Australian experts provide conservation expertise to preserve Indian art Heritage

Three Australian heritage management specialists shared their conservation management expertise with professionals at the National Museum Institute at a three-day workshop beginning in New Delhi.

The workshop, held from 27 to 29 September at the National Museum, provided a strategic framework for allocating resources to preserve collections in India as well as develop a management plan to minimize damage from natural and man-made disasters.

"This is yet another example of close collaboration on an area of importance for both Australia and India. AusHeritage, Australia's international network for heritage services, has worked with Indian institutions on several projects, including workshops and training sessions, in recent years," said David Holly, Australia's Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi.

"Australian and Indian heritage practitioners have been working very closely over the last decade and learning from each other in preserving our valuable past for future generations," said Vinod Daniel, Chair of AusHeritage.

"The workshop is an outcome of the close collaboration between the National Museum Institute and AusHeritage and will develop capacity for participants in prioritising allocation of human and financial resources for management of India's internationally significant cultural collections," said Daniel.

AusHeritage has also provided support for developing a new exhibition gallery at the Chhatrapati Shivaji (Prince of Wales) Museum in Mumbai in addition to working closely with several private and government Indian cultural heritage organisations. It has a memorandum of understanding on cultural heritage collaboration with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

The workshop was supported by the Australia-India Council (AIC) which also funded previous initiatives in this area. Established by the Australian Government, the AIC supports collaborative initiatives in a wide range of areas of mutual concern, including in heritage conservation.