The recent auction of seven heritage furniture pieces from Chandigarh, India, has sparked a heated debate about the protection of cultural heritage. These pieces, designed by the renowned architect Pierre Jeanneret, were sold for a combined total of approximately Rs 1.6 crore (around €160,938) at a Brussels auction house. The sale comes on the heels of a similar incident in Chicago, where a pair of heritage chairs and a set of four low stools were auctioned for over Rs 59 lakh. This raises important questions about the effectiveness of existing mechanisms in safeguarding India's cultural heritage from international markets.
The auction was conducted despite a prior warning from heritage activist Ajay Jagga, a member of Chandigarh's Heritage Protection Cell. Jagga had alerted the Union Ministries of External Affairs and Culture, as well as the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, about the impending sale. He expressed disappointment that the auction went ahead, questioning the actions taken by the concerned authorities after receiving prior information.
The furniture pieces were originally part of Chandigarh's Capitol Project and were distributed across various public institutions in the city. However, the auction house listed the provenance as 'administrative buildings,' which Jagga clarified included structures across Punjab, Haryana, Panjab University, PEC, the High Court, and PGIMER. This highlights the challenge of tracking the movement of heritage items once they are distributed to various institutions.
Jagga's concerns are not unfounded. He has been monitoring international auction platforms and has noticed a pattern of heritage furniture from Chandigarh disappearing from public institutions and appearing in international auction houses and private collections worldwide. This suggests a lack of effective preventive mechanisms to stop the 'loot' of India's cultural heritage.
The activist has called for a formal inquiry into the provenance and chain of custody of the auctioned items. He also wants a standing alert mechanism for Indian missions abroad to object to future sales and a declaration of Chandigarh's surviving Jeanneret-Le Corbusier furniture as 'Art Treasure' under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, to prevent further exports. These measures are crucial to safeguarding India's cultural heritage from being auctioned off internationally.
The sale in Brussels is a stark reminder of the ongoing challenge of protecting India's cultural heritage. It underscores the need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach involving government agencies, heritage experts, and local communities to prevent the loss of these invaluable artifacts.
