Traditional textiles on display at Gauripur Museum

Dec. 4: Antiques and vignettes of Goalparia folk art and culture painstakingly collected by a princess found a spacious home last week after having been crammed haphazardly in a small building for over two decades.

The new address of Nilima Barua Folk Art Museum in Gauripur, opposite the old one, will facilitate scientific arrangement of artefacts, which include over 1,000 pieces collected by the daughter of Raja Prabhat Chandra Barua of Gouripur dynasty.

Kabita Devi, the museum in-charge, said the folk art destination was built primarily to preserve and showcase Nilima Barua’s collection.

“She had travelled extensively, whether in the country or abroad, and exhibited the rich heritage of Goalparia folk art and culture wherever she went. It is because of her endeavour that clay and terracotta artefacts of Asharikandi and pith-craft of the area got due recognition. Besides, her efforts also helped set up the Nikhil Bharat Hastasilpa Parishad office in Gauripur,” Devi said.

Despite being the princess of Gouripur, Nilima mingled with the downtrodden and devoted her life to the preservation of folk art and culture.

Set up in 1987, the museum has been a one-stop destination for scholars of Goalparia folk art, despite various logistical hitches.

Nilima’s collection of cane and bamboo, wooden, metallic, textile and jewellery, ivory, clay and terracotta, and pith-craft artefacts have fascinated heritage conservators for years.

A four-day workshop on Preventive Conservation of Art Objects was organised on the occasion of inauguration of the new museum building.

“The earlier building often got waterlogged while the new building, situated on higher ground, should have no such problems,” an official at the museum said.

Experts at the workshop discussed ways to conserve ethnographic objects, paper, wood and textile.

“Modern scientific methods of conservation are a must to preserve the valuable artefacts. Or else they will be lost forever,” a museum official said.

Resourcepersons like S.P. Singh, the director of the National Museum, and Saharuddin Ahmed, the director in-charge of the State Directorate of Museums, spoke on conservation of metal objects.

They also gave tips on removal of stains, fumigation of fungus-affected materials and adhesives used for conservation.