Ministry of Culture Introduces Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP)

The Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (ICFPP) was undertaken by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York and the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limbuirg (SRAL), the Netherlands. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between Ministry of Culture, Government of India and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), New York on 19.03.2013 for a period of two years.

Thereafter, an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Culture and Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), New York was signed on 27.06.2016 for launching of the Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP) for a period from 2016 to 2021 was to be undertaken by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum Art(MMA), New York, the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limbuirg (SRAL), the Netherlands, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels (“KIK-IRPA”), and the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, The Smithsonian Museums of Asian Art, Washington, DC (“FG”) with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (the “Mellon Foundation”).

So far, 36 conservators from India have received fellowship under ICFP (17 conservators during Pilot Program and 19 conservators during Main Program). Details are attached at Annexure-I.

 

The aim of this fellowship was to equip the participants with skills to better care for collections at their home institutions and to establish a larger and stronger conservation community in India with international links to professionals in the field.

This Fellowship programme has achieved significant capacity building in the areas of conservation skills, knowledge sharing, networking, leadership development, institutional capacity, community engagement, research and documentation, standardization of projects, mentorship and career advancement. By achieving their capacity building outcomes, the ICFP has made significant impact on the conservation of India’s cultural heritage.

 

Some of the other important benefits to the museums from the skill acquired during the fellowships are as under:

 

  • Reorganising the photographic collection.
  • Exhibition support
  • Developing research
  • Resource centre
  • Improving disaster recovery procedures
  • Empowering staff
  • Channels of communication

 

An MoU between Ministry of Culture and Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), New York was signed on 27.06.2016 for the Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP) for a period from 2016 to 2021 only.

 

This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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BY/SKT

Annexure-‘I’

 

 

List of Fellows who have completed fellowship under  Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (2013-15)

 

S.NO. Name Affiliation Host Period
1. Abdur Rasheed IGNCA MMA Dec 9, 2013– Mar 31, 2014) (4 months)
2 Ambika Patel The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda MMA Apr 1 – Jul 31, 2015 (4 months)
3. Kailas Abhiman Humane Salar Jung Museum MMA Aug 1 – Oct 31, 2014

(3 months)

4. Kalpana Awasthi Salar Jung Museum MMA Jul 1 – Sept 2015

(3 months)

5. Mandira Chhabra CSMVS/Himalayan Soc. for Heritage and Art Conservation MMA Apr 1 – Sept 30, 2014 (6 months)
6. Nidhi Shah CSMVS MMA/

SRAL

Fall 2014 (2 months)
7. Shilpa Raturi Archaeological Survey of India MMA Apr 1 – Sept 30, 2014 (6 months)
8. Subhra Devi Museum of Tezpur University MMA Sept 1 – Feb 28, 2015 (6 or 4 months)
9. Vikram Singh Rathore Mehrangarh Fort Museum MMA Jan – March 2015

(3 months)

10 Anil Dwivedi Formerly IGNCA SRAL Jan – June 2014

(6 months)

11. Anil Verma IGNCA SRAL Mar – May 2015

(3 months)

12 Diwakar Karmaker VMH SRAL Jan – June 2015

(6 months)

13. Minesh Harinkhede NRLC Lucknow SRAL Oct 2014 – March 2015 (6 months)
14. Omkar Mohan Kadu CSMVS SRAL Apr- July 2014

(3 months)

15. Shikha Bansal NMI SRAL Oct – Dec 2013

(3 months)

16. Shruti Asoka Coimbatore SRAL Sept – Dec 2014

(4 months)

17. Umesh Kumar Ahuja Rashtrapati Bhavan SRAL Oct – Dec 2013

(3 months)

 

 

List of 1st batch of the fellowship under ICFP

 

S.No. Name Affiliation Host Period
Ms. Vandana Singh National Museum MMA 01.02.2017 – 31.07.2027
Shri PareetNagamurthi INTACH MMA 01.02.2017 – 30..04.2017
Ms. Merrin Anil

 

INTACH SRAL 03.04.2017 – 16.09.2017
Shri Vipin Joshi NGMA,

New Delhi

SRAL 29.05.2017 – 19.08.2017

 

List of 2nd batch of the fellowship under ICFP

 

S. No. Name Affiliation Host Period
1. Mr. Subir Dey VMH,

Kolkata

FG 01.02.2018 – 31.05.2018
2. Mr. Dilip Mestry CSMVS, Mumbai MMA 01.04.2018 – 30.06.2018
3. Mr. Nikhil Ramesh CSMVS, Mumbai MMA 01.04.2018 – 30.06.2018
4. Mr. Jitender Chauhan IGNCA,

New Delhi

SRAL 01.10.2017 – 31.01.2018
5. Mr. Rahul

Tongaria

NGMA,

New Delhi

SRAL 01.03.2018 – 30.06.2018

 

6. Ms. Madhu Rani Puttaswamy INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore SRAL 01.03.2018 – 30.06.2018
7. Mr. Lalit Kumar INTACH, New Delhi SRAL 28.08.2017 – 26.02.2018

 

List of 3rd batch of the fellowship under ICFP

 

S. No. Name Affiliation Host Period
1. Mr. Pradip Madhumita Vasundhara City Palace Museum, Udaipur MMA 01.02.2019 – 31.07.2019

 

2. Azhar Syed Tariq Rampur Raza Library FG 01.02.2019 – 31.05.2019

 

3. Shyama Prasad Datta NGMA (Delhi) SRAL 01.03.2019 – 30.06.2019

 

4. Mohd. Galib INTACH SRAL 01.10.2018 – 28.02.2019

 

5 Sarvesh Singh Reserve Bank of India MMA 01.02.2019 – 30.04.2019

 

 

 

 

List of 4th batch of the fellowship under ICFP

 

 

S. No. Name Affiliation Host Period
1. Ms. Mrinalini Mani INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore SRAL 4 months started in November, 2019
2. Ms. Baisakhi Mallick VMH, Kolkata SRAL 4 months started in March/April, 2020
3. Ms. Nalini Biluka INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore SRAL 4 months started in March/April, 2020