Conservation Insights 2020 Lectures

INTACH Conservation Institutes organised the online ‘Conservation Insights 2020’ lecture series from June to December 2020. This publication, a compilation of selected lectures from the ‘Conservation Insights 2020’ series, represents another step towards sharing and dissemination of knowledge. The lectures cover a wide range of issues related to philosophy of conservation, preventive conservation, building conservation and the tools and techniques used in examination and conservation of different materials. The subject matter is an invaluable contribution to the field and useful to practising professionals, researchers and students in the field of heritage management.
This is an open access e-publication.

The Wall Paintings Directory of Delhi

‘The wall painting sites of Delhi’ is the first comprehensive documentation of the wall paintings existing in Delhi. It is also the first publication from the self- initiated INTACH project on creation of Directory of wall paintings in India.

The publication includes the inventory of wall painting sites in Delhi along with sections on description of Delhi city, its history, the art of wall painting in Delhi and the causes for their decay. The documentation work for the creation of inventory involved the meticulous process of surveying both urban and rural (remote) areas for wall painting sites. The inventory published provides an all-encompassing guide to necessary background knowledge on the structures or sites with wall paintings, description of wall paintings including the art history and materials and their current condition with relevant text and images. The book concludes with a section featuring issues and best practices of preventive conservation, maintenance and site management.

‘The wall painting sites of Delhi’ is a crucial data resource and will provide generations of interested conservators, art historians, research scholars, directors, policy makers, and students of conservation, art and art history with invaluable information and guidance.

Biodeterioration Of Ethnological Objects

The book provides information on ethnologic artifacts, both organic objects (i.e. silk, wool, bamboo, textiles etc.) and inorganic objects (i.e. beads, glass, pottery, stone, alloys etc.). The bio-deterioration and the process of degradation of such objects, especially organic, as they are more vulnerable than inorganic objects are discussed.

Conservation In The Tropics

This publication is a compilation of papers and discussions on conservation of museum objects according to their geographical zone and climatology. The proceedings include raised during the first Asia-Pacific Conference on Conservation of Cultural property held in New Delhi in February 1972. Case studies from different countries on deterioration due to biological growth and organic binding media are discussed in the conference proceedings.

Manuscripts, Books, Archival And Alike Material In India-Conservation Status And Needs

This report is based on the project launched by INTACH – “Conservation of manuscripts, books, archival and alike material” under the direction of Shri O.P Agrawal. It’s a compilation of information received from various institutions and from surveys and inspections of the various collections. It focuses on the need of awareness of storage of material and preservation more than its conservation and requirement of trained custodians or conservators of such collection.

Lucknow The Historic City

The book focuses on the development of Lucknow city’s unique architecture through ages particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (i.e. Mughal era architecture and Nawabi architecture and the hybrid style with European elements) with reference to its socio-cultural development. A good number of popular as well as lesser known monuments of Lucknow are covered under this study. The book is a result of pressing demands of scholars and visitors, which made the Department of Cultural Affairs of U.P government commission it through INTACH in 1993.

Wall Paintings Of India

The book consists of studies done on problems related to wall paintings of India under the ‘National Project for Wall Paintings’ programme. Under this programme different surveys, scientific studies and conservation of wall paintings (especially lesser known murals) was launched.

Training In Conservation Vol.Ii

This volume provides a glimpse of various workshops and training programmes organized by ICI, since January 1, 2003. In these workshops, ICI experts taught simple techniques of preservation and curative conservation to institutes and general public.

Training In Conservation

The book is a brief account of short term and long term workshops and training programmes organized by INTACH Conservation Institutes, educating the participants on deterioration, conservation and restoration of heritage objects. It also reflects on the need of more practical involvement of participant than theoretical.

Studies In Biodeterioration Of Materials

This publication is a collection of papers/studies presented at the First National Seminar on Bio deterioration, which was held at National Museum Institute, New Delhi for Museology, Art History and Conservation (19-20th April, 2000). INTACH, Indian Conservation Institute, Lucknow and the National Museum organized this seminar.

Restoration Of Indian Art

This publication is a collection of case studies carried out by INTACH Conservation Centre, Lucknow. The selected case studies present the varius technques and processes used in conservation of art objects. The aim is to help museum personnel and others engaged in conservation of art objects.

Removal Plants And Trees From Historic Buildings

This is a monograph providing relevant information on the serious problem of uncontrolled growth of plants/creepers on a historical building. It reflects the magnitude of this problem in India and also provides data from various countries in South East Asia.

Paintings of St. Aloysius Chapel

Indian Conservation Institute undertook the conservation of paintings at St. Aloysius Church in Mangaluru in Karnataka in 1990. This publication includes the documentation and survey reports and restoration process of the paintings. The publication also includes details of the challenges faced by the conservators who worked on the project.

Microbial Deterioration Of Wood

The book provides information on microbial deterioration of wooden cultural heritage. It gives a brief on the detrimental effects of fungi and other micro-organisms on wood and presents a compiled data and published results on the ongoing research in this area.

Microbial Deterioration Of Paintings: A Review

This publication includes literature review on microbial deterioration of paintings, case studies of conservation and other conservation problems. It includes findings of a project undertaken jointly by the National research laboratory for conservation of cultural property (NRLC), INTACH conservation centre and several State Departments of Archaeology. This publication forms a basis for further research in the area of microbial deterioration.

Directory of Musuems In India 2003

This book is the second edition to Directory of Museums in India published by Usha Agrawal in 2000. This edition has a revised list of 657 museums and tries to update the changes in basic information such as name, phone number etc.

Directory Of Museums In India

This directory has a revised and updated list of museums of India with their basic information. The list includes new museums set up recently and those museums under construction. This is an updated publication from the previous publication by Museum Association of India in 1984.

Detrioration of Wooden Objects By Insects

This book gives firsthand information on different insect species that cause major damage to wooden cultural property. It gives description of the various insects, their life cycle and their control, which is of significance to the conservators for preservation of wood. It also includes rare species particularly those found in imported wood.

Conservation of Books, Manuscripts And Paper Documents

This book gives step-by-step instructions in various aspects of conservation of books and manuscripts for practitioners of art conservation as well as custodians of art collections. The entire book is divided into six parts:
1. Writing materials, history, methods of fabrication and their general properties.
2. Principles and methods of preventive conservation.
3. Techniques of conservation treatment.
4. Special situations- conservation of water damaged documents and conservation of trace papers.
5. Case studies.
6. Relevant materials and methods.

Conservation of Wall Paintings In India – Achievements And Problems

This book discusses wall paintings in India, their continuity and importance as a cultural heritage and focuses on the lack of understanding of the present status of conservation of wall painting. The various problems such as lack of policies of ‘reintegration’ in India, inadequate understanding of materials and their properties are discussed. Achievements in wall painting conservation, work at various sites in the country by different institutions, scientific analysis of several wall paintings conducted at different sites and surveys conducted at various sites under auspices of INTACH are also presented.

Conservation Of Indian Art

This publication is a compilation of papers presented at two seminars organized by INTACH Conservation Institutes (ICI) in 2008 and 2009 respectively at Delhi and Lucknow. The case studies discussed are specific to conservation of material heritage in India. The publication is divided into three main parts namely conservation of objects, conservation projects and new advances in conservation.

Conservation Of Building Stones

This book aims at providing basic information on the conservation of stone used in art and architecture throughout India. It examines the type of building stones used in India and their mechanism of deterioration. Further, it explores available conservation techniques to give possible insights into approaches to dealing with stone conservation problems in India.

Bhitti Chitro Ki Janch Aur Sangrakchan

This book aims to educate readers about preservation of Bhitti Chitras or wall paintings and reflects the lack of research and material in this area. The book is divided into two main parts. The first part deals with basic information on wall paintings, materials used, types of deterioration, methods of examination and the techniques of preservation. The second part includes various case studies, observations, process of preservation and results.