A road map for complete renovation of the Napier Museum structure and collection is ready.
The aim is to start the conservation work as early as possible, Velayudhan Nair, former head, National Museum Institute, who is the chief adviser of an expert committee set up to prepare a report on the restoration, said at a press conference here on Sunday on the concluding day of a workshop on conservation of tangible heritage of the museum.
John Scott, president, New York Conservation Center, and Gabriela Krist, head of the department, Institute of Conservation, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria, looked into the structure and the object conservation during the workshop and suggested improvements. These will be discussed by the expert committee and submitted to the State government.
Mr. Scott said for the most part, the building was structurally sound. The recommendation of the conservators would be to “reinstitute” the original structural design.
Repairs to the roof were an immediate requirement for the building’s survival, he said.
Another recommendation was to define a zone within the road that went around the museum for the purpose of preservation.
A detailed DPR for the building and site and object preservation that will contain estimates would be drawn up, Mr. Scott said.
The qualification that a conservation architect firm should fulfill even to apply to be put in charge of the project had been defined, he said.
Dr. Krist said besides bronze, wood, and stone sculptures which formed the core units, the presence of gold coins, ivory, textiles, masks, and puppets made the situation more complex. Climatic constrains were a hurdle to dealing with variety of objects in one museum. However, the collection was in a good condition. It had also been inventoried, though some information could be added from the conservation point of view.
Mr. Velayudhan Nair said the conservation should be done scientifically so that it became a model for other museums.
B.V. Kharbade, director, National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, said the focus would be on preventive conservation. Efforts would be made to secure a Central grant of Rs.5 crore for the museum upgrade.
Museum and Zoo director K. Gangadharan was present.
Roof repair an immediate requirement
Centre to be approached for a grant of Rs.5 crore
