Damage Control

The Taj Mumbai has a formidable collection of modern and contemporary art,including works by the Indian masters from the 1960s and the ’70s,as well as rare Bastar art. Even as restoration work was progressing,Chatterjee commissioned some new works for the hotel. So when The Harbour Bar opened earlier this month,it had on display Rajesh Pullarwar’s acrylic on wood,while Japanese restaurant Wasabi has a work by Sadanand Shirke.

Some works seem beyond repair,but 41-year-old Khanna — who set up her studio in Delhi in 1998 and has in the past restored works by Raja Ravi Varma,Jamini Roy and FN Souza — is hopeful that most will be restored to their original glory. Khanna travels from Delhi to Mumbai every fortnight and works with a team of four artists who are experts in restoration. “The level of damage is different for each canvas. In some cases,the smoke coated the painting’s surface with soot. In others,the water made the canvas damp,resulting in mould,” says Khanna.

The Taj,thankfully,has many photographs of its paintings and these are helping Khanna and her team along. They are also busy taking pictures and cataloguing the restoration process. “Photographs of each work,taken before,during and after the restoration,will be handed to the hotel,” she says. While the large canvases are worked upon in Mumbai itself,she usually lugs the etchings to Delhi. “It’ll speed up the process,” she says. Chatterjee is tight-lipped about the cost incurred,but says there is no deadline: “Restoration is a continuous process.”