Sadequain’s mural awaits restoration at Lahore Museum

LAHORE: There is no firm schedule for the restoration work to begin on Sadequain’s famous mural at the Lahore Museum despite the allocation of Rs15 million for the purpose.

Man and the Mysterious Space, painted in the early 1970s, has deteriorated because of heat and humidity. Funds for the restoration work were allocated in April last year. Four directors of the museum have since promised to launch the project, but none has been able to address factors causing the delay.

The project was estimated to be completed in five years but more than a year has passed without any progress.

Shoaib bin Aziz, the culture and youth affairs secretary, says the preliminary work have been completed and the board of governors must now decide whether the mural is to be taken off a panel at a time or in one go.

The mural, completed on August 3, 1973, is 95 feet long and 25 feet wide. It is hoisted 37 feet above the floor. It comprises 46 panels of oil on canvas. The panels are stretched over wooden frames. It is considered as one of the main attractions of the Lahore Museum. The subject of the mural is man’s ultimate struggle in the infinitude of space. Eventually, man is shown overcoming space, and capturing its essence.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a member of the Lahore Museum’s Board of Governors said the museum did not appear to be high on the provincial government’s priorities.

She said that the mural was a masterpiece and warned that delaying its restoration could result in permanent damage. “The mural is already in a very bad shape. The planks supporting can fall off anytime. Delaying in its restoration is like deliberately letting a work of art decay,” she said.

When the restoration project was approved it was decided that a team of Indian conservationists, which had worked on a mural at India’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, would train Pakistani artists. The team has already visdited Lahore twice but the training process could not move beyond official meetings.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2010.