TARUN SARKAR

More than three years have passed since a prominent sculpture by renowned sculptor Novera Ahmed was damaged inside Bangladesh National Museum. But even though so much time has passed, perpetrators behind the incident are yet to be brought under law.

Protesting the government’s inaction, members of a conservation committee tasked with preserving Novera’s sculptures have kept their works suspended ever since.

Amid such a situation, voices of Novera’s admirers are getting louder, demanding immediate steps from the government to end the deadlock.

Considered one of the first modernist sculptors of the country, Novera Ahmed has 43 of her creations preserved at Bangladesh National Museum. Of them, 41 are quite old.

With an aim to conserve these sculptures, authorities of the museum formed a four-member conservation committee in 2015, with Prof Lala Rukh Selim of Dhaka University’s Department of Sculpture at the helm.

The same year, the committee got going with the project and completed works for 35 sculptures by 2018.

“The remaining six sculptures are quite large in size, with multiple cracks on them that developed over the years,” said committee member Nasimul Khabir, assistant professor of the department.

“We thought the cracks might intensify if we conduct the works under the open sky,” he said, adding that this is why they were taken to the museum’s conservation laboratory.

“Temperature must be kept at a certain level to work on sculptures like this. But one day in June, 2018, the air conditioner of the laboratory suddenly went out of order,” said Nasimul.

“Despite repeated requests, the museum authorities did not repair it, and we refused to work in the absence of air conditioners,” he informed.

A few months later, committee members went to the laboratory and found out one particular sculpture -- named Poribar -- was distorted and damaged, as someone or a group conducted unsanctioned conservation work on the important piece.

Previously known as “Cow and Two Figures”, the sculpture is a significant creation in the history of the country’s modernist sculpting, Nasimul said.

“We don’t know who did it. It was done without consent from the conservation committee, and we’ve decided to suspend our work ever since. We demand punishment of those involved, and we will not resume our work until this is done,” said committee head Lala Rukh.

“If the perpetrators are spared, they may damage more sculptures in this way,” she told The Daily Star recently.