Vice-President inaugurates 15th Triennial Conference on Museums

New Delhi, Sep 22 (UNI) Vice-President M Hamid Ansari today said museums, libraries, national galleries and archives were not only a major contributor to the creative and tourist economy but also powerful places of social learning for the promotion of creativity and innovation.

Inaugurating the 15th Triennial Conference of International Council of Museums - Conservation Committee (ICOM-CC) here, the Vice President said that in an increasingly globalised world, people looked towards their cultural heritage to reaffirm their identities and nurture the sense of belonging to their communities, social groups and nations.

He said restoration and conservation preserved the very object that served as our link to the past and as a key to the structuring of our future.

The deliberations of the conference would provide an opportunity for the professionals to present and discuss the results of their work and new developments and innovations that occurred during the last three years, when the Triennial was last held, he said.

Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni, addressing the conference being held on the theme "Diversity in Heritage Conservation: Tradition, Innovation and Participation", emphasised the need to build adequate system for the heritage preservation and protection, and called for public-private partnerships in a big way, partnerships between Indian heritage management professionals and organisations with their counterparts abroad, and interactions between scientists, conservators and craftsmen.

She said that there was also need to encourage much greater community involvement in cultural heritage management and conservation in generating a sense of pride and ownership.

The Governments, scientists, religious leaders, conservators and artisans were needed to come together to engage in the problem solving exercise urgently needed to conserve heritage, she said.

The Minister reiterated India's commitment to bring global community together in an endeavour to preserve and promote cultural heritage.

She said, while a number of conservation projects had been initiated in the arenas of manuscript conservation, art object conservation and the conservation of built heritage, many more such initiatives were required.

The International Council of Museums is an organization of museums and museum professionals, which is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible. Established in 1946 with links to UNESCO. it now has over 18,000 members in 143 countries.

The five-day 15th Triennial Conference of ICOM-CC was being attended by more 550 participants from over 74 countries.

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