CHANDIGARH, April 27: The lecture at the Alliance Francaise this evening was extraordinary, not because of any calibrated presence but for the focus: the preservation of Qila Mubarak. And it came not from any highbrows of art here but from a young French scholar who has embraced Sikhism and changed her name from Anne-Colombe Launois to Sat Kaur Sukanda. She is here on a scholarship from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ICCR in India.Calling Patiala's Qila Mubarak as a "refuge of the arts", Sat Kaur has taken up the iconography and style of the wall paintings in the Qila as her topic for the PhD. She was alarmed by the sight of the workers scraping off the magnificent mural paintings under the golden plates, during the restoration work at the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar. "When I saw that voluntary destruction of the Punjabi heritage, I felt an urge within me to do something for its preservation."So she began her research and prepared good photographic documentation, a portion of which was shown to the audience through slides. "There is utter state of disrepair at the Qila." Which was evident in the fast-peeling off wall paintings which had been a visual treat at the Rani Was and other areas of the Qila. Some of the paintings are beyond recognition. Sat Kaur could bring out the intricacy of the elaborate craftsmanship that had gone into the Qila, prodding the audience to dwell on their longevity. For as Preneet Kaur, the Maharani of Patiala, pointed out, "We are not that much culture-conscious in Punjab." Hence the need for a French Sikh woman to highlight the need.
