By Raju Mansukhani
Mediated by technology, the trajectory of how a museum is holistically experienced is becoming more layered and inclusive with emphasis on immersion of all senses beyond just the visual; Ministry of Culture scores high with several pioneering publications released during the International Museum Expo 2023 held in New Delhi
Did we know that in 1936 there were 105 museums in the country? Today, there are almost 1200 museums across the states; in the last two decades alone there have been 383 museums established, thanks to the interventions of the Ministry of Culture’s schemes for the development of museums.
A new Directory of Museums in India was released during the recently-held International Museum Expo 2023 in New Delhi organized by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is a treasure trove of facts, figures and personalities who have given their best for India’s museums.
Said Mugdha Sinha, joint secretary, museum section, ministry of culture, “the International Council of Museums or ICOM theme for this year – ‘Museums, Sustainability and Well-Being’ – is a bang on solution and future oriented. In a country with close to 1200 museums, it is indeed heartening that as part of the Museum Expo 2023, we are bringing out this Directory as a first step towards introducing the other ‘D’ of Data Analytics and evidence-based policy making in the domain of Museums.”
This much-needed Directory, painstakingly and professionally compiled by the National Museum Institute, will serve as a useful resource for all museums, museum professionals, academic and cultural institutions, researchers and even museum-goers from India and abroad, to access experience and connect with the large number of museums in the country to establish institutional linkages and to undertake collaborative ventures.
What Mugdha Sinha also pointed out was equally significant: “Changing audience profile, visitor expectation, and the emergence of new age mixed media and artificial intelligence driven technologies has shifted the gaze from the artefact being as its centre, to the audience and its allied concentric circle of engagement through museum programming, publications, merchandising and gastronomy, that allows museums to emerge as cultural spaces with enhanced footfalls, repeat visits and prolonged stay.”
Mediated by technology, the trajectory of how a museum is holistically experienced is becoming more layered and inclusive with emphasis on immersion of all senses beyond just the visual. “In India as land of smriti, our ancient Indian traditions have been kept alive through story-telling and oral transmissions, where the intangible memory or remembering takes precedence over material evidence,” she said.
Vice-chancellor of National Museum Institute and joint secretary (G20) Lily Pandeya underscored the importance of living heritage. She said, “Living heritage, that encompasses traditional knowledge systems and cultural practices, can help achieve environmental sustainability as well as improve economic well-being. The Culture Working Group under India’s G20 Presidency aims to mobilise the support of member states in promoting traditional knowledge systems and cultural practices by leveraging existing initiatives of members and mainstreaming living heritage in policy frameworks.” It is certainly pushing the envelope and bringing living heritage onto centre-stage like never before.
The Directory traces the history of documenting the museums, and pays its tributes to the doyens who made the huge task of compilation. Prof Manvi Seth head of department of museology at National Museum Institute and Dr Juhi Sadiya, assistant professor, helmed the project.
In the preface, they stated, “Since the establishment of the Indian Museum in Kolkata, in 1814, the first museum of India, several museums have closed and many new ones have been set up. The first directory of Indian Museums was published in 1911. The 1911 directory of Indian museums contained a detailed report on each of the then existing 39 museums. The next detailed survey of museums of India conducted by S.F. Markham and H. Hargreaves in 1936 enlisted a total of 105 museums in India.”
In the post-Independence era it was the legendary C. Sivaramamurthi who worked on the Directory and accounted for 174 Museums in 1959. “The third directory was published by Mrs. Usha Agrawal for the first time in 2000 and later updated in 2003, 2009 and the last one in 2013. In her first edition the number of museums she mentioned was 602, the updated figure was 657 in 2003, 746 in 2009 and 833 museums in 2013. In the present edition of 2023, 1176 museums are documented,” noted the preface.
The Pictorial Bibliography of Museums, Graphic Novel: A Day at the Museum and the Handbook on Conservation were noteworthy publications released at the Expo. The panel discussions, through the days, detailed ideas and concepts driving museums today in India and globally.
‘Curating for everyone’ on 19th May 2023 brought together a spectrum of curators, trustees and culture experts who shared their experiences. Said Tarun Thukral of Heritage Transport Museum, Taoru Gurgaon, “”What started as a personal collection of vintage cars in 1994 has now, since 2013, become a comprehensive transport museum located off the national highway in Gurgaon. It has been driven by a personal passion. Our challenge is to bring in more visitors, engage and entertain them at the museum. And this includes school-children, tourists, and corporates – very diverse audiences. After the pandemic, we are working harder to bring back the visitors to the Museum, create those experiences which will excite and engage them. It is about ‘atithi devo bhava’; our visitors are special. Our collections have grown from transportation to contemporary art, we have much to share.”
At the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, it is the mega-city which enthralls visitors. Curator Ruta Waghmare Baptista said, “We are a city museum and it is the story of Mumbai that is narrated with different artefacts.” Few would be aware that he Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum first opened to the public in 1857 and is Mumbai’s oldest Museum. It is the erstwhile Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay. The Museum building is one of the most important historical sites of the city. It had its share of ups and downs but since 2008, the new Museum is a tribute to the mega-city and the brilliant collection it houses. “UNESCO bestowed its prestigious Asia Pacific Award for culture heritage conservation to our Museum. It was a fine recognition of the conservation and transformation effected by the professional teams led by our Director, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta,” she said.
Dr Anna Katalin Aklan, of Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts in Budapest revealed that “Among the different collections we possess, the India Collection is specially prized. The garden at our Museum has a distinct Oriental environment, with several sculptures: There is Mahatma Gandhi and the Jain Tirthankaras in our midst. We have several objects dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization. We are encouraging serious research on the Asiatic Arts, with a special emphasis on India.” Ferenc Hopp was a 19th century world traveller, art collector and patron, whose 4000 artefacts were the basis for the museum dedicated to him. Dr Anna spoke about their reference library, the only one in the country that specialises in Asian art, as well as the only documentation department.
It was Dr Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, trustee of The City Palace Museum, Udaipur who referred to the iconic museum as a “living institution. We are preserving the legacies of our House of Mewar, the State of Udaipur-Mewar and the history of Rajasthan through the Museum. Change is what challenges us and we continue to do our best to keep abreast of changes at all levels.”
Thanking the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture for the Museum Expo that made possible the 3-day event, Dr Lakshyaraj said, “It is a great opportunity and signifies the change we want to see in our museums. One issue is clear: Museums cannot be boring! For school-going students, young adults and millennials, Museums must be interactive, engaging. They must take back something from the experience at the museum. Our young nation and its citizens must ‘grow’ and not just go through life. As they engage with, and learn to respect traditions, the respect for their language, their mother-tongue is paramount. One of the building blocks of our culture is our language, we must nurture and nourish it,” he stated.
Dr Gauri Parimoo Krishnan, independent curator working in Singapore and New Delhi, shared her experiences as a curator utilising her specialisation in art history and with the recently-opened Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya where she was the curator. “Sangrahalaya has used digital technology to bring contemporary Indian history closer to every visitor. Challenges for curation are continuous, the museum has to engage with different audiences, ensuring they are involved with the museum offerings.” She felt the thrust on museums and modernization is opening new opportunities for young scholars, researchers and curators, with potential for growth.
Drawing upon decades of experience in leading education, development and cultural collaboration programmes in India for British Council, Debanjan Chakrabarti, director East and Northeast India, said “Be it the G20 Working Groups, IndiaUK Together, there have been 51 partnerships between our two nations to drive the creative economy. I could mention the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai as a museum project which defines our collaboration.” He shared his learnings on the culture industry which is often shaping the economic policies of developed countries like UK. Besides being inclusive, sustainable, and creative, the culture industry has great potential in India, with its large workforce and new horizons for women participation.
“We are bringing art to the people,” declared Smriti Rajgarhia, director of Serendipity Arts Foundation, New Delhi. “Through the annual Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa we are redefining community ownership in the domain of the arts. I am happy to share that during the latest Festival in 2022, footfalls crossed 500,000 in nine days. Clearly people are giving time to the arts,” she said, whether it is school-children, young professionals, art students and scholars or the artists’ fraternity, Serendipity had something for everyone and every age-group. The festival in Goa is spread across different venues in Panjim, with old government offices, public gardens ‘converted’ into art galleries and cultural spaces.
“History and historical culture are everywhere, we are making a difference with the Science Gallery in Bengaluru,” said Jahnavi Phalkey of Science Gallery, Bengaluru, adding, “Bringing cultural experiences around science is a major challenge for us. I wish to question that are we doing enough? We need to outline the vision for museums and cultural spaces in the public domain. What do we want to accomplish? And achieve through our efforts? Moreover, we will have to consider the role of culture spaces in the future.”
Elizaveta Likhacheva, curator of Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow said, “”More visitors to the Museum is the biggest challenge. Though we are always motivated by the Louvre in Paris which attracts over 8 million; for us, one million would be big! The new technologies, artificial intelligence, and the need to reach out to the youth are the goals we are setting ourselves. It is a new experience for all of us too!” Certainly, the new-ness of the Museum Expo and its bewildering range of exhibitors, installations, interactive spaces is worthy of applause and emulation.
The author is a researcher-writer on history and heritage issues; a former deputy curator of Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya.
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