Lyn Hall instructs her students in the art of picture-framing at the workshop. Picture by Aranya Sen

Imagine the Mona Lisa without its gilded frame. Picture your precious Jamini Roy or a favourite painting without the frame to show it off and the glass to protect it. Picture-framing is an art form in itself. It is an integral part of any home ? holding family photographs, valuable works of art, graduation degrees... But while it?s a booming industry in the West, India is yet to catch on. Things, however, are changing, with demand on the rise. Working with that in mind, Lion India is set to inaugurate its training institute for picture framers by the year-end.

The workshops have already started. The first one began on Monday and will be on till Friday, in Lion India?s Dakshindari Road office. Conducting the workshops is Lyn Hall of the Fine Art Trader Guild in the UK. Around 15 craftsmen are learning about technique and technology. After Calcutta, she?s off to Mumbai for a workshop. In the next two years, Hall will be back four times, every six months, to conduct similar exercises.

?The skills these students have are average. But they?re enthusiastic and good with their hands. There?s a huge potential market in India. The idea is to turn them from craftsmen into professionals. Also, many more women are needed,? says the woman, known as the ?mad mount cutter? (mount-cutting is a type of picture-framing) back home for her creativity.

?When we started the company six years ago, we could barely sell two machines. By now, we?ve sold 900. There is awareness. And there?s huge scope here for people looking to make it a full-time business, because people nowadays don?t want to give valuable or sentimental items to carpenters and the like to be framed,? explains Manish Gourisaria, joint managing director of the company. ?We have also worked with museums like Victoria Memorial to frame old paintings, but many more expert hands are needed. We are also in talks with the government to sell traditional items by framing them.?

The institute will provide six-month training for the GCF (guild commended framer) exam. There are five levels of framing ? minimum, budget, commended, conservation and museum. But there will also be different levels of training for experts and amateurs. Lion India is a distribution company for equipment, but is also working on spreading awareness. ?Around 90 million rolls of film are developed in India each year. Even if one photograph from each roll is framed, that?s 90 million frames,? signs off Gourisaria.