Vikram Singh

My main goal through this internship was to gain practical and theoretical knowledge of advanced techniques in the field of paper conservation. To achieve this goal I was involved in the conservation of a number of miniature paintings, and simultaneously I made visits to various conservation international institutions to interact with working paper conservation experts and to get information about on-going techniques in the field.

During my visits I recognised the necessity of maintaining climate control for artefacts in order to preserve their condition for the future. Modern climate control facilities such as air condition system are extremely expensive to establish and maintain and not feasible in old forts and historic buildings because of their huge and open structure, so searching for appropriate alternative was essential. Interestingly I came across some preventive measures adopted successfully by a number of British institutions as an alternative, which have informed my ensuing work.

A challenging aspect of my research was to find a way to stabilise and prevent further deterioration of fine paint layers. Apart from conventional consolidation techniques such as brush application or nebulizer use, I learnt about the innovative Digital liquid Dispenser technique to consolidate very sensitive Paper objects.