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The Chemical Conservation and Research Laboratory of the Government Museum, Chennai was established in 1930 to preserve the bronze icons in the museum. Later it enlarged its scope to other antiquities. In order to disseminate knowledge about the basic measures to be taken for the preservation of objects of art and other antiquities, the Refresher course on Care of Museum Objects was started in 1974. For the past five years, the refresher course on “Care Of Museum Objects” has been restructured to train Museum personnel, Curators, Librarians and Custodians of cultural properties, in taking care of Manuscripts and Archival documents also. The 35th Refresher course on Care of Museum objects with special reference to Manuscripts was conducted at the Chemical Conservation Laboratory from 1st to 30th of June 2009.Eight participants from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, belonging to Departments of Archaeology, Museums and from Religious Mutt, underwent the training. The Valedictory function was held at the Centenary Exhibition Hall on 30.6.2009.Dr.T.S.Sridhar,IAS.,Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Museums, delivered the Valedictory Address and distributed the Certificates to the participants.
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The Course was inaugurated by Dr.T.S.Sridhar, IAS., Principal Secretary / Commissioner of Museums on 1.6.2009 at the Centenary Exhibition Hall of the Museum |
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An Oil Painting being cleaned by the Participants
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Demonstration of Conservation of Paper Documents and Palm-Leaf Manuscripts |
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Cleaning of Palm-Leaf Manuscripts
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Stone sculptures in the Sculpture Garden are given Chemical treatment by the Participants |
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Demonstration of Estampage of Inscriptions at the Archaeology Department. Dr.T.S.Sridhar, IAS., Principal Secretary / Commissioner of Museums and Archaeology, is explaining the procedure to the Participants |
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Field Trip to Kanchipuram on 13.6.2009. Participants visited the Manuscripts Library at Sri Chandra Sekarendra Sarasvati ViswaMaha Vidyalaya, Enathur |
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Participants cleaning Oil accretions and lime wash at Chokeeswarar Temple, Kanchipuram. |
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Commissioner of Museums encouraging the Participants to explore South Indian Iconography and Architecture at Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram. |
Field visits to Theosophical Society Library, Adyar and Central Leather Research Institute,Adyar. |
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Special Exhibition on “RARE MANUSCRIPTS”.
Dr.T.S.Sridhar,I.A.S, Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Museums, who inaugurated the Refresher course, suggested that an Exhibition on Rare Manuscripts could be arranged as part of the Training course, so that both the participants and general public will have an opportunity to see some of the rare manuscripts of our country. Therefore a Special Exhibition was organized at the Centenary Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Department of Government Museums, Department of State Archaeology, Sarasvati Mahal Library and Research Centre, Thanjavur, Sri Chandra Sekerendra Sarasvati ViswaMaha Vidyalaya, Kanchipuram, and Government Oriental Manuscript Library, Chennai, participated in this exhibition. Thiru.Thangam Thennarasu, Honourable Minister for School Education and Archaeology, inaugurated the Exhibition on 26.6.2009 in the presence of Dr.V.Irai Anbu.I.A.S., Secretary, Tourism and Culture Department. The Exhibition was open to general public from 27th June to 2nd July 2009 from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Thirty Rare Manuscripts in different shapes and sizes, made of palm-leaf, birch bark, cloth and paper with beautiful illustrations and line drawings, some even written with golden letters were exhibited. These manuscripts were in Tamil, Telugu, Pali, Oriya, Kannada, Sanskrit, Burmese, Sinhalese, and Persian on various subjects such as astrology, religion, medicine, literature. Photographs and charts depicting different types of damages to the manuscripts and various methods to prevent them were also exhibited. The staff demonstrated the conservation and restoration methods to the visiting public. The Exhibition was a great success and very much appreciated by the media and Public. The following are a few glimpses of the Exhibition.
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Thiru.ThangamThennarasu, Honourable Minister for School Education and Archaeology, inaugurating the exhibition. |
Dr.V.Irai Anbu, Secretary, Tourism and Culture Department (on the left) viewing the exhibition along with Honourable Minister and PrincipalSecretary/Commissioner of Museums. |
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Valedictory Function of the 35th Refresher course on Care of Museum Objects
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Dr.T.S.Sridhar,IAS., Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Museums giving certificates to the participants. |
Feedback about the course from the participants Thiru.Ajith Kumar, Dept of Archaeology, Kerela and Thiru.Sreekumar, Dept of Archaeology, TamilNadu |
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