THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Museum, Delhi, is all set to launch a series of people's museums across the state, taking museum activities out of the limits of the highly secure space into the midst of people. These people's museums will have authenticated replicas of the artefacts at the National Museum and in addition can borrow originals periodically provided there is enough security."Internationally, the concept regarding the museum activities is changing. According to new museology, museums can no longer be an abode of dead artefacts but ought to be a vibrant hub of knowledge generation. Artefacts are only stepping stones to knowledge generation," said National Museum administrator C V Ananda Bose, who was in the city on a short visit.The mini museums will be set up in various parts of the state at the initiative of the grama panchayats, schools, colleges, NGOs, women's organisations and even communities. "We are trying to take the museum experience to the villages. The National Museum has a vast collection of traditional Indian paintings, be it the Mughal, Kishanghat, Palas or the company paintings, which numbers to almost 18,000. While we can give them authenticated replicas, we also expect the local community to contribute local antiques and ancient items to the museum such as the 'murukkan chellam' and the 'villuvandi', which are a part of the heritage of the community," said Ananda Bose.The people's museums are conceived in such a way as to make it a hub of cultural activities, with the performance of various dance and art forms as well as demonstrations of painting and sculpture."We intend to connect these museums by Internet so that it can be seen all over the country. Several states such as Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan have already taken the initiatives to make this programme a success," he said.The pilot project in the state at St Ephrem School in Mannanam, near Kottayam, is nearing completion and will have a formal opening this month. A second one focusing on biodiversity is soon to be set up at Sacred Heart College, Thevara, which is reputed for its Botany and Zoology departments as well as a good life science museum.As the first step towards setting up people's museums, an expert team will visit the site and teachers and other volunteers will be trained in museology by the National Museum, Delhi, so as to make it appealing for the younger generation. Soon, with a barrier-free museum viewing and a lot of cultural activities, arts and science is going to share a wonderful space in the state.
Comments
0 comment