Chandigarh: Chairs designed by Le Corbusier were stolen from the Government College of Arts, Sector 10, in January 2016, which were recovered a few days later. These chairs are lying in the Sector 3 police station, while the college administration has made no effort to get them back. Recently, the UT administration raised the issue of smuggling and illegal sale or auction of the city’s heritage furniture before the French delegation and both decided to form a joint action committee. According to art collectors, each chair can cost Rs 5 to 10 lakh in the international market. Smuggled heritage items, especially furniture designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, have sold for lakhs of rupees in auctions abroad in the last few years. On the night of January 18, 2016, 15 sofa chairs and a table were stolen from the store room of the college. Fifteen days after the incident, 10 chairs were recovered and two thieves were arrested. A few days later, the remaining five chairs were also recovered.
“The stolen furniture is with us. The college administration only has to approach the local court to get it back. But so far we have not received any such request from the college administration,” the police official said. Commenting on the issue, Director Higher Education (UT) Rubinderjit Brar said that since the matter has now come to his notice, appropriate action will be taken and responsibility will be fixed. College principal Alka Jain was not available to speak on the matter. Advocate Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Items Protection Cell of the Chandigarh Administration, who has been advocating for the preservation of the city’s heritage, said a standard operating procedure (SOP) should be adopted to deal with such issues. “It is sad to know that while we are working hard to preserve our heritage and taking up the issue with the central government and foreign counterparts, the stolen heritage furniture items are not being taken back by the institution they own.”
