PA/40/09 5 October 2009
Australian heritage professionals share conservation expertise with Kerala cultural institutions
Two Australian heritage management specialists will share their conservation management expertise with Museum professionals from Kerala at a workshop organized by the Centre for Heritage Studies, Cochin.
The one day workshop on October 10, 2009 at the Cochin heritage centre will provide a strategic framework for dealing with two major issues that Museum personnel in Kerala have to deal with. This first ever Australian heritage workshop in Kerala will assist workshop participants in developing management plans to minimise damage from natural and man-made disasters as well as damage from insects which is a huge problem due to Kerala’s tropical climate.
“This is an example of the 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 Mr Peter Varghese, High Commissioner of Australia.
“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 Mr Vinod Daniel, Chair of AusHeritage. He also added that he was delighted that AusHeritage could work with the leading Kerala cultural heritage body “The Centre for Cultural Heritage Studies: in implementing this very important capacity building activity.
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 organizations including their recent December 2008 workshop for North East Indian Museums in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India. It has a memorandum of understanding on cultural heritage collaboration with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
Mr. K. K. N. Kurup, Director General of the Centre for Heritage Studies said he was delighted that the two Australian experts could deliver this important workshop at his Centre and also sees this as the start of long term collaboration between Kerala and AusHeritage
The workshop is supported by the Australia-India Council (AIC) which has 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.
For further information, contact Mr Shekhar Nambiar, Senior Public Affairs Adviser on (011) 41494351, or Mr Vinod Daniel on 09840237322.
AusHeritage is Australia’s international network for cultural heritage services. The organisation’s members include Australian universities, national collecting institutions, State galleries, libraries and museums, private architectural firms and private and government conservation services.