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New Delhi:
Weekly regional showcases, additional display spaces, digitised
state-of-the-art exhibitions, audiovisual guided tours and
initiatives to involve children... hoping to be counted as amongst
the best in the world, India's National Museum is getting ready
for a 100-day makeover.
"The repository has embarked on a rejuvenation programme to reach
out to the maximum number of people," the museum's administrator,
C.V. Ananda Bose, told IANS.
The revival package beginning Oct 25 will become part of the
activity roster of the 61-year-old museum after its completion.
The museum has 200,000 collectables, some of which have never been
seen.
"The objective is to improve facilities, exhibit the best of
regional art and culture, enhance the museum's aesthetics by
introducing architectural renovations and adopting changes in the
science of museology," Bose said.
"Many collectables have not yet seen the light of the day. They
are still in the store. We want to circulate the artefacts from
the store to the galleries so that viewers do not have to see the
same exhibits over and over again," he said.
Every museum is supposed to change and circulate collectables
periodically, he added.
The museum has drawn up a 25-point agenda to push its reforms over
the 100-day period, Bose said.
"The spotlights of the module are weekly exhibitions, networking
with other museums, organising workshops for children to involve
them in the activities of the museum, redoing the lobby and
implementing new scientific display technology," the administrator
said.
The museum has 27 galleries, of which seven are closed.
The museum administration will reopen three of the seven closed
galleries under the programme.
"While one gallery will be devoted to musical instruments, two
galleries will exhibit wood carvings. The management of
collectables, including acquisitions, will be controlled with the
aid of computers," Bose said.
Contemporary museology techniques stipulate that "collectables
should be displayed scientifically under controlled temperature
and minimum humidity", he said.
"We will try to ensure that artefacts are preserved in better
environs. Each exhibit requires special lighting, depending on its
nature, aesthetic value, age and condition. The illumination can
range from bright, dim to artificial LED lighting," Bose said.
The museum's calendar is full for the next three months.
"Soon after the Commonwealth Games, the museum will begin its
state-specific weeks. Every month, one state of India will be
represented for a week in a special expose comprising culture
soirees, art displays and discussions over a period of 100 days,"
he said.
The museum has acquired land in Noida, a satellite town of the
national capital, to build a new campus for its National Museum
Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology, Bose
said.
An ambitious project to put together a "cultural encyclopaedia of
India codifying 5,000 years of Indian culture is also in the
pipeline".
"We are networking with museums in the states to build the
database for the culture compendium. It will help researchers and
students," he said.
In January 2011, the National Museum will play host to a major
exhibition from China, curator Vijay Mathur said.
The repository was inaugurated Aug 15, 1949, by former governor
general of India C. Rajagopalachari.
(Madhusree Chatterjee
can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)
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