‘Steps needed to preserve manuscripts’
LUCKNOW: A two-day international workshop organised at Mahmudabad house here to create awareness about conservation of manuscripts concluded on Saturday. Delegates from the United States, UK, Iran and other countries participated in the event titled ‘Manuscript Preservation in Modern India: New Techniques and Strategies for Caring for Collections, which was organised by professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad of Ashoka University and Professor Mathhew Miller of University of Maryland.
Professor Francis Richard, former director of France’s national archives and of the Islamic wing of Louvre, professor Columba Stewart, director of Hill Museum and Manuscript Library and Dr Jake Benson, a specialist in paper were a few of the delegates who were part of the international workshop.
Professor Steward spoke about the urgent need for institutional collaborations to preserve the unique part of history, while Dr Benson spoke on the need to create the right environment for storing manuscripts, not only as a source of text but as objects that often reflect transnational histories. He also pointed out the relevance of the serial order in which the seals were placed in the manuscripts and said the manuscripts not only told history of the person who owned them it but also of how they travelled across the continents.
Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad of Ashoka University spoke about his collection with the endangered archive project at British Library, to conserve his family’s manuscript collection. He said people should realise that digitizing manuscripts and allowing open access on the internet did not diminish their value
He also said that all manuscripts in the Mahmudabad collection would be available online soon. The focus of the workshop was to create awareness about the best practices in terms of manuscript care, handling, conservation and preservation. A number of manuscript were displayed, including those about Mughal history.