An interview with Mrs. Jayashree Bhat, art conservator INTACH & Chitrakala Parishat Art Conservation Centre, Bangalore.

TELL US briefly as to how you got involved in the field of art restoration?

After I completed my degree in fine arts I found out that INTACH had opened a centre in Bangalore, and were looking for a trainee. I got selected after being interviewed and went through a 6-month training during which I was systematically introduced to the field. Later I went to Lucknow for further training in the specialised field of paper conservation. Art restoration is a unique field and there is ample scope for people who are artistically inclined. I derive immense job satisfaction, as each day is an adventure because you are faced with different kinds of challenges.

How is the field placed in India as a career option?

In India, monetary benefits are not very high. However, abroad this is a flourishing field and there are a lot of private conservators too. Here there is a lack of awareness and not much support from government and private organisations. We don't have the proper resources nor is there any great public demand. Unless we realise the worth of our cultural wealth, there is no chance of saving it.

Tell us about some of the projects you have worked on?

I was involved in the restoration of a sacred document from a Vadalur muth in Tamil Nadu. The document was more than a 100 years old, the words were undecipherable and all the sandalwood paste they had smeared had further harmed the document.

So it had to be handled very carefully. Special lamination techniques were used to restore it. The muth members were so happy with the job that they took us all to Vadalur, and honoured us!

I was also involved in the restoration of a very old Ravi Verma painting that was in the possession of the Airforce Technical College, Bangalore.

Since the paining was very old we couldn't bring it back to the lab. We had to set up our lab in a tiny room on their premises. This was another project, which I enjoyed a lot. It was a time- bound project because they wanted to exhibit the painting for their function.

I was also involved in the restoration of photographs, prints, and watercolours at the Kumarkrupa Guest house in Bangalore. What kind of people fit into this field of work?

A most essential qualification is that the candidate should love the field of arts and be able to appreciate the worth of the intricacies involved. People from the field of fine arts and chemistry can join us.

An ideal candidate would be a person with a chemistry background and an artistic inclination. This combination is rather difficult to find!

This job requires a lot of patience; a fine eye for detail and it can be a very slow and laborious work.

What are the different work areas involved in this field?

Preventive conservation and curative conservation are the two major work areas in this field. What we do falls under the category of curative conservation.

We also conduct training programmes for museum curators, because unlike museums abroad ours are not equipped with conservation labs. The curators lack the basic knowledge of handling and maintenance of the artefacts, so these programmes are geared towards educating them. Other than that we also hold programmes to spread awareness amongst the public regarding the importance of preserving the rich cultural heritage of our country.

How much of your work comes from private collectors and how much from the government concerns?

Sixty percent of our work comes from private collectors, art connoisseurs, and 40 percent from the government institutions. I find that there is a general feeling of indifference towards conservation of art and heritage, especially among people who are in public office. A lot of our cultural wealth is slowly being lost due to sheer neglect and apathy.

There seems to be a misconception that art restoration means making the old artefacts look new. Your comments on that. This misconception again stems from a lack of awareness. People don't seem to realise that the worth of antiques is defined according to their age. This misconception has lead to the destruction of many of a mural in the temples of Tamil Nadu. Art restoration is a fine balance between saving the artefacts from ruin and at the same preserving the maturity it has undergone over the years, because that's what makes it valuable.

MALINI SURYANARAYANAN

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