INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE: PART 2- TEXTILE CONSERVATION

Among the many artistic disciplines that have developed in the Indian subcontinent, textiles hold a distinguished place. It is a privilege to handle such textile objects that have been worked on by individuals in the past, to experience the connection and understand their working and learning processes. Therefore, it has been a fascinating opportunity to learn about textile conservation at Heritage Preservation Atelier. In the … Continue reading INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE: PART 2- TEXTILE CONSERVATION

Agarose gel for controlled wet cleaning of textiles

Introduction to Agarose gel Agarose is one of the two principal components of agar, and is purified from agar by removing agar’s other component, agaropectin. Chemistry – Agarose, the gelling fraction, is a neutral linear molecule essentially free of sulfates, consisting of chains of repeating alternate units of ß-1,3-linked- D-galactose and a-1,4-linked 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose. Agarose is a polysaccharide that can be used to form a gel … Continue reading Agarose gel for controlled wet cleaning of textiles

Silk Conservation (2010)

Condition Assessment: Problems : The silk flag to be treated was very old and hence had deteriorated a lot by intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors. It was shattering at the slightest handling. The major deteriorating factors have been: Silk being naturally susceptible to fast ageing, gets embrittled leading to splits and tears, and eventually a powdery and very friable fabric is left. Warp and … Continue reading Silk Conservation (2010)

Learning some textile conservation

Interns – Chetna, Subhashini, Keerat and Lovely   As a team of Heritage Preservation Atelier (HPA) we went to Dada Bhagwan Foundation at Adalaj in district Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Here we learnt and helped in managing and conserving textile collection of Dada ji in the supervision of senior textile conservator from HPA. The causes for decay in textiles can be because of : 1) Intrinsic factors, … Continue reading Learning some textile conservation

Chola Saheb Ji: Bandi Chhod

Conservation of an object that is an integral part of the culture of a village and  is a pride possession of the villagers who have protected it for centuries, calls for a lot many additional considerations in decision making for conservation methodology. Conservation of such object of faith requires involvement of community and religious bodies for decision making at various stages. It is a challenge … Continue reading Chola Saheb Ji: Bandi Chhod

Anoxic Treatment of Textile Collection

A telephone call from an organization regarding their concern over the insect infestation in the building where they had one of their precious textile collection stored, was the beginning of this work-plan. To be sure about what i am suggesting my clients and to be accurate in my knowledge about the latest research in the area, i read almost all the relevant material that was … Continue reading Anoxic Treatment of Textile Collection