Since 2019, in a five year partnership, the Tata Trusts have been supporting the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Bangalore, to help establish their conservation centre, engage and train a team of conservators for the centre, conduct training courses in conservation of specific materials, and conduct field surveys of smaller collections – all under the ambit of the Tata Trusts Art Conservation Initiative. MAP serves as the zonal partner in the southern region of India, under the Art Conservation Initiative.
The Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore, is a new museum that at the time in 2019 was under construction. The Trusts supported project helped set up a conservation centre in a building adjacent to the museum building site, to kick-start the conservation work and conservation-related training of the museum that has a 60,000 strong art collection.
On 9th and 10th December 2022, the Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore, opened its doors in a soft launch as the museum building was completed. The new conservation centre, as part of the new building, was also introduced to the audience comprising stakeholders in the arts – artists, donors, cultural practitioners etc. The new museum will finally open its doors to the public on February 18th 2023 as it transitions fully to the new building space in the coming months.
Some glimpses from the soft launch, where the conservation team interacts with the myriad audience, explaining the conservation of works and the lab set up.
