When the shadow of the hammer doesn’t hang over Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s paintings, no one seems to be care about them.Earlier this year, there was a tremendous hullabaloo when twelve of Tagore’s paintings were auctioned by Sotheby’s in London. A culture ministry official had parked himself in London. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee dashed off a letter to the Prime Minister. You’d have thought we cared deeply.
If only. At Jorasanko, Tagore’s residence-turned-museum in north Kolkata, 45 of his works lie barred from view, derelict or both. The neglect has left visible patches on the canvasses. And this neglect is not restricted to Rabindranath Tagore alone. The Rabindra Bharati Museum, as it is called, is a treasure trove of works from the celebrated Bengal School of Art. It boasts of over 700 works by the likes of Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Hirachand Dugar, Nandalal Bose, Ramkinkar Baij, apart from Tagore himself. But despite all the priceless originals it houses, most of the works on display are reproductions.
The museum gets a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh a year for the restoration and preservation of art works from Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) but curator Indrani Ghosh says the figure is woefully inadequate. According to INTACH, an NGO which works in the field, the cost of restoring a work can go up to lakhs.
Some good news, however, is on the horizon. RBU has tied up with the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC) to restore 68 oil paintings in the museum over the next year. Two galleries are being set up at Jorasanko with a grant from the American consulate. The Chinese consulate has promised a sum of Rs 50 lakh and talks are on with the Bangladesh High Commission for setting up a gallery. RBU has put in a request with the culture ministry for a grant to restore the museum building and the art works housed within.
Yet the critical question remains: after all this, will the Tagore originals and indeed, the rest of the Bengal masters’ works be put up for display? Watch this space for more.
