Workshop on Lahore Fort Picture Wall today

LAHORE: A three-day international workshop, from Jan 15 to Jan 17, will be held at Lahore Fort to highlight the conservation of the 1,450-feet long and 50-feet high Picture Wall – a famous expanse of decorative glazed tile and wall painting.

A prototype preservation was carried over a 45-feet high and 30-feet wide panel on the western segment of the Picture Wall by Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) involving the experts from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France and Sri Lanka. The process was started in 2016 and completed in December 2017.

The Picture Wall reflects the highest standards of 17th century Mughal period craftsmanship and is one of the key reasons for the inscription of Lahore Fort as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The AKTC and the WCLA are jointly holding this event, which will bring together national and international experts from various disciplines including conservation, architecture, engineering, material sciences, history, archaeology, planning, anthropology, and heritage enthusiasts. Notable policy makers, federal and provincial government departments as well as key donor representatives will attend the workshop. The purpose of this collaborative effort is to review the work carried out on the prototype on a panel of the Picture Wall and to generate professional discussion on a framework for further intervention. Once this workshop is concluded, with the agreement of all the experts, the work on the remaining wall will be started by WCLA and Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP).

AKCSP CEO Salman Beg said AKCSP, country affiliate of AKTC, carried out preliminary documentation of the Picture Wall in 2015-2017 as part of the larger Lahore Fort Conservation Project. In November 2016, AKTC-AKCSP organised a preliminary workshop to review the documentation process and to deliberate upon the stages of work to be included in developing the prototype over a 45-feet high and 30-feet wide panel on the western segment of the Picture Wall. The selected panel reflects all types of surface decorations found on the Picture Wall. Work on the prototype was carried out between February and December of 2017 and included six international missions to Lahore comprising microbiologists, surface conservators and material scientists from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France and Sri Lanka. In reviewing the prototype panel, the current workshop aims to facilitate a dialogue on the way forward.

WCLA Director General Kamran Lashari said this was a big initiative in which AKCSP had helped WCLA with their expertise and technicalities. The project would not have been possible without them. All the methodologies and techniques used in the process are according to the international standards keeping in view the sensitivity of the World Heritage Site. The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany contributed generous grant assistance for the prototype conservation of the panel. Prior documentation work was made possible with the financial support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy.