The Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (ICFPP) was undertaken by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York and the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limbuirg (SRAL), the Netherlands. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between Ministry of Culture, Government of India and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), New York on 19.03.2013 for a period of two years.
Thereafter, an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Culture and Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), New York was signed on 27.06.2016 for launching of the Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP) for a period from 2016 to 2021 was to be undertaken by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum Art(MMA), New York, the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limbuirg (SRAL), the Netherlands, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels (“KIK-IRPA”), and the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, The Smithsonian Museums of Asian Art, Washington, DC (“FG”) with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (the “Mellon Foundation”).
So far, 36 conservators from India have received fellowship under ICFP (17 conservators during Pilot Program and 19 conservators during Main Program). Details are attached at Annexure-I.
The aim of this fellowship was to equip the participants with skills to better care for collections at their home institutions and to establish a larger and stronger conservation community in India with international links to professionals in the field.
This Fellowship programme has achieved significant capacity building in the areas of conservation skills, knowledge sharing, networking, leadership development, institutional capacity, community engagement, research and documentation, standardization of projects, mentorship and career advancement. By achieving their capacity building outcomes, the ICFP has made significant impact on the conservation of India’s cultural heritage.
Some of the other important benefits to the museums from the skill acquired during the fellowships are as under:
- Reorganising the photographic collection.
- Exhibition support
- Developing research
- Resource centre
- Improving disaster recovery procedures
- Empowering staff
- Channels of communication
An MoU between Ministry of Culture and Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), New York was signed on 27.06.2016 for the Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP) for a period from 2016 to 2021 only.
This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
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Annexure-‘I’
List of Fellows who have completed fellowship under Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (2013-15)
| S.NO. | Name | Affiliation | Host | Period |
| 1. | Abdur Rasheed | IGNCA | MMA | Dec 9, 2013– Mar 31, 2014) (4 months) |
| 2 | Ambika Patel | The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda | MMA | Apr 1 – Jul 31, 2015 (4 months) |
| 3. | Kailas Abhiman Humane | Salar Jung Museum | MMA | Aug 1 – Oct 31, 2014 |
| 4. | Kalpana Awasthi | Salar Jung Museum | MMA | Jul 1 – Sept 2015 |
| 5. | Mandira Chhabra | CSMVS/Himalayan Soc. for Heritage and Art Conservation | MMA | Apr 1 – Sept 30, 2014 (6 months) |
| 6. | Nidhi Shah | CSMVS | MMA/ | Fall 2014 (2 months) |
| 7. | Shilpa Raturi | Archaeological Survey of India | MMA | Apr 1 – Sept 30, 2014 (6 months) |
| 8. | Subhra Devi | Museum of Tezpur University | MMA | Sept 1 – Feb 28, 2015 (6 or 4 months) |
| 9. | Vikram Singh Rathore | Mehrangarh Fort Museum | MMA | Jan – March 2015 |
| 10 | Anil Dwivedi | Formerly IGNCA | SRAL | Jan – June 2014 |
| 11. | Anil Verma | IGNCA | SRAL | Mar – May 2015 |
| 12 | Diwakar Karmaker | VMH | SRAL | Jan – June 2015 |
| 13. | Minesh Harinkhede | NRLC Lucknow | SRAL | Oct 2014 – March 2015 (6 months) |
| 14. | Omkar Mohan Kadu | CSMVS | SRAL | Apr- July 2014 |
| 15. | Shikha Bansal | NMI | SRAL | Oct – Dec 2013 |
| 16. | Shruti Asoka | Coimbatore | SRAL | Sept – Dec 2014 |
| 17. | Umesh Kumar Ahuja | Rashtrapati Bhavan | SRAL | Oct – Dec 2013 |
(3 months)
(3 months)
SRAL
(3 months)
(6 months)
(3 months)
(6 months)
(3 months)
(3 months)
(4 months)
(3 months)
List of 1st batch of the fellowship under ICFP
| S.No. | Name | Affiliation | Host | Period |
| Ms. Vandana Singh | National Museum | MMA | 01.02.2017 – 31.07.2027 | |
| Shri PareetNagamurthi | INTACH | MMA | 01.02.2017 – 30..04.2017 | |
| Ms. Merrin Anil | INTACH | SRAL | 03.04.2017 – 16.09.2017 | |
| Shri Vipin Joshi | NGMA, | SRAL | 29.05.2017 – 19.08.2017 |
New Delhi
List of 2nd batch of the fellowship under ICFP
| S. No. | Name | Affiliation | Host | Period |
| 1. | Mr. Subir Dey | VMH, | FG | 01.02.2018 – 31.05.2018 |
| 2. | Mr. Dilip Mestry | CSMVS, Mumbai | MMA | 01.04.2018 – 30.06.2018 |
| 3. | Mr. Nikhil Ramesh | CSMVS, Mumbai | MMA | 01.04.2018 – 30.06.2018 |
| 4. | Mr. Jitender Chauhan | IGNCA, | SRAL | 01.10.2017 – 31.01.2018 |
| 5. | Mr. Rahul | NGMA, | SRAL | 01.03.2018 – 30.06.2018 |
| 6. | Ms. Madhu Rani Puttaswamy | INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore | SRAL | 01.03.2018 – 30.06.2018 |
| 7. | Mr. Lalit Kumar | INTACH, New Delhi | SRAL | 28.08.2017 – 26.02.2018 |
Kolkata
New Delhi
Tongaria
New Delhi
List of 3rd batch of the fellowship under ICFP
| S. No. | Name | Affiliation | Host | Period |
| 1. | Mr. Pradip Madhumita Vasundhara | City Palace Museum, Udaipur | MMA | 01.02.2019 – 31.07.2019 |
| 2. | Azhar Syed Tariq | Rampur Raza Library | FG | 01.02.2019 – 31.05.2019 |
| 3. | Shyama Prasad Datta | NGMA (Delhi) | SRAL | 01.03.2019 – 30.06.2019 |
| 4. | Mohd. Galib | INTACH | SRAL | 01.10.2018 – 28.02.2019 |
| 5 | Sarvesh Singh | Reserve Bank of India | MMA | 01.02.2019 – 30.04.2019 |
List of 4th batch of the fellowship under ICFP
| S. No. | Name | Affiliation | Host | Period |
| 1. | Ms. Mrinalini Mani | INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore | SRAL | 4 months started in November, 2019 |
| 2. | Ms. Baisakhi Mallick | VMH, Kolkata | SRAL | 4 months started in March/April, 2020 |
| 3. | Ms. Nalini Biluka | INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore | SRAL | 4 months started in March/April, 2020 |