Restoration

Restoring the City:

Heritage Cell of Ahmedabad has been working on conservation projects for more than a decade. 

In 2005, Heritage Cell Ahmedabad in association with CEPT (School of Interior Design - Centre for Environmental Planing and Technology) and GICEA (Gujarat Institute of Civil Engineers and Architects) organized a symposium to share their unique experience of conservation and restoration of the traditional houses of the Walled City of Ahmedabad. This symposium brought together the architects, engineers and the people living in the Walled City.

House of Eminent Poet Shri Akha Bhagat Being Resored:(Before and After)

House of Ms.Binaben Bhrambhatt Being Restored: (Before and After)

Arts Reverie Being Restored: (Before and After)

Bird Feeder

Restoration of Heritage is not the only  form of Conservation:

The walled city of Ahmedabad is full of surprises. On one hand we see, beautifully carved pol buildings, gorgeous stone mosques, intricate designs of temples and shrines; on the other hand  small but beautiful bird feeders, wells, step wells etc. Chabutra are traditional structures erected to feed birds. Heritage Cell, Ahmadabad has restored many bird feeders in the city. One such example is of Karanj Chabutro. Believed to erected in nineteenth century, Karanj Chabutro near Bhadra Fort is an example of exquisite timber craftsmanship. AHC took up the work of restoring the Chabutro after extensive
research.

Karanj Chabutro: (Before and After)

    

The Story Continues...

Restoration can only be the beginning of the entire heritage conservation project. Heritage conservation can never stop at reconstruction. If it does not reach out to people, then the entire meaning is lost. Thus, Karanj Chabutro and its story does not stop there . In the year 2009, during the Heritage Festival, Various events took place around the Chabutra with the bird feeder as its motif presented by the City Heritage Collection.

Puppet Show:

 A special Puppet Show was also organized at the Karanj Chabutro by City Heritage Collection. The Puppet Show was performed by a renowned puppeteer Shri Mahipat Kavi depicting the story behind the Karanj Chabutro. This was a distictive show as it brought performative heritage and built Heritage together. As the entire performance took place at the site of the Chabutro itself, made it inimitable.

Painting Exhibition:

City Heritage Collection presented a painting exhibition of Chabutra by Shri Anil Shrimali. Later these paintings were used for the post card designs.

 

Book Release:

They also released a children's book depicting the story behind the Karanj Chabutro. It is a story of Bapalal Modi, who was inspired by a saint and was touched by the struggle of birds built a Chabutro at Karanj. Such bird feeders are also called Parabadi representing larger philosophical premise of a holistic living where birds are taken care of as part of the community.

Take those memories home:

Small souvenirs always add to the memories of the past. The City Heritage Collection came up with calenders and postcards using the motif of the bird feeder. Today, the meaning of souvenirs have changed with the commercialization of our feelings and the way we think. Such mementos are not the product of the forced modernization, but an effective way to convey the message of Heritage in a beautiful way. 

 

Ek Varso

Restoration and Art:

The house was known as house no: 3044 at Desai ni Pol, Ahmedabad. This house was resided by the Mehta Family since 1896. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation restored the house in late 1990s. This was one of the first restoration projects of AMC. Since 1996, the building is now being used by CHETNA, Centre for Health, Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness. Interestingly, Shri Vijay Shrimali and later many other artists have tried to put this image of the house on canvas. This is where a new era of restoration and putting the walled city on canvas started for Ahmedabad. Since then, many painting exhibitions with the motif of Ahmedabad have taken place over the period of time and especially during the heritage week. Such art exercises are not only for the sake of art, but to revive the colours of the beautiful old city. Inspired from the painting, the city heritage collection introduced a beautifully crafted copper memento. Such initiatives reached out to a larger audience, contributing greatly in the heritage revival process.    

Artist and the City:

The City becomes a habit. The urban living made the city too familiar to notice anything extraordinary about it. People passed by the beautiful heritage buildings everyday in a hurry to reach their offices or schools without noticing them. Thus, people also lost their sense of belonging and their pride in their own city. Thus, it was necessary to renew citizens appreciation through creative eyes. Ahmedabad is a city of a vibrant artist community. Local and international photographers have captured the city. During the World Heritage Festival 2003, the AMC invited painters to capture the city as they see it. 

 

 

 

 

   

                             

 

 

Artists' Impressions: 

In this festival for the first time thirty one artists came together to paint the city. Amit Ambalal Shah, Anant Mehta, Apurva Desai, Arvind Patel, Ashvin Chauhan, Avinash Thaker, Bansi Khatri,Bharat Panchal, Bharat Patni, Bharat Vitalia, Bhavarsinh Pawar, Gajendra Shah, Gayatri Trivedi, Gita Pitroda, Haku Shah, Hindol Bhrambhatt, Jayesh Shukla, Jitu Oghani, Kanti Soni, Kumar Chauhan, Mahendra Parmar, Makarand Vania, Manhar Kapadiya, Milan Desai, Nabibaksh Mansoori, Nayu Mistri, Natu Parikh, Nikita Parikh, Shefali Nayan, VinodPatel and Vrindavan Solanki captured the city as they saw it. 

Sketching the Gates:

In 2009, Catharsis Gallery organized an exhibition on the gates of Ahmedabad sketched by Shri Natu Mistri. These sketches were in black and white. 

Various Other Art Projects:

Many Such programmes and exhibitions have taken place. In 2007, an artists' walk, workshop and exhibition on the paintings of the walled city of Ahmedabad was coordinated by Shri Arvind Vakani in 2007. In the same year a discussion on "Role of Art in Conservation" was being held at the House of MG by Theatre and Media Centre. The old city of Ahmedabad also attracted many photographers. Photographers have tried to capture the mystery of the heritage on the frames. In 2007, one such photography exhibition on the Havelis of Ahmedabad happened at the Green House. Shri T. S. Radhawa and other photographers exhibited their photographs.






 

Paintings Influenced from the Folk Stories of Ahmedabad:

In 2010, Bhairavi Modi exhibited paintings influenced from various folk stories of Ahmedabad.