Unlike a treatise or a verbal narrative, a museum offers a lively feeling of how people lived and enjoyed life, suffered, fought and interacted in the past. Procuring, preserving, maintaining and showcasing the exhibits of the bygone era in a presentable manner takes enormous efforts.
Besides identifying the vestiges of value, a museum curator applies research aptitude and discretion in arranging the themes and objects of abiding value that bring out understandable patterns of a culture. Far from being an upbeat job, it entails pains behind the curtain. No wonder, curatorship is not the profession of choice of people who seek glamour and hefty pay packages.
The concept of museums as a vibrant modality to conserve mankind’s heritage assumes recognition of culture in its ulterior interests. We often tend to undermine the long tradition behind our present day structures, whether social, cultural or technological. The past provides critical inputs on how best to proceed further; as American novelist, Nanette L Avery, said, “To preserve the past is to save the future.”
By offering a glimpse into the ethos of other cultures, museum collections subtly reinforce the commonality of human instincts and aspirations, serve as a bridge to indigenous populations and foster peace and harmony in society.
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has been observing International Museum Day on May 18 since 1977 to provide a platform for museum professionals to interact with the public and educate them about the challenges that museums face. This year’s theme is ‘Museums and contested histories: saying the unspeakable in museums.’
This theme underscores to sense the “unspeakable in museums” and envisages museums to play a proactive role in addressing traumatic histories through mediation and multiplicities of views for better understanding of one another. Last year, the event drew representatives from 35,000 museums from 145 countries. The celebrations are held in partnership with the European Night of Museums and the European Museum of the Year Award.
Beyond treating a museum as a microcosm of a civilisation, the ICOM defines a museum as an institution “in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.” It also works to curb illicit trafficking of artifacts and assists museums in emergency situations.
Abode of memories
Some museums are specialised ones, like the Van Gough Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, lets the visitor delve into the memories of the great wars deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness of the country. There are others that highlight the feats of chivalry as well. The Museum of Broken Relationships in Croatia depicts objects connected to legendary romances.
In India, the frequently visited museum sites include: the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai; the Indian Museum, Calcutta; National Museum, Museum of Natural History, Rail Museum, Nehru Museum and Planetarium in Delhi; The Prince of Wales Museum, Jehangir Art Gallery, INS Vikrant in Mumbai; Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad; Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedabad.
Bengaluru itself has many museums — Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, The Hermitage Centre and Aerospace Museum, Cauvery Handicrafts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Venkatappa Art Gallery and Government Museum, Girias Children’s Explorium, Karnataka Folk Museum, and so on.
In the Indian context, security and adequate funds are major issues inhibiting the development of museums. There is also the debatable issue of waiver of entry fee for the museums and whether it should be borne by the state as educational activity.
Curatorship, like other creative pursuits does not provide enough economic returns. Amy Whitaker, a museum professional with forays into business says, “success in business depends on creativity,” yet she admits, “art museums risk being commercial institutions in which art is subsumed by economics and the experience of looking at art becomes a form of consumption.”