ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/3/2002 19 March 2002
Australia and India: protecting national heritage from natural disasters
Australian and Indian specialists in cultural preservation are meeting in New Delhi this week to share expertise on protecting national treasures from natural disasters.
The Australian High Commissioner to India, Ms Penelope Wensley AO, opened the three-day heritage conservation workshop today at the National Museum.
"This is a special project because for the first time it closely weaves together two strands of bilateral cooperation which have emerged in recent years: disaster preparedness, and the preservation of cultural heritage," Ms Wensley said.
The workshop aims to help build capacity for the preservation and protection of museum collections from natural and other calamities.
A two-member team from AusHeritage, Australia, will conduct the workshop in collaboration with INTACH-Indian Council for Conservation Institutes and the National Museum Institute for Museology, Art History and Conservation. AusHeritage is a network of Australian heritage practitioners, encompassing museums, libraries, archives, universities, architects and Government agencies.
While in India, the AusHeritage team, comprising its Chairman Mr Vinod Daniel and Ms Heather Mansell (Manager, Preservation), will assess the earthquake-affected Kutch museum in Bhuj, Gujarat, working closely with Mumbai-based heritage practitioners including David Cardoz and Rahul Mehrotra.
"Disasters such as fire, floods and earthquake have been one of the biggest destroyers of cultural heritage collections," Mr Daniel said. "The best way to minimise such damage is adequate prevention, preparedness and quick recovery."
The Australia-India Council (AIC), a foundation established and supported by the Australian Government to promote bilateral relations at people-to-people and institutional levels, funds Australian participation in the workshop.
The workshop is part of the ongoing bilateral program in heritage conservation initiated by the AIC in 1998 when AusHeritage conducted conservation workshops in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India, INTACH, universities and museums. One major outcome has been the repatriation, facilitated by AusHeritage, of 33 rare and precious Indian artefacts from the Australian Museum in Sydney to the Government Museum in Chennai in 2000.
The AIC has also been a key player in building Australia-India cooperation in disaster management, beginning with a major symposium in November 2000 and followed by ongoing contact and sharing of expertise between Australian disaster management agencies and relevant Government authorities in Orissa and Gujarat.
For further information, including the High Commissioner's speech, contact Rory Medcalf (First Secretary) or Shekhar Nambiar (Public Affairs Manager), tel. 6888 223, extension 197 or 460.