The Hindu : New Delhi News : National Museum music gallery gets a brand new look

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Saturday, Dec 18, 2010
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New Delhi

National Museum music gallery gets a brand new look

Madhur Tankha

Travelling exhibition, outreach programmes for students to be launched on Museum Day

Photo: S. Subramanium

A musical treat: Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will perform at the re-opening of the newly-revamped musical instruments gallery of the National Museum today.

NEW DELHI: To mark Museum Day and the 50 {+t} {+h} year of its new building, the National Museum, the treasure trove of India's cultural heritage, is re-opening its prized musical instruments gallery here this Saturday. The newly-refurbished gallery has invited sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan to perform on the occasion.

New projects

The event will also witness the commissioning of the first phase of the National Museum's ongoing renovation, new initiatives like travelling exhibition, outreach programmes for students and announcement of a cultural encyclopaedia project.

The Museum boasts of a large collection of musical instruments, both folk and classical. Sarod player Saran Rani Backliwal, an avid collector of rare musical instruments, had donated the instruments in 1980 and 1987. While most of the Indian instruments belong to the period between the 17 {+t} {+h} and 19 {+t} {+h} Centuries, the Museum also houses some Western instruments from the 19th Century.

The 125 instruments have been segregated into different categories like string instruments (veena, sitar, santoor), percussion instruments (tabla, dholak) and wind instruments (flute, trumpet).

Programme to revive Museum's glory

“We have embarked on a 100-day programme to implement the 14-point agenda set by the Union Culture Ministry to revive the glory of the premier institution. The first phase of modernisation is complete with architectural renovations and new display patterns in place in the foyer, corridors and galleries. Superior lighting, finer aesthetic touch, redone designs and new paintings give a new look to the Museum,” says Museum Administrator C. V. Ananda Bose.

To bring back the country's glorious past into limelight, the Museum authorities made sure that the gallery was ready in 60 days while the two other galleries with wooden carvings will be reopened to the public by the middle of the next month. “The long-neglected Museum has now got a make-over with finer aesthetic touch to attract more visitors,” added Dr. Bose.

Live performance

every month

The Museum authorities have also decided to hold live performances of classical masters of contemporary music once every month.

A travelling exhibition, “Heritage Himsagar”, offering a glimpse of the country's golden past, rare artefacts and richness of culture will also be launched. It will cover the entire country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on road. The authorities are also in talks with the Railways to launch an exhibition on wheels.

“The National Museum was opened at Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1949 and shifted to the present premises in 1960,” said Dr. Bose.

Drawing students

As part of its outreach programme, the Museum is also planning to launch programmes for school and college students, bringing them over to have interactive lessons on history and lectures by experts.

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