WCLA starts conservation of Picture Wall of Lahore Fort

LAHORE

Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) in partnership with Aga Khan Trust for Culture has started conservation of some parts of the Picture Wall inside Lahore Fort to revive lost beauty of the historical monument. 

Established as the world’s largest mural, the 1450’x50’ Picture Wall was exquisitely decorated with glazed tile and faience mosaics, embellished brickwork, filigree work and frescos during the Mughal Period in the reign of Jahangir in 1624 AD and completed under Shah Jahan’s reign in 1632 AD. 

The WCLA officials said each individual mosaic gives an insight into the life and entertainment in the royal courts, such as battles scenes, royal portraits, mythical creatures, dance and music and geometric patterns; these unique elements became the principal reason for the Lahore Fort being declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1981.

Tanya Qureshi, a Walled City of Lahore Authority official, said the objectives of Picture Wall Prototype (PWP) Project are to work out a strategy for conservation of the entire Picture Wall.

She said prototypical interventions were made during the earlier months with the aim of defining a satisfactory course for the completion of the conservation work.

Foreign experts on conservation have also been involved and taken on board for this project, she added and claimed that this Project was initiated in November 2016 while earlier in September 2015, AKCSP began the documentation of the Picture Wall with financial support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and facilitated by WCLA.

She revealed that the first phase of the project involves the complete documentation of the 350’x50’ western section of the Picture Wall. Thus far, the architectural documentation of the facade using Electronic Distance Measurement devices has been completed and high resolution rectified photography is in progress, she said and revealed that the site has also been recorded as part of a demonstration for 3D laser scanning, which will be used extensively in future phases of documentation.

WCLA Director General Kamran Lashari said that this will be another unique project by the Walled City of Lahore Authority. “I am grateful to Aga Khan Trust for Culture for this partnership and taking keen interest in the heritage of Walled City Lahore. This Picture Wall is the world’s largest mural and tile mosaic wall which was built in the Mughal Era. This is the real beauty of Lahore Fort and unfortunately it was neglected. I am hopeful that with this conservation project we will be able to save the fading away colors of the wall,” he concluded.

Rashid Makhdum, (Consultant /Senior Architect Aga Khan Trust for Culture), said that this prototype project will enable us to check out the results of the conservation, which we aim to match with the international standards. This is a very delicate and a serious task as it is a world heritage site, he added.

“Extensive documentation of the monument was carried out by a small technical team from the AKCS-P.

Using laser electronic measurement and photo-ortho rectification technologies, an accurate highly detailed scaled record was created, depicting the walls present condition,” he revealed.

This documentation was done according to high standards of precision, in compliance with the relevant international legal and technical requirements. Now after all these studies we are moving forward with the conservation, he added. 

WCLA Director Conservation Najam Saqib said: “This is a mega task taken up by our organisation and we aim to complete it by the end of 2017. AKTC is playing an important role in this project with providing us all the technical documentation and experts from abroad.”

“The Picture Wall had never been taken into consideration for conservation previously but now we will soon be conserving it for the generations to come,” he stated.

It will be a good tourist spot inside Lahore Fort and the beginning point of any guided tour, he claimed and concluded that this 1450’x50’ Picture Wall is the world heritage site and all the conservation techniques involved in its conservation will meet the international standards.