When was the last time you went to a museum? If you can’t recall, this NGO’s project will help refresh your memory and revitalise the idea in your head
Swords, guns, king’s outfits, utensils, palanquins, artefacts, lamps, artworks… and life itself. Museums are much more than storerooms of strange and fascinating objects from a bygone era, preserved and labelled in glass cases with ‘Do Not Touch’ signs on them. They’re repositories of a way of life, showcasing a history and continuum that has brought us where we are today — whether sociologically or culturally. So why is that most of us rush to visit museums in other countries, but haven’t gone to one in our immediate vicinity since our school days, or without our children and grandchildren? Bengaluru NGO ReReeti, which hopes to transform Indian museums into spaces of learning, delight and meaningful engagement for Indian and overseas visitors, is attempting to answer that very question with a project called ‘Object of my Affection’.
In an effort to contemporarise the museum experience and re-introduce its value to a young audience, ‘Object of my Affection’ invites people to contemplate the value of objects in their home and imagine them in a museum 60 years from now. After all, “citizens get a sense of their ethnological ancestry, their nation’s cultural, scientific, historical, and technological progress through the materials on display at museums,” says Tejshvi Jain, Founding-Director of ReReeti. If you admire an object for its design, functionality or aesthetic appeal, and think it is precious today and may not be in use say 60 years from now, take a picture and upload it to Twitter or email them. Tell them when was the last time you visited a museum and why this object is museum-worthy or valuable to you. Through the exercise, which commences today and will go on for a month, ReReeti hopes to spark a thought process about the purpose of museums and help people look at them anew — as spaces that tell a narrative of a way of life.
More than objects
SK Aruni, City Director of Indian Council of Historical Research Bangalore, believes the time is ripe for such an initiative. Ruing that the revival of museums is not taken seriously, he says, “Each object has its own history, its own growth. But a museum needs to go beyond just labelling and displaying these items,” he believes. That could be done via cultural entertainment, “to show how life was lived at the time” and interactive displays or stories of the way art developed from ancient to modern times, “in art galleries”, he believes.
Great ideas, but not always successfully implemented. DK Chowda, General Secretary, Chitrakala Parishat says, “We have some of the best collections in the world including works by Bengal artistes and folk artistes, leather puppets and Mysore traditional paintings, among others.” He admits there is a need to attract newer audiences by making this a more lively space — by way of storytelling sessions around paintings, audio and visual aids, and a focus on promoting art and culture. “But we need funding and space,” is his refrain. Simple changes — like making the third floor “easier to reach”, and employing guides who can take people through the rich tapestries of the Mysore paintings (“Where did this style start? How did it emerge? What are the myths?”) are his suggestions, and hopes for the art school and museum.
Jain agrees. “Museums are perceived as dull, boring spaces,” she says. But that can be changed, if they work to fulfil people’s needs. She cites the examples of sleepovers in some US museums.
And in the UK, museums such as Tate and Victor and Albert Museum are, every so often kept open till late in the evening, and the look is changed, complete with disco lights and bars. “That attracts youngsters. Architecture students create theme-based activities — like games related to the architecture of the museum.” In Scotland, she recalls a Christmas-themed day at a museum when adults stood in a huge line, excited to make small badges with selfies on it. “In that process, they end up visiting the museum,” she says.
Have activities
It’s a philosophy KG Kumar, Director, Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, has been trying to further ever since his return to the institution two years ago. Proudly citing a figure of 10 lakh visitors per year “highest in the science council of museums”, he talks about the various initiatives he has undertaken to make the museum a more interactive space. These include storytelling around exhibits like the spinosaurus, attended by 700 children over two days, multimedia projections, the use of miniature props that add to the storytelling sessions, and the Wright Brothers Flight Simulator that replicated the first flight in 1903, complete with controls.
“Next, I’ll have an exhibition on natural disasters and how to prevent them, a science show using dry ice, an interactive exhibit around the meaning of DNA…” The list is long.
Outreach programmes, he stresses, are necessary to attract audiences. From activity corners to demonstrate small processes in the biotechnology lab to an innovation festival where the public is invited to demonstrate their ingenious daily innovations, Kumar is making an effort to generate interest in museums. “You’ll see a king’s or a Nizam’s outfit on display, with a boring label next to it. Why not create a story around it? When did he wear it and why?” he asks. At the National Gallery of Modern Art, where he is the “borrowed” Director, he is making similar attempts with new exhibitions, summer workshops, family quizzes, gallery walks and auditorium programmes. “There are original paintings, which immediately relate to history, and contain stories of the times they were created — say Partition. We need to tell those stories in a more engaging fashion.”
We can almost see Jain nod. “Museums are holders of tradition and history. Once you make them personal enough, make a connection and make it contemporary, people will see that.” With Object of my Affection, she hopes people start with themselves. “What would you want to preserve for your next generation,” she asks. How can you be proud of your city, your time and your history? “People take selfies every now and then. So we’re connecting it to what is around them with this project,” she says. All of which will finally culminate in an exhibition of things that are important to Bengaluru. There you have it — your very own museum of memories. Not so boring anymore, right?
Object of my Affection: Choose any object from your home: spoon, hair brush, cushion cover, cooking utensil, graphic novel, lamp, whatever strikes your fancy you would want to preserve for the next generation. Click a photo, upload the photo and type ‘Object of my Affection: xyz, tag @ReReeti, use the hashtags #ReReeti #museumworthy and post your tweet. Or email: ReReeti13@gmail.com. All photo submissions will be added to their Flickr account.
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