Consecrated in 1984 under the tutelage of the then museum director Rabin Dev Choudhury, the laboratory is also facing an acute shortage of professional staff and lab personnel besides a space crunch. The three lab personnel are eagerly waiting for the completion of the new extension of the museum building, which will provide much-needed space, making their work easier.
The conservationists said the humid and unpredictable climate prevalent in the region is taking a toll on the already-delicate excavated items and proving a hurdle in conservation efforts. "Preservation and conservation of ancient art and artifacts is a daunting task because of the weather conditions prevalent in this part of the country. We put in our best efforts, using our expertise and knowledge in preservation work, but nothing works on some of the pieces. We preserve excavated material such as statues, manuscripts made of palm leaves and bark of trees, coins, leather, books etc. However, we don't perform taxidermy; we use fumigation and other scientific techniques to conserve these items," said Nava Kumar Patgiri, senior chemist and technical expert at the conservation laboratory.
Patgiri added sometimes they succeed in conserving items that are seemingly unsalvageable. He gave the instance of an 11th century wooden Vishnu statue which was discovered in Borduwa, the birthplace of Sankardeva in Nagaon district. The statue was almost in ruins due to long years of neglect and ravages of weather. "We undertook the preservation process of the statue in 1984; it was the first project we did under the tutelage of Rabin Dev Choudhury. The statue was almost ruined but we managed to salvage it and now it occupies pride of place in the museum," said Patgiri.
Prabin Nath, an assistant to Choudhury, elaborated on the other daunting tasks undertaken by the two conservationists at the museum laboratory here, "We excavated a tribal sword in Haflong way back in 1987 which was in pieces. It took us four months to put it together but we did it successfully. Another time in the early nineties, we put together 40 pieces of a Vishnu statue found in Dhekiajuli. The statue, which was made of sandstone, had been vandalized."
The conservationists said that apart from the climate, the traditional and religious mindset of some people at the satras sometimes proves to be a stumbling block in the preservation process. "There is a cross-section of people who are very conservative and consider conservation of religious idols and other items blasphemous," said Patgiri.
He also said that funding is not an issue as the state government has been encouraging in this respect, but feels that the Bhupen Hazarika Museum at Kalakshetra should have tried to acquire the manuscripts and handwritten notes of the maestro. "They have only stacked the items randomly and no attempt has been made to approach the display scientifically. Also, the items should be displayed across more space," added Patgiri.
two images of an ancient tribal sword. one image of the sword with many pices and the other after getting together the pieces.