Every nation has its own heritage sites, monuments, culture and legacies that they require to pass out to the following generations. To safely pass it on to the next generations, these monuments should be conserved and here comes the role of art conservators. Art Conservation is a developing field offering a wide range of creative satisfaction particularly to developing artists. Art conservation involves interest in and knowledge of paintings and art as well as that of applied chemistry. In addition to offering social and cultural recognition, art conservation is a field that pays well. Therefore, if you are young and have creative mind, then art conservation would be the right career choice.

Courses that lead to a career in art conservation:

Different art institutions offer degree and even short term courses in arts conservation. For instance, the New Delhi based Institute of the History of Art Conservation offers PG degree and even short term courses on art conservation. Delhi based institute of Heritage Research and Management and Lucknow-based National Research and Laboratories of conservation and institutes run by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage also offer a number of short-term courses in conservation of arts. Even a number of museums and art galleries offer opportunities to budding professionals with on-job training.

Eligibility requirements for taking up art conservation courses:

To become a conservator a candidate must possess a sense of art and should have an interest towards art and should be able to understand and appreciate the particulars involved in a piece of art. For taking up PG course in art conservation, minimum graduation in fine arts is required.

Career in Art Conservation:

The field of art conservation was so far unexplored and nowadays with the growing awareness for conservation of art, professional conservators are in great demand these days. On completion of a course pertaining to art conservation, a candidate has an option to work either in government jobs or private museums or art galleries. Museums, houses, private galleries or individuals with wide collection of antiques also employ art conservation graduates. Most encouraging option for these professionals would be to work as free-lancers or they can be self-employed.

Government jobs in art conservation:

Government employs art conservation specialists for state-run institutions, art galleries and museums and some of the examples of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. The following government agencies are working under the art conservation field:

• Archeological Survey of India, New Delhi

• National Museum, New Delhi

• National Research Laboratory for the Conservation of Cultural Property in India, Lucknow

• National Archives of India

• Delhi Institute of Heritage Research and Management

• Indira Gandhi Centre for Art and Culture

• National Gallery of Modern Art

• Indian Museum, Kolkata

• Government Museum, Chennai

Recent government jobs:

Recently, the following government job opportunities aroused in the field of art conservation:

• Professor (Museology) – National Museum Institute of History of Art Conservation & Museology – New Delhi

In addition to the aforesaid job positions, candidates with art conservation degree or related courses can find job opportunities in the aforesaid government organizations as well.