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4 Cover story Artrestoration byMarjorie Husain6Cover storyRestored... apainting rebornby Nyla Daud9 Coverstory Japanesemeasures by ZubairAhmedMadani 9Cover storyPreserved worksby Frands Kelly12 Baby and childThis, no home-work 13 Talking itover On theWhite House byHillaryClinton14Mini-interviewSign o' thetimes 16Fashion

, Cotton cou-ture PhotographsbyArshadTareen20Profile Raza AIi

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Abidi by Asif Noorani23 Health Take a

bow-wow by PaulG.DonohueM.D. 24

Eight days apage l week Cinema,

14 style, eyeliner27 Savvy Theexecutive cookby MalihaBhimjee2.Nature watch

Tuesday Review, Dec 17 - 23, 1996

COVERSTORY~>-.c-gcCl)

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4. Artrestoration

FASHION

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PROFILE

20 Raza". . AliAbidi

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Humble offer-ings byZahrahNasir29 What are they

d. ?rea Ing....Mansoor Saeedby SulaimanAnsari29Off the rack Toysoldiers by UnezaAkhtar30 Eating inFinger in the pieby ZahrahNasir ,AKhalida

3

The preservation and ,.-..restoration of art in IPakistan is an area few . ~ ""

artists have explored. Dr ) '" w"AjazAnwarofthe N.C.A. '

Lahore, completed a post~graduate course on the sub- ,.ject, and Zahurul Akhlaq is .perhaps the onlyartist to I

have studied Che!9istry!" ~ ',0related to art in the UK.ZubairAhmed Madni,ofthe Karachi National/...

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Museum, has also.experienced restora-;

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tionworkin Japan. In,.Karachi, there are"'artists who turn to jscientists foradvice in order toexperiment with J

unusual materi- j .. . . I ~ ~als and pre-6 -~ - 11>.--serve th~ir. Title discovered: 'There's light ahead' by Bashir Mirza; owned by Wahab Jafferworks, for It ISan extremely learned maestro teaches the restorationdelicatearea. techniques of oilpaintingsand practise of

At the New Delhi Museum of Modern Museology.Art, Amrita Sher-GiI's works have been The Professor who had studied art inoverpainted to a damaging degree. Japan, Paris and Brussels, is fluentin the

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COVER STORY

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By MarjorieHusain

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Heavily coated, in time, the damage willmake its way through the added layers ofpaint. That the artists are keen to avail theopportunity to explore restoration wasapparent recently when a three-day work-shop and demonstrationon the preserva-tion and conservationof oil paintingsandwater-colours, was arranged by thePakistan National Council of the Arts.Hosted by the Indus Valley School of Artand Architecture,localartistsand studentsbecame absorbed in the techniques andthe transforming processes, impatient toget some 'hands on' experience.

Demonstratingthe delicateart of restor-ing damaged oil paintings on canvas,ProfessorMitsuhiko Kuore explainedthata masteryof the subjectrequiresten yearsof study covering chemistry, paintingandthe history of art. The Professor's son,Masahiko,who assisted him in the work-shop is half way there with five years ofstudy to his credit.

. Much in demand for the restoration ofeasel paintings, Kuroe San has a studio ofhis own in Yokohama. Since '93, he haspresided as Chief Professor of the Facultyof Conservation of Cultural Properties inthe Department of Arts, at the TohokuUniversity of Art and Design. There the

4

, --. 01flf/MI °"1i& ,~!

~.:~ fA-ProfessorMitsuhiko Kuore

and son Masahiko

French language, often slippingFrench words and phrases intohis lecture demonstration. Heexplained that the words bestused to describe the art'patience and science' aremuch more akin in sound inthe French pronunciationthan in English.

Both MariamSaeedullah and SubahHussain, who studied artin Japan, had told me,on various occasions,of the difference in eti-quette and method ofteaching in Japan. Artis considered a life-time study, encom-passing ongoinglinks with a master.

There is no hurryor short cut.Apparently, the

student does notask questions in

class. He or she watches the teacher inrespectful silence, learning by example,fully concentrating on the teacher'sactions. Subah obtained special permis-

11\1

sion to question her professor, explainingthat she had limited time in Japan.

In Karachi, Professor Kuroe laughinglyrebuked artists with their many questions,eager to learn various stages. "You wantto run before you can walk," he told them,as he insisted they fill the basic 'prescrip-tion' form, retailing details of the painting,the age of the artwork, materials used,size, title, date and name of the artist, andlater the restoration methods used, all hadto be set down for later reference.

Working on a 1940 painting by theBritish artist Berger, Professor Kuroe firstcleaned the picture with dry pads, examin-ing it painstakingly with an electric magni-fying glass. With infinite patience and care,ends of threads were drawn across tearsin the canvas, then melded with resin waxmelted with a heating spatula. The picturebegan to look better immediately. The nextstage was to cover the areas affected witha mixture of rabbit glue and chalk. Theglue-chalk mixture when applied, wasscraped down to fit in with the texture ofthe original painting. The last stage wasthe inpainting, in which the expert strivesto match the original artwork. While theprofessor restored 'Berger', Masahiko qui-etly worked alone, restoring an early

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Tuesday Review, Dec 17 - 23,1996

Sadequain painting that had badly flaked.Inan adjoining room, Mari Yamaryo

conducted a workshop on the care ofworks of art on paper.With a backgroundencompassing a course of study at theSmithsonian Institute, Washington,Professor Mari encouraged student partici-pation. While she worked on an earlyBashir Mirza drawing, .students workedsimultaneously on two more paper works.The professor explained that paper is avulnerable material - but it can last forcenturies if properly made and cared for.Paper is damaged by mishandling, insectsand environmental conditions.

The paper works were prepared fortreatment, with old matting materials andpressure sensitive tape removed. 'Drycleaned', backed by tissue-thin waterproofmaterial, the pieces were floated in a shal-low water bath. Age marks were gentlybrushed with a water-spirit mixture and theback of the painting reinforced by a back-ing technique. As B.M.'s painting showedsigns of improvement, removing a time-stained ancient mount of the drawingrevealed a title - Hope for the Future-that Wahab Jaffer, who owns the paper,had been unaware of.

Both the professors were adamant onthe gentle handling of artwork, and insistedsurfaces should not be touched withhands. Professor Mari insisted thatunmounted paper works should not be lift-ed by the corners. Instead, a sheet of blot-ter or ragboard should be slipped underthe work, and the support be held.

Pastels, charcoals and miniature worksshould never be placed face down. Paperworks in storage should be placed in fold-

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ers using interleavingsheets. Materials con.taining rubber should beavoided as rubber-based spray, commonlyused to back paperworks, turns the artworkyellow.

A fascinating andvery useful experience,senior artists joined inthe workshop with ani-mated enjoyment. Dejavu. There was an echoof the first experience ofprint-making in Karachiin '69, when theAmerican print-maker,Michael Ponce de Leon,set up a three-monthworkshop complete witha press. It set up a flurryof print-making; I sus-pect the recent work- ,.shop will be followed bya flurry of 'restoration'!Salwat Ali imagined alonger workshop torestore the FaizeeRahamin collection andenable artists to acquireat least a basic workingknowledge of the art.Such a workshop inKarachi would be incal-culably valuable,besides saving Faizee'spaintings and enhancingthe skills of localartists..

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Expert Mari Yamaryo watched by Wahab Jaffer (above);Atiya Faizee's portrait by Faizee Rahamin (right)

Tuesday Review, Dec 17 - 23, 1996 5

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c- COVER STORY

Restored... apaintingreborn

NylaDaudmeets ProlesorMohammadAsil and ProlessorBashirAhmedof the NCAIn Lahoreand learnsabout

the painstakingwork Involvingrestoringan art-workto Its originalglory Andwhat littlethere Is

In It for the restorerhimself

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"Restoration...?" the professorlaughs off my question withunbridled irony. "What weneed here is 'conservation', ifyou ask me. A painting is like

a living, breathing human. It has to beprovided with an environment that cansustain its life, but all that the peoplehere have learnt to do is to 'buy' a paint-ing and put it up in their drawing room. Itcan die a silent death because ofchange in temperature but then it canalways be removed to make place for anew one. Who cares?"

Period.Professor Mohammed Asif at the

NCA seems unmoved at a journalisticquery about the art of 'restoration'.Although a personal interest made himtrain in the art from a German school, hesimply refuses to acknowledge any localtradition of the discipline whatsoever.Perhaps he, like his other colleagues, isfar too disillusioned at the way thingsstand. Perhaps he would like to worksystematically whereby a genuineappreciation of art should precede its'restoration' .

"Look at this," the flourish of his handleads your gaze to a tattered canvas onwhich a dancing figure stands in a silentwhirl of ecstasy. A Lai/a Shehzada origi-nal, it testifies to what can happen to apainting in just thirty-plus years, if it isnot treated with care.

"This belongs to myoid friend FaqirHussain Saga, the dancer. Laila paintedthis when Saga was ayoung man andnow he wants me to restore it."

And will Asif agree to the painstakingtask? Yes, even if it is going to meanhours and days, perhaps months torestore it and what should ultimatelyevolve with a semblance to the original.It is going to be a debt of honour to afriend and that is about all. "A restoredpainting," he admonishes, "should onprinciples of ethics, continue to give aclue to the time period that it was origi-

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nally painted in. To try and paint overthe history of the piece amounts to pla-giarism because, restoration essentiallymeans to provide the missing parts with-out touching the original portions. Theidea is to revitalise the original. But whathappens in untrained hands is that theoriginal is lost and with the passage oftime it mellows and environment. So, itbecomes all the more important that therestorer is both an artist and a crafts-man, a chemist and a technician."

Professor Asif initially trained at theDresden School of Art as part of ascholarship programme; the only personon the contemporary art scene with avalid foreign training in the 'art' of artrestoration, he has the expertise, eventhe will but there aren't many peoplearound who could form a clientele. Andeven if there were, the professor couldsay no. The reason being that restora-tion of paintings is a painstakinglylengthy process with little remuneration.In a set-up where art by itself is notsomething that can be your bread and Ibutter, restoration of paintings becomestotally unfeasible - a sadly ironic statis-tic.

"When you undertake a restorationproject, even if it is a contemporarypainting, you need to go back in time tofind out the details of the paints, thematerials, the techniques used. When Istarted doing Laila Shehzada's painting,I first went into the reason for the deteri-oration. You see restoration is not cre-ativity alone. It requires an in-depthtechnical know-how about the chemistryof the technique initially used. There is alot of science and research involved.

"Abroad, like in Germany where I stud-ied the details of this art, the first thingyou do is to get a laboratory test done.The next step is to get the piece pho-tographed through infra-red or ultra-redrays in order to find out what is under-neath the final surface. This is such asensitive procedure that it can even

show the initial scribbling that the artistmay have done. I have seen a Reubensphotographed so expertly that you couldsee through the first drawing on the can-vas; the idea is to get down to thedetails. In a way this is detective workbecause sometimes during the investi-gations you may even discover that theartist had painted over another canvas."

The Laila Shehzada painting awaitingits fate in Professor Asif's studio is goingto need time before it can go up on thewall again. The treatment procedure willrestore first the worn off edges and thenvarnish solution washings will clear thepaint from the chipped portions.Probably left on a wall next to thekitchen, its layers of paint are peelingoff, giving it an air of decadence."

However, all is not lost, for ProfessorAsif has a planned schedule involvingthe use of testing benzene and wax."After the washing and the drying I willdo the retouching. Ethically, I should not

Tuesday Review, Dec 17- 23,1996

Ali's people but the project fizzled out forlack of interest in the rightquarters.

However, since oil painting is not anindigenous tradition, neglect of relatedworks for restoration can be overlookedif not totally ignored. It is the genre ofminiatures, the real tradition in our part .of the subcontinent, that really needsmore in-depth study and attention.Again NCA Professor Bashir Ahmed ofthe Department of Miniature painting isa person totally consumed by restora-tion work. Having gone through a gru-elling training schedule under the old

miniature masters ofhis own day, BashirAhmed undertakesrestoration projectsonce in a while butonly if an old friend isin need. Money doesnot count really sincenobody with a frayedminiature wants tospend on it. Doing itfor the love of artalone, Bashir Ahmedoften spends sleep-less nights and rest-less days, gentlyscratching beneathunfathomable sur-faces "My first con-cern is to find out thetechnique used.Miniature paintingshave been done in dif-ferent styles in thisregion and each areahas had its own tradi-tions which have to betaken into accountbefore I can proceed.And this includeseven the restoration of

. reproductions."

Past masters: 'Tobias and the Angel' - follower of Andrea Del Verrocchio (left); Tracing his Ustad'sd Ch ht " .

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ht) I genealogy back to thean u9 al spain 1n9 !19 reign of Humayun,retouch with oil because if after thirty between self-expression and craft, Bashir Ahmed boasts about a practicalyears it needs restoration again, the per- restoration is really a service to the old more than a theoretical knowledge ofson doing it should be able to see the masters. In no way can it be called cre- the art. "I learnt all the techniques practi-original surface through ultra-red pho- ativity; hence the added reluctance on cally. Restoration is not something youtography. Also I will give a written and the part of artists to do the job. Another can learn by rote from a written text. (visual documentation of what I have parallel tradition that seems to be cur- Maybe that is why it is not a part of thedone." rently developing is a racket... Lesser NCA syllabus). At times when I am on a

Traditionally, the restorer should be a painters are producing versions of origi- restoration project I am not quite sure ofperson extremely well-versed in the nal Chughtais and Allah Buxs. what I have done it is such an involv-techniques of the masters. Only some- Interestingly, these very $ources could ing process."body with a total command over the be tapped for restoration work at the He continues in a tone of pain, "at thework methodology of the masters can official level, allowing at the same time a Lahore Fort they do have a restorationdo a restoration job, because the first recognition for their surreptitious efforts section but they do it at random, Lookstep in the procedure is the time and as well as quality work in restoration what they did at the Wazir Khantechnique placementof the painting. projects. But this too, is a long story Mosque they coloured Iow tempera-

punctuated with taboos and policies. ture tiles with high temperature glaze.At the collector's level, restoration and as a result the tiles fell off the

work, probably due to its time-consum- minaret by the time they started work oning and financially exhausting nature, is the next minaret!"being totally neglected. Some time back Miniature Moghul paintings come toProfessor Asif was contacted by Shakir Bashir Sa'hib for restoration and he

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IRONICALL V, WHATEVERRESTORATION work is being done atthe official level locally, is the result of astrange red tapism. Due to some incom-prehensible reason no artist as such

Tuesday Review, Dec 17 - 23,1996

has been allowed into the hallowed por-tals of restoration projects. This is a tra-dition of the British Raj who called upongeologists and local smalHime crafts-men to do restoration jobs. Ajaz Anwarof the NCA, himself an artist, feels thatthough these craftsman are very skilledin technical know-how regarding pig-ments and motifs but they still need thesupervision of a reputed artist. In anundertone however he adds, "but thereal artist will at times consider it belowhis dignity to take up a restoration job."Obviously an undertaking somewhere

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Restoration for art's sake: Allah Bux' s painting (top);and Faizee Rahamin's self.portrait (above)

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"I learnt all the techniquespractically. Restoration Is notsomething you can learn byrotelrom a written text. Attimes when Iam on a restora-tion project I am not quhesure 01what I have done n

Is such an Involvingprocess."takes them on at a whim. A recentminiature belonging to a local was treat-ed by him in almost three and a halfyears; time is a necessary constraint inthe procedure because sometimes onestep requires days or months of matur-ing before the next can be worked upon.He rummagas about in the pile and tri-umphantly produces a lovely one of theTaimuri Court. "Here, look at this one. Iresearched about Persian miniature artfor months. Then I experimented withvarious materials so that they could beapplied in the correct proportions. Ofcourse, the materials used originallywere local and even today I haveaccess to most of them, but I needed toknow how they were used. Sometimes itis not only the paint work that requiresrestoration; the paper also needsrestoration. That becomes even moredifficult because different artists useddifferent techniques in their paperworks."

Conversations with the Lahore artistswho have some experience of restoringpaintings, reveals that there is a strongconsensus aiming at the need to pre-serve art in this area and that the pro-jects will have to be taken up at the insti-tutionallevel. Individual artists, however,deaicated they may be, cannot handlethe responsibility. Finances, survival,time, are big factors; so big that they farexceed the limits of individualendurance. These are all huge entitiesand responsibilities that can only behandled through channelised dedicationand that too at state level. Otherwise,what we are going to have in this belea-guered part of the world is a lot ofantique art going to waste.

The nouveau riche will decorate theirhouses with paintings selling at thetowns galleries. They will, in the inter-ests of interior decor, place them at ran-domly. Perhaps on a wall that willbecome too hot in wild summers, or in aroom where load-shedding will playhavoc with the painting and when thepaint starts to peel off and the edgesbegin to decay as a result, then replacethem to make way for new ones. Artthen will suffer the fate of discardedclothes and the work of many an artistwill be consigned to lie in dark store-rooms..

Tuesday Review, Dec 17 - 23, 1996

COVER STORY

ByZUbairAhmedMadani

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measures

One of the few paperconservationistsin the country,Mr S. ZubairAhmed Madani,

attendeda paperconservationcourse in Japan in 1992,and sincethen has presided

overwell-equippedconservationlaboratoriesin the NationalMuseumof Pakistan.For

overa year he has beenworkingon the restorationof a delicatethough large-scalefab-

ric piece inscribedwith calligraphy.Zubair Madani,who has used his expertisetorepair

numerousold and damagedminiaturepaintings,on his returnfrom Japan, shared his

experienceofthecoursein'awrittenintroduction.- M.H.

Japanese paper conservationmethods are employed today inconservation studios throughoutthe world. They are highlyappreciated in the west as they

are based on a long and unbroken tra-dition. The application of different typesof Japanese hand-made paper and nat-ural adhesives, such as wheat starchpaste and animal glue in mounting pro-cedures, as well as the use of a variety

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By Francis KeDy

Preserved:worka

An understanding 'Ofthe anatomy of a painting, themat~rials~nd t~~ ..!TI YSE1db¥;~~,~st.san~the

51 t!.

'caos-esOf ~ete~ld(fl;ttigt1er Withtt1~.a.

buItY torecognise former restora ions or overpainting, areessential for effective examination of pictures and

their ultimate preservation. Artists sometimes use te,ch-niq ues",,~nd .Q)at~,~~I,~ '.th~t".I~!~rP~,~Y~,~~sta~I~.Otl1~.rartists ,applytmts.act1dQ'l~zes\'whlcijMnYe'afstq,Come;lfunrecognised, might be lost in the process of cleaning.The restorer, in carrying out his ~xamination, must beconstantlyaware of the pitfallsthat mightlie ahead in theconsolidatio~~n~t,917~ . . 'Q,

Theprote15t!ve""I1iye . "'ff~V~\$'!)defg9I'1emany chemical chapges.Varnished pictu(~s may beaffected by extremes of dar\(-ness. a.Od. d.APJP; pt. cby over-exposure\!itcand heat. Scratches and acci-dents of all kinds may havepitted the sUrface, Ust andgIrtwill ~CCpnlull;tt7«revices unless th~61is removed and a new y.arnishapplied.

A painting's cOQtinu~dsur.avival.9,tt~Jlq~R~artist's selectio

and his technique. in applyingthem. Mistakes in the con-struction of a p~intiQQ' maylimit lhe~~t~'?I~~, .\(.1\1'restoration; for e,<amfugi~tive colours cannot be revived.The excessive use of oIls anddryers in the pigment~ may

of high quality tools have contributed totheir high reputation. Specific conserva-tion procedures, e.g. drying of paperartifacts on the karibariboard, are alsoconsidered by western conservators tobe extremely sensitive treatments asthey respect the original texture of theobject as much as possible.

Washi, Japanese hand-made paper,as the carrier and support of Japanesepaintings and calligraphy and the main

cause deep cracks and wrinkles which are difficult to rec-tify.Pilint ~pptied in tl)in turpentine wasl)es(~,techniguefavoured by>4he"impressionists) Pfoffers~pro~;I~m fqtthe .futyre. The opposite extreme, paint applied in unusuallythick1ayers with insufficient drying time allowed between.coats, will ultimately cause disfiguration.

Cr~cksh1 modern paintipgs ar~ 9~en tpe co~seqI,f7nc~,~.'ofusingin(~rior !J1aterials.@ver!yabsor!)ent$uppqi'fs.\.qf,~priming will suck the bihding media from the paint, aC;cel-erating unnatural drying, resulting in cracks. The additionof excessive dryers and extenders or foreign elements,,s~chas .~~ndir\tr9dLlced to create atexh.lr~, is al.so're'sP9hsible~forcracking, . .~ ".~. ~

In recent years, restoration authorities intbel.JhitediiStates have replaced the term 'retouching' to 'inpainting'in order to emphasise that colour should not.pe allQwed~i.thef inteqtionally or ~ccid~~tallxto oy;~rl~p£he 9~iginaJ'"aint. Artisfs often have to retouch theit ownfpalnting$.,This often results in large areas ofoverpainting.

Paintings kept in a highly humid atmosphere are vul-nerable to fungoid attacks. This appears as ftuffy whitespor~s clUster~d on tbe surface,J9f tI)7P~iQting'J'h~it,appel;1rance.at the back of a'pa:inHpgiq"icate$ thti~tfley,i

are attacking tlie glue sizipg irjthe fabric support. If leftuntreated, th7,)' will eventuallyP~;r,meC1.te ttJ.~ fl;t!:>ric;!anQ"destroy the fibres. .~

Fungus growth,(Oildew andcondensation pose a constantproblem~-fort~ preservatIonofaq obj~..~t.~, ~P~c'P!:,cal. climates, Scie ra~tus contributes greatly t\) oUtknowledge in the field of artrestoratiqn. It~ sucC~ssful. use,hc>~ev~&W"}s. \Q;pvet!2~P !.~t,':s~iIIof tl1epersonlfin$I~!1"""11equipment and interpreting theinformation pfovided..

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~ -Tuesday Review, Dec 17 - 23, 1996

'The GrahamChildren': A painting byWiUiaml:togarth~ u ...

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(F(omAfjui {f~and Preseifiatio of I

Art by Francis Kelly}. ~

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Deep impre~sions: Leonardo da Vinci's'The Virgin and Child with Saint Anneand Saint John the Baptist~material applied in their conservation, isnow used worldwide not only for themounting and repair of paper artifactsbut also as an indispensable material inall fields of conservation due to its spe-cific properties.

Apart from these general factors, theinternational conservation communityhas shown an increasing interest inJapanese mounting and conservationprocedures.The interest is reciprocatedby Japanese conservators studying thewestern approach to adapt it to the con-servation and restoration of their arti-facts. International meetings and tech-nical publications have contributed to

the increasing interaction between eastand west, and working experience hasbeen successfully exchanged toenhance better preservation and con-servation of our cultural heritage forfuture generations.

Hyogu - JapanesemountingandconservationproceduresJapanese paper conservation in the tra-ditional sense is based on mountingtechniques. The Japanese term formounting is Hyogu which also includesconservation and restoration proce-dures applied to works of art on paper

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and textile supports. Hyogu may becalled the art of water and brush, and inthe literal sense also means to frame apicture such as a hanging scroll.

Originating first in China, conserva-tion techniques and materials quicklyspread to Japan where they developedinto the refined art known as Hyogu.

To become a qualified Hyogushi, amounter, one can easily spend tenyears of strict training and steady appli-cation. The Hyogushi as a highly spe-cialised professional is not only able toconserve and repair various kinds ofpictorial art, such as scrolls (Jikuso)folding screens (Byobu) and slidingdoors (Fusuma), but is also expected tocreate new art obj~cts by mounting andassemblillgarid to present them in theircorrect cultural context. He/she mustknow the (ippropriate style of mount fdrany subj'ecf aQc!be aware ofthe mean-ings a§s6ciated with the materialsused." Tpe" Hyogushi mus,t also knowhow (indwhere an object will be usedbecauseithese works of art have (i pre-cise function, apart from their aestheticand cultural role. The objects are madeto be opened and closed, rqlledandunrolled. ,"

Apart from meeting the demands ofconservation and aesthetics, theHyogushi must always consider thatthese objects are to be constantly han-dled and not merelilooked at.

Ihrou~hqut its long history, Hyogu,dating back to the Asuka period (AD538-644), has been transmitted fromone craftsman to another. ~eing basedon the master-apprentice principle andtherefore exclusively on practical skillsto be learned and perfected by experi~ehce, ttle whole process was neversystematically recorded and document-ed. AltQough research in th'e field ofWashi had been tarried oLlt, a com-plete ariQ integrated study on HyoguWas cOlT1pletelymissing.

In .,1974, the, Tokyo NationalResearch In'stitute of CulturalPropert.iJ~s (TNRICP), initiated aresearch project on the subject. Thisstudy led in 1977 to the publication of"Conservation Science of Hyogu - aScientific Study of the Conservationand Restoration of Painting andCalligraphy Scrolls in Japan." It was thefirst time that the Hyogu process hadbeen fully recorded and photographical-ly documented, including a detaileddescription of the materials and toolsused."The publication and its translationin English contributed to a deeperunderstanding of Hyogu ill the west andstimulated further studies and researchin the field.Jikuso - Japanese scroll paintings

Japanese scrolls, Jikuso, fall into twoprincipal categories: the hand scroll,Makimono, which is rolled out flat on a

Tuesday Review, Dec 17 - 23, 1996

horizontal surface, and the hangingscroll, Kakemono, which is hung on awall to be viewed.

Due to these functions, the. conser-vation of scrolls requires the Hyogushi'sgreatest attention and highest skills.

Early forms of hanging scrolls weregenerally used as a vehicle to convey asingle pictorial message to large num-bers of people at an appropriate time. Itseems almost certain that the prototypeof the modern hanging scroll was theTibetan banner painting, and that it wasBuddhism, during the first millennium ofthe Christian era, that was responsiblefor its develop'ment and transmission to

long and varied history, however, thisart form has always maintained its origi-nal identity as a banner; a picture tosee at an appropriate time, and then toroll up and put away for a future occa-sion.

Today, the Hyogushi distinguishesthree major categories of hangingscrolls according totheir fbrm, shapeand function; Butsu hyogu, and Bunjinhyogu. The form bf the Hyogu, thechoice of textiles, their colours and pat-tern, as well as the way they fit with therest of the materials used will be deter-mined by the subject, size, type andfunction of the painting or calligraphy to

side walls and shielded from the light.Traditionally, neither the Tokonoma northe main room have overhead lighting,and direct sunlight is excluded bypaper-covered windows.

The specific time for the display ofscroll paintings generally relates to thesubject depicted in the painting itself. Itis often linked to the seasons of theyear or to a specific ceremony or reli-gious holiday. This timing is respectedboth in the private environment .and inpublic institution such as museums.One of the most important uses for thehanging scroll is during the tea ceremo-ny, when it is displayed for the appreci-

ation of the guests.The scroll is hung inthe Tokonoma for onlya short time. It will thenbe taken down, rolledand put away i.n itsproper storage box. Itis extremely importantto keep .in mind that allforms of scrolls aresimply not designed,either aesthetically ormechanically, forextended periods ofdisplay. The traditionalstorage of scrolls indouble boxes, in whichthe inner box is' madeof Kiri, paulownia,wood (Latin name:Paulownia Tomentosa)and the outer box islacquered, not onlyprevents mechanicaldamage but also hasbeen proved to havethe greate.st capacityfor maintaining con-stant temperature andhumidity up to twomonths. High-qualitystorage boxes are,therefore, essential forthe protection andcurative conservationof scroll paintings.

Far-eastern pictorial art does not fiteasily into western concepts of conser-vation and display. A modern conceptshould be based on a broader view,which also respects the cultural andsocial environment. Some museums no .

longer display their far-eastern paint-ings on a permanent basis and alsoinvestigate ways to present their collec-tions, bearing in mind their culturalrequirements. There is also a trendtowards establishing conservation stu-dios based on far-eastern traditions.These developments are a first hint thatthe link between form and function infar-eastern pictorial art has begun to beappreciated. .

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Hans Holbein the Younger's 'TheAmbassadors' (a,?ove); andRembrandt van Rijn's 'Margarethade Geer' (left)

Far-easternpictorialartdoesnotlit easilyIntowestern concepts01conservationanddisplay.Amodernconceptshouldbebasedona broader view,whichalsorespectsthe cul-tural andsocialenvironment

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countries beyond India., From an earlystage, two types of hanging scroll canbe distinguished: the banner and thehanging picture.

The hanging picture is a paintingexecuted on cloth with materials andtechniques similar to those used onplaster. It would have had simple clothborders with loops on the top to enablethe painting tO'be suspended on a per-manent or semi-permanent basis, prob-ably in religious establishments.

The banner was usually a long, deli-cate strip of silk, often painted withimages of Buddhist tradition. Bannerswere carried on long poles and wereprobably used on occasions such asreligious processions. Throughout its

be mounted.Apart from the specific structure and

composition of each type of hangingscroll, an extremely important consider-ation, from both an aesthetic and con-servation point of view, is the setting inwhich the Kakemono is displayed. InJapan; the hanging scroll is generallyhung in the Tokonoma, or alcove. Priorto that it was also displayed on wallsand ofher places. Nevertheless, theTokonoma is historically the focal pointin the Japanese house, temple orpalace. It is set apart from the rest ofthe room by a Tatami-covered platformwhich is usually slightly higher than therest of the flooLln its proper place, thescroll is protected by the ceiling and the

TuesdayReview,Dec 17 - 23, 1996 11

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