The Science of 'Art Conservation'

By Sneha Ramesh, Udbhavi Balakrishna and Anuj Rayate

Bangalore: When paints and brush come together, you get a painting; add in thoughts, emotions and sense, you get a work of art. But what happens when a beautiful artwork is damaged or defaced in some way? Then, you need to get it restored and 'treated' by the 'doctors of art'.

Where do you find these 'doctors'? At a heritage building in Bangalore that houses the art and material centre of INTACH (The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage).

These doctors don't have a hospital; their workspace is the INTACH Chitra Kala Parishath Art Conservation (ICKPAC) Centre. Instead of medicines, they work with bottles of chemicals, high- resolution microscopes, fume extractors, vacuum vessels and other scientific instruments.

"Art conservation is a nice marriage of science and art" says Mrinalini Mani, director of ICKPAC. To be able to treat the artefacts, the conservator should know the materials and the science behind them. Every project is different, and the conservator should know what to use so that it is not harmful to the original artwork. Ms. Mrinalini refers to art conservators as doctors who look for symptoms in the artworks they examine. It is important to know the cause of the damage in the artwork to conserve it. Any artwork brought for conservation is first documented and then analysed to assess if any intervention is required. Explaining the concept of 'minimal intervention' she says, "we do not want to intervene where there is no need". It is after analysis that the work is treated. "Reversibility is the moola mantra of conservation. We should be able to remove what has been added, if need be" she said.

From paintings to sculptures

Being the sole centre for art conservation in southern India, ICKPAC caters to the needs of Institutions (both government and private) as well as individuals, for the conservation and restoration of art collections. They undertake conservation of various art forms such as paintings, murals, sculptures, metal works, manuscripts. Their major projects include conservation of old mural paintings in Thiagaraja Swamy Temple at Tiruvarur; preservation of palm leaf and paper manuscripts in Karnataka; and conservation and restoration of canvas paintings in Senate house at the University of Madras. They have also restored collections at the Kumara Krupa guest house, Vidhana Soudha and botanical drawings housed in Lalbagh. Apart from art conservation, they also provide guidance on how to maintain the artefacts on a long-term basis.

Why is art conservation essential? "One artefact can lead us to derive various trade and cultural interpretations" explains Ms. Mrinalini. Trade connections can be interpreted by the materials used in art forms and their availability in the region during that period. “For instance, if a Chinese colour is used in a southern Indian artwork or artefact, we can infer there were trade relations between southern India and China during that period. Art forms act as a visual documentary, providing conclusive evidence of life in that era.”

Ms. Mrinalini feels that the mindset of people towards art conservation has to change. “The good news is that it is happening today, albeit slowly.” She says that people wrongly believe that only artefacts of historical importance are valuable. "It does not have to be monetary value, it can be of sentimental value" she observes. “For instance, we get requests from parents asking to work on items from their child’s babyhood. So, we have restored a baby-frock and a letter that had sentimental value for the parents,” she explains.

Apart from these projects, ICKPAC also conducts workshops on art and art conservation. “We now plan to hold public awareness workshops and take on more projects as well,” she adds.