INTACH grooms school students as ambassadors of heritage

From restoration of built heritage and artwork to films, talks and guided walks at iconic sites, a group of school students learned the ropes about cultural conservation from experts in Delhi.
Seeking to turn them into "ambassadors of heritage preservation", the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) here took 15 national winners, picked out from its outreach campaign 'My City, My Heritage', on a three-day educational tour that began on Wednesday.
The students visited the Humayun's Tomb, a World Heritage Site, and Sanskriti Kendra's Anandagram in Mehrauli, besides attending an interaction with a Dastangoi (medieval storytelling art form) artiste.

"At the Humayun's Tomb, children of Nizamuddin Basti took them on a heritage walk and informed about the restoration work of the monument undertaken by the Aga Khan Foundation," Purnima Datt, principal director, Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS), INTACH, told PTI.
At Anandagram, they learned about terracotta and other everyday objects with heritage value, she said.
INTACH had organised a pan-India campaign with the support of its 100 regional chapters across 100 cities.

Around 12,000 students from class VI-IX participated in essay writing and poster-making competitions capturing their city's heritage. Following a three-phased competitive evaluation, 100 regional and 15 national winners were selected.

"We want them to carry forward the legacy and the tour aims at raising their awareness level so that they can further sensitise other people back in their cities," she said.
On first day of the tour, the students were taken to the material heritage conservation laboratory, where they learned about restoration of old paintings and miniatures, the right way to mount and frame them and were given pointers on the conservation of built heritage.
Former INTACH Delhi Chapter convener and architect AGK Menon gave a talk on the heritage of Delhi and its bid for a World Heritage City tag.

"Students are a very potent force and if you are able to give them the right message they will process it and work on it in their own way," Menon said.
Shruti Jeyaraman of class IX from Chennai, whose essay entry 'Symphony of the South' won the award, said, "Heritage is something that ought to be conserved because in an extremely fast-developing world, it is the only connection we have with our past. For me heritage is something living and it is our duty to conserve it."
On last day of the tour today, the students visited the National Museum. They would also watch heritage-themed films at the INTACH headquarters, where a felicitation and award ceremony for the students is scheduled in the evening.