Bangalore, traditional paintings of Mysore and Thanjavur and prints of Raja Ravi Varma.

Lack of qualified experts

In India, often conservation and restoration are done by the same person due to a lack of experts. “With our rich cultural history, it’s a pity we don’t have enough qualified people working on its preservation,” says J Chandrasekaran, restorer with REACH (Rural Education and Conservation of Heritage Foundation), Chennai.

He says experts should understand the science behind the usage of materials like camphor, neem oil, castor oil and lamp soot on murals and the blends of lime, sandstone and jaggery in building materials. “We should know why lime is better than cement. For instance, the Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram was built with sandstone, over which a layer of lime blend was painted. The murals were painted with basic colours that were created with biodegradable materials. If I want to preserve the structure and restore the paintings, I need volumes of the same material. Where would I get it?” he asks.

He adds that a course in conservation is very important. “ASI has many courses. National Museum Institute, New Delhi, offers PG degrees. Even REACH offers few programmes. Interest levels to pursue these courses have gone up but in terms of sheer number, it’s not enough.”

 

A course in conservation

Perhaps the only institute in Asia to offer a master’s and also a doctoral in conservation is the National Museum Institute, New Delhi. “We take only 15 students in a batch. Anyone from science and fine arts can apply,” says M Velayudhan Nair, HoD, conservation department. “Students learn by working with original art pieces and do a lot of practical work. So a teacher’s direct supervision is very important. Teachers should have experience and also first-hand knowledge of the subject. To get people like that is also difficult.”

After completing the master’s programme, students can train at the

National Research Laboratory for Conservation of cultural property (NRLC) for six months. After an unpaid training period, you also have to do a paid six-month internship. It’s only then you become a restorer or conservator.

Adds Chandrasekar, “Most qualified experts are old people. There are more than three-lakh heritage structures in India. The seniors cannot do them all. What happens when they’re gone? Students should do as many internships as possible before going on their own.”

Long internships

Sreekumar Menon concurs and adds that the only way to become a conservator or a restorer is through internships. “After a master’s degree in art restoration, you have to do a lot of internships for the first couple of years,” says the restorer and founder of Art Conservation Studios, Noida. “You can train at museums or at places like INTACH, REACH etc. There are many private restorers like me who hire interns.” He says art conservation has immense potential in India but there aren’t many takers. “There are more than 1,500 restorers in the UK but hardly 10 in India.”

Menon is currently restoring around 80 paintings from the Asiatic Society. “Due to a lack of interns, it took me almost five years to complete just 22 paintings. It’s a tedious and laborious job. Depending on the damage, restoration can take a month to over a year. Even the cost can vary from as low as `500 to as high as Rs 1 lakh.”

Menon also encourages students to do at least one international internship. “It enriches and broadens your understanding of what art restoration means. The Courtauld Institute of Art, UK, or the US-based Getty Conservation Institute and the Smithsonian Institution are some of the places that offer scholarships. There are a few institutes in Netherlands and Italy that offer courses in mural conservation.”

Those who venture into this profession rarely make money initially. VR Aparajitha, owner of Art Care, a conservation studio in Chennai, knows it all too well. “After completing my master’s at the National Museum Institute (2003), New Delhi, I did a six-month internship with INTACH, New Delhi,” says the 30-year-old photograph conservator. “I was paid a very small stipend at INTACH but I worked on everything — oil on canvas, water colours, prints, monochrome sculptures, wooden artefacts, Chinese scrolls etc. After that, I trained under a supervisor from April to September at Ladakh where I worked on the Buddhist murals.”

She got a major fillip in 2007 when the main office of the State Bank of India, Chennai, gave her a contract to restore floor tiles. “The tiles were laid in 1898. It was a mess and has been one of the toughest works for me. I began to earn some real money only after four years of training and internships. By 2007-end, I opened my studio.”

 

Lack of jobs and bad pay

Despite an intense course curriculum and gruelling internships, there aren’t many openings for restorers. “As a conservation scientist, you can diagnose the damage and suggest methods to clean it up. The actual cleaning and preserving has to be done by experts. But where are the jobs?” avers Nair. “Even in the government museum in Chennai, there’s a chemist who also acts as a conservator. Now, the situation is such that we’re like general doctors who need to know everything. If you want the field to become niche, you need specialists.”

Even those like Rani, who have specialised in artwork on paper, are not paid well. “What pay?” she quips. “I’ve been in this profession for over a decade and my pay is still bad. It’s an amazing experience, however, to travel and interact with experts.”

As an intern, you can expect to start with `5-8,000 for an assignment. The amount may differ depending on where you’re interning and also the nature of the assignment. With experience, diversification and specialisation, professionals usually earn Rs 8-20,000 per month.

Start new courses

Chandrasekaran suggests institutes like IIT and IISc should introduce master’s level courses in heritage conservation to improve job prospects. “This will encourage UG students with a science background to take it up. Those who’ve completed UG in civil engineering and BArch can take this programme. Universities must encourage research on traditional methods used in creating art.”

Colleges can also conduct awareness programmes about conservation. “Make it mandatory for college students to clean art pieces in temples and museums. For those who’ve completed Class 10, introduce a diploma course in traditional architecture. The government can encourage literature students to do a certificate course in cleaning murals. Chemistry students can join as assistants in museums, become curators, antiquities preserver etc.”

—lakshmy@expressbuzz.com