Rust was all we could see on the day we first saw Ulysses by Sri Satish Gujral and rust was what we had to struggle with, for nearly a month! In spite of all the struggle and initial confusion about whats beneath the rust, the whole process of treating Ulysses was educating and a wonderful experience. We learnt so much more about how artists think … Continue reading Ulysses gets rid of rust before restoration

The temple i am discussing these days is unique in many ways. One major point of interest is its paintings that have such a diversity. Mythological stories and characters (apart from the Gods also), Kings, Sikh guards, British warriors, Train, …all in adjacent walls or even same wall.. Can someone throw light on this war depicted on a wall  of this temple? This tells a … Continue reading Temple coming out alive

Life is beautiful and hard at the same time. This temple whose walls stood the ravages of time, survived in the middle of a jungle to tell the story of its time. How artistic, full of character and co-existing humans of its time were. What happened to the beauty? What happened to the harmony? When did the deterioration start? It also throws light on the … Continue reading Wall painting conservation

Camera fails to capture what eyes see here….. The place i am sitting right now is the place where our Gurus used to meditate.It is the first floor of Sri Harmandar Saheb Ji. It is truly meditative. One tends to forget the worldly chaos. The paintings that we see here were executed in mid twentieth century, but they followed similar style in which earlier frescoes … Continue reading Sri Harmandar Saheb Ji

Should a fresco painting like this be left as such with the graffiti overpowering the original beauty of the art work, or should it be treated meticulously subduing the damage bringing out the original beauty of the painting? We find so many historical sites in India where such heartless damage is done by some irresponsible citizens among us. Being a conservator, i feel that at … Continue reading Conservation/restoration Challenge: Graffiti