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’If any art of any nation is on the verge of extinction. Then that is the moral responsibility of the artists to play a vital role in order to halt the recession of that respective art, without concerning pessimistic approach of system’’ says young artist and fine art conservator Abdul Lateef Usta. Mr. Usta is considered to be a great artist of Usta dynasty and skilled fine art conservator. He is well known figure of Bikaner-Rajasthan-India and his involvement as an artist, art conservator, art analyst and educationist has been commendable.

Mr. Abdul Lateef Usta, not only, has kept alive the Usta art, but also managed it confirming to the urgency of the time and also introduced various fine arts in a new aspect. Right now, the decline of fine arts, cultural heritage-property is the confronting concern for him. He is now serving many organisations with his expertise and immense knowledge. Mr. Usta was born in 26th August 1978, in Usta family of Bikaner. Since his childhood he has been serving arts of his region. He has been very keen to conserve, preserve & restore the cultural heritage and the assets of historical & cultural significance. Along with his studies, he learnt Usta art and various traditional fine art conservation techniques from his father Mr. Abdul Shakoor Usta, who has been an Indian miniaturist and art conservator as well. As a child Mr. Abdul Lateef Usta often accompanied him to his small art studio cum conservation studio where he used to conserve and preserve the art objects i.e. paintings, manuscripts and documents. He spent hours watching him work and this training & knowledge enabled him to work towards fine art conservation and also to participate in many art exhibitions. Throughout his school-life, he had been heavily involved in art exhibitions and craft production. He got excellent opportunities to develop group cohesiveness, team management and leadership qualities. He also started to take part in restoration and art creation activities. To a great extent, he succeeded in stimulating the artistic appreciation of viewers and critics. In 1992, he was the key member of artisans’ group who dealt the gold- embossing work in shrine of the Sufi saint Gharib Navaj (R) of Ajmer, Rajasthan. Due to his work, skills and services to art-heritage promotion and involvement, he was selected for a fellowship of ‘’Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, New Delhi, India’’, from 1993- 1998. During this time he used to beautify and glorify Usta art and the Indian miniature painting style by using various conventional, modern as well as innovative techniques. At the same time he carried out fresco restoration-conservation in various ancient monuments of historical significance i.e. Heritage hotels, shrines, temples.

As an active member of the various educational groups he has worked with teams of people to organise art events, personality development camps and career guidance camps. Currently he is moderator and group leader of the 4 career group, Bikaner, Rajasthan with responsibility for allocating tasks, presentations and reports to the group members. This volunteer job has provided an opportunity to prove himself to be responsible and trustworthy. After graduation in science (Bachelor of Science), he continued with his mission and from 1998 to 2002, he had a pleasure to work; as a freelancer fine art conservator, in Junagarh fort of Bikaner, Whilst there he learnt and innovate various art conservation techniques. Along with work in Junagarh fort, he served his services at many ancient temples and shrines. During this time, he also organised events such as exhibitions, seminars and workshops (Botanical pigments, Fine art management, Impact of globalisation on Traditional Arts) in his region. Mr. Usta has also set up a training centre in order to train youngsters without charging any fees. The training process includes: Various art conservation techniques, Natural pigment making techniques, Indian miniature painting making process, and Usta art work. His work and experiences with art & heritage conservation and promotion led him to get the fellowship of Ford Foundation. In 2004, he was selected by the International Ford Foundation Fellowship Programme, New York, USA, in order to carry out his post graduation in Fine art conservation. He has pursued Master degree in fine art conservation from University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. His education at University of Northumbria significantly helped him to develop key skills regarding art conservation. During this time, Mr. Usta also learnt various aspects of European arts as well. As a part of his academic career, he carried out two conservation placements following his first year study at University. He went to the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland and the [Victorian and Albert Museum], London for these placements. The placement in [the Chester Beatty Library] focused on the treatment of the manuscripts from the library’s Mughal miniature collection. He had the great pleasure to work on highly important royal manuscripts produced for the Mughal Emperors i.e. Akbar, Jahangir and ShahJahan. In V. & A. London, he worked on the Indian miniatures and Jain Kalpsutras. His services as an artist, art conservator, art analyst and educationist are unoblivion. His simple living and high thinking prompted him not to race for any art –competitions in order to get awards. Despite this fact, he has adorned appreciations from art-critics and art-lovers. The work of Mr. Usta was very much appreciated by many organisations i.e. the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland. He is currently initiating art-heritage management in Bikaner. Along with that art exhibitions are on fingers in order to raise money for the disadvantaged students and traditional artists. He is looking forward to these challenging opportunities as it will be an unforgettable experience for him and he would have the chance to serve art, heritage and last but not least, deprived people. He is very much enthusiastic to portray his everlasting art and love to culture & heritage in national as well as international arena.

Intekhab Aalam

59.95.168.153 07:53, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

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