French Institute of Pondicherry Puts Collection Preservation, Indian Partnerships at Centre

‘IFP’s priorities at the moment are built around preservation of our collections’

The French Institute of Pondicherry is using its 70th-anniversary celebrations to set out a future centred on preserving its collections and creating interdisciplinary programmes with Indian institutions.

The institute is organising a series of programmes from October 22 to 28 under the theme ‘70 Years of Shared Knowledge’. The week-long celebrations include an exhibition, a book launch, a documentary screening and public discussions.

The programmes present the institute’s work across Indology, ecology, social sciences and geomatics. They also place its research legacy alongside its plans for preservation, collaboration and public access.

A research legacy rooted in Shaivism

Reflecting on the institute’s contribution to understanding the region and its people, Director Renaud Colson traced its work to the study of the Shaiva Agamas and Shaivism. He said identifying one single contribution was difficult, but that the institute’s work had begun with “a profound investigation of the Shaiva Agamas and Shaivism”.

The subject was of particular interest to Jean Filliozat, the founder of the institute. According to Colson, that investigation has continued to the present.

The institute’s Indology Department works on palm leaf manuscripts, which form part of a collection acknowledged by UNESCO. The department also has strong collaborations with Indian institutions.

The institute’s research extends beyond textual and cultural studies. Its ecology department has conducted long-lasting research on South Indian forests.

Together, these areas reflect the range of the institute’s work across Indology, ecology, social sciences and geomatics. Each department has its own research agenda, but the institute also undertakes interdisciplinary projects.

A long relationship with local institutions

Colson said the relationship between the institute’s directors, the French institution and local institutions had always been very good. However, he noted that no history had been written on this relationship.

He identified the absence of such a history as one of the institute’s challenges. In his view, a historian could examine the post-colonial relationship between France and India, as well as between France and Tamil Nadu.

Colson said such work would be valuable because it could study the history of the institutions themselves. He described the broader relations as very good and said the institute benefited from the support of the Puducherry government.

That support was visible during the 70th-anniversary programme. The institute’s strong connection with the Puducherry government made it possible to host thousands of students and tell them about this history.

The programme also aimed to inspire scientific careers and promote French collaborations. The anniversary therefore offers the institute an opportunity to present its institutional history while engaging students with its research and international links.

Research across disciplines

The institute’s departments work independently on their own research agendas, but they also come together on questions that require more than one area of expertise. Colson cited research on the evolution of biodiversity and the energy transition in India as examples.

Such work can combine social sciences, ecology and the geomatics department. The collaboration brings together research on society, the environment and the use of geomatics in examining change.

The institute’s environmental research is also connected to the wider questions facing Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Colson said Tamil Nadu was witnessing double-digit growth, which he described as good news for South India and India in general.

He said economic growth could help diminish inequalities and bring wealth and welfare to people. At the same time, he said ecological challenges were clearly present.

Climate change, he added, could lead in the future to a real catastrophe, not only in India but worldwide. He said science and academics had a role in helping policymakers anticipate what was coming.

Preserving collections and fighting antiquities trafficking

Over 70 years, the institute has gathered important scientific collections. It also has a significant photo collection.

The photo collection has become part of the institute’s work with international and Indian police departments. Colson said the institute was part of a network of institutions fighting the trafficking of antiquities.

He referred to the restitution of a dancing Shiva idol from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington to the Indian government. According to Colson, the restitution was made possible by the competence of staff working at the photo collection.

The example shows how the institute’s collections have relevance beyond academic research. Its photographs and related expertise can also support efforts to identify antiquities and address their trafficking.

Preservation has become a central concern for the institute. Colson said it had developed strong expertise in preservation and had modernised both the photo collection and the palm leaf collection in the last few years.

The collections are being maintained in a very protected environment. Colson said the challenge at this point was to protect, save and maintain what the institute had in order to construct the future with the younger generation.

A public role in a fast-changing information environment

For the next decade, the institute’s priorities are built around the preservation of its collections and the creation of interdisciplinary programmes. These programmes are planned both within the institute and with Indian institutions.

The collaborative and interdisciplinary projects are focused particularly on the environment in an Indian context. This focus connects the institute’s research structure with the environmental questions raised by economic growth and climate change.

Colson also described IFP as an open institution whose public was always welcome. He said access to information was changing very fast in the era of social media.

In that setting, he said the institute’s aim was to maintain and provide access to high-quality scientific information. He linked that aim to the need to ensure that news and poor-quality information did not occupy the whole space.

Colson said he believed IFP was doing the same kind of work that The Hindu was doing. For the institute, public engagement therefore involves not only opening its doors, but also preserving collections and making reliable scientific information accessible.

Source: The Hindu