Page 85 - Annual Report

Overview

The cultural heritage of a country as diverse as India
is manifested not only in centuries-old monuments,
artefacts and art traditions, but also in its
contemporary expressions and renditions.
Preserving and nurturing the country’s
heritage–both past and present–is imperative to
foster a cultural mindset that respects diversity,
human labour and freedom of expression. Images
But while art and culture can be drivers of the
economy, supporting them in all their myriad forms
often takes a backseat to high-intensity
developmental problems. Events like the Covid-19
pandemic that have permanently ruptured the
ways of producing and consuming art, have made
it even harder to secure sustained support for the
art sector.
The vision of the Arts and Culture portfolio is to A conservator from HIMSHACO, Ranibagh, one of the partners under the Tata Trusts’ Art Conservation
work with multiplicity, excellence and marginalised Initiative, undertaking the conservation of a Thang-ka painting at the lab
communities, focusing on three main areas:
Conservation (built heritage, film preservation and Key Achievements
art conservation); Performing Arts (music, dance
and theatre); and Art Education at the tertiary levels.
 The 15 conservators engaged under the Art Partition. The project also completed establishing
Conservation Initiative continued their training university access points at 3 universities, along with
through weekly online review sessions with the the hiring and training of 3 librarians who will aid the
Academic Consultant, as labs and museums fellows in their research.
remained closed during the pandemic. Through the  The year under review saw the successful
year, as on-ground conditions became safe for completion of the 8-year partnership with Aga Khan
travel, the 5 institutes undertook 18 field surveys Trust for Culture towards conserving 9 major
across India, where 85 persons were trained in the monuments at Qutb Shahi Heritage Park,
best practices of preventive conservation methods. Hyderabad. The project has yielded more than
Conservation labs were upgraded at 5 institutes 274,000 man-days, engaging stone craftsmen from
with the purchase of requisite equipment and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal to
conservation materials. The material conservation repair and restore these monuments. Utilising
training courses were postponed to FY 21-22 due to traditional building methods of the Qutb Shahi
the pandemic and redesigned as 3-month modules dynasty and conservation techniques with minimal
to ensure maximum learning and impact. intervention, it is a model project of built heritage
 The production of architectural replicas and conservation.
exhibition structures was completed for the  The Inspire India Project, in partnership with
permanent exhibition on Humayun’s Tomb Shankar Mahadevan Academy, came to an end with
Conservation, under the 2-pronged project with more than 1,700 students trained in classical and
Aga Khan Trust for Culture, establishing best western music. With 3 community centres set up in
practices for built heritage conservation. Work Dharavi, Sion and Chembur, the project had to be
continued, albeit intermittently, on data collation reconfigured due to the onset of the pandemic. The
and compilation of the Specifications Manual for annual Sangam event, where over 50 students from
Built Heritage Conservation. the project performed for a global audience, went
 The 1947 Partition Archives launched its fellowship online in August 2020. Thereafter, students were
programme, offering month-long secure online provided with tablets and internet access to continue
access to researchers and scholars to over 9,400 their training through online classes from home.
oral histories relating to peoples’ experience of the

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