I am finally exploring my city. My city. It took some time, but Mumbai is now my city.

This week I explored the nearby Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai’s main museum. The way I got to know about the museum is a story in itself.

I was in a kaali-peeli taxi (Mumbai’s black-yellow local taxis) with a neighbour. She got off half-way through the ride and I carried on in the same taxi. The taxi-wallah figured out from my conversation with the neighbour that I was new to Mumbai. So he made it his duty to introduce me to the city. “Madam this is the big museum here,” he began. “And here just opposite, that’s the art gallery.” From fashion street, Kala Ghoda (eclectic neighbourhood in South Bombay), and Bombay High Court to the Bombay University, he pointed out every place of interest on our route. I had had my first heritage tour of Mumbai!

Two months from that day, I finally visited the museum after a friend mentioned that there was a special exhibition on conservation going on in the museum.

I have hardly been to museums in India, to be honest. The last museum I visited in India was the museum at Shantiniketan about eight years ago. Before that I had visited the Victoria Memorial Museum in Kolkata 15 years ago. So, as I was purchasing the ticket to the CSMVS museum I did not know what to expect from the institution.

I was pleasantly surprised with the exhibits and the ambiance of the museum. The museum was vast and I ended up spending all my time in the conservation exhibit alone. Which means I will be returning to the museum soon 🙂

The conservation exhibit answered so many of my questions about art preservation.

Ever wondered how thousand year old stone statues are cleaned? With pure light! A laser cleanse is what the conservation specialists used to clean a 1,500 year old stucco Buddha head from the Gandhara region.

Have you had old metal idols handed down to you by your grandmother? Then you must have noticed some oxidation or surface deposits. You may just dip it in a solution of lime water for a quick cleanse. But conservators do not have a blanket clean everything attitude towards ancient metal objects.

Patina is not always a bad thing, conservators say. Conservators may sometimes decide to retain the patina (surface deposits like a layer of oxidation or the brownish or glossy tone of ivory or marble) if it enhances the look of the object or is actually protecting the object (like in the case of a layer of oxidation on copper) from further deterioration.

What about conserving a piece of art made on paper hundreds of years ago?

Conservators use ultra-violet imaging and Infra-red imaging to view different layers or previous sketches that are not visible to the naked eye. And wait for it, a nebuliser too! Only, this time it is used on a painting and the painting does not have asthma. Conservators use a nebuliser to create a cold fog to rescue a painting whose paint is flaking and falling away at the mildest touch. A mist of consolidant settles on the painting and fixes the surface of the powdered paint.

I had great fun wandering around the museum and learning so many new things about how our ace conservators preserve our art and heritage for us to enjoy. You must go too!

The Conserving the Collection exhibition is on until November 1. There is no extra fee to enter the exhibition, just the nominal museum entry fee of Rs 70 for adult Indian Nationals. There is a lot to learn and be amazed by at this exhibition, do not miss it.

A different version of this post with a few more details about conservation practices can be found here.

Disclaimer: This is not a paid review