A three-day international workshop has concluded at Lahore Fort on Wednesday. Its purpose was to assess and discuss the preservation work carried out on the Picture Wall. A prototype preservation was carried over a 45-feet high and 30-feet wide panel on the western segment of the Picture Wall by Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) involving the experts from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France and Sri Lanka.
This preservation process was started in 2016 and completed in December 2017. The workshop is a follow up on the prototype. Among the participants included Salman Beg, CEO AKCSP, Kamran Lashari, Director General Walled City of Lahore Authority, Cameron Rashti, Director Historic Cities Programme AKTC, Jurjen Vandertas, Director Partnerships and Development AKTC, Christopher Bouleau, Senior Conservation Officer AKTC, Didier Repellin, Inspector General Historic Monuments Lyon France, Werner Schmid, Conservator-Restorer of Architectural Surfaces Italy, and Udaya Hewawasam, Painting Conservator Sri Lanka.
During the workshop a brief introduction of future plans for Lahore Fort, including Picture Wall, was given and an overall presentation scheme for the Picture Wall with some details of the scientific aspects of conservation were explained.
The Picture wall is the world's largest picture wall which is 1,450 feet long and 50 feet high. It is a famous expanse of decorative glazed tile and wall painting. The Picture Wall reflects the highest standards of the 17th century Mughal period craftsmanship and is one of the key reasons for the inscription of the Lahore Fort as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), Government of Punjab, jointly held this workshop which brought together national and international expertise from various disciplines.