New Delhi: From restorations of built heritage and artwork to films, talks and guided walks at iconic sites, a group of school students learned the ropes about cultural conservation from experts in Delhi.
Seeking to turn them into ambassadors of heritage preservation, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) took 15 national winners, picked out from its outreach campaign ‘My City, My Heritage’, on a three-day educational tour that began on Wednesday.
The students visited the Humayun’s Tomb, a world heritage site, and Sanskriti Kendra’s Anandagram in Mehrauli, besides attending an interaction with a Dastangoi (medieval storytelling art form) artiste.
“At the Humayun’s Tomb, children of Nizamuddin Basti took them on a heritage walk and informed about the restoration work of the monument undertaken by the Aga Khan Foundation,” Purnima Datt, principal director, Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS), Intach, told a news agency.
At Anandagram, they learned about terracotta and other everyday objects with heritage value, she said. Intach had organised a pan-India campaign with the support of its 100 regional chapters across 100 cities.
“We want them to carry forward the legacy and the tour aims at raising their awareness level so that they can further sensitise other people back in their cities,” she said.
Former Intach Delhi Chapter convener and architect AGK Menon gave a talk on the heritage of Delhi and its bid for a world heritage city tag.” Students are a very potent force and if you are able to give them the right message they will process it and work on it in their own way,” Ms. Menon said.
On last day of the tour on Friday, the students visited the National Museum. They would also watch heritage-themed films at the INTACH headquarters, where a felicitation and award ceremony for the students is scheduled in the evening.
