These are, for sure, not so achhe din for the world of culture in India. Sample this: In its first budget after coming to power in 2014, the BJP government announced the setting up of Hastkala Academy in the premises of Crafts Museum. Even as the Ministry of Textiles proclaims on its website that the Academy would be set up at the Crafts Museum premises, without dismantling any of the Museum galleries and without disturbing Museum activities, Crafts Museum’s future seems bleak. The museum was under much-needed renovation which has been stopped and it is headless once again. Its last director Ruchira Ghosh’s tenure ended in April 2015.
While a lot of people would have appreciated Dipali Khanna’s tenure as Member-Secretary, Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts (IGNCA), continuing for second term to carry on with her mission to revitalise the institution, all she got was an extension of six months. She finished her term on March 31, 2015. IGNCA is also headless, once again.
Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty was to head the apex body of visual arts in the country, Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA), till 2017, as its Chairperson but he was removed all of a sudden, last month, shocking every well-wisher of the Akademi. It is believed he was in the process of cleaning up the institution and freeing it of corruption and inertia.
And now another performer’s fate has been decided which is the biggest shocker of them all. Venu Vasudevan, the man who successfully accomplished the task of turning around National Museum — Delhi’s biggest but dullest museum — is being transferred to Sports Ministry. He was to head the institution till December 2016. Poornima Sardana, a former volunteer with the Yuva Saathi Programme of National Museum, has started an online petition “PRIME MINISTER INDIA: Kindly stop the transfer of Dr. Venu Vasudevan, Director General, National Museum Delhi”.
For a cultural body’s head to receive this kind of attention is unusual but Venu Vasudevan’s tireless effort at National Museum is too hard to ignore. But for Government of India which seems apathetic towards cultural institutions, their progression or regression isn’t really a matter of concern.
“When you experience change, and radical change, within a year, right from programming and outreach, to visitor experience and signage, when you see packed halls for exciting exhibitions, people from different sections of society, some of whom might have never felt so drawn to the museum before, you know the place is being led by a person who has truly understood its purpose,” responds Sardana over email. She is currently studying arts and culture management at New York University
Ruchira Ghosh, former director of Crafts Museum, who led the space to recovery, is equally disappointed with the decision. “Even just considering that Dr. Venu was given a written order that he was being appointed to the National Museum for three years, until December 2016, this decision to transfer him to the Ministry of Sports is totally arbitrary. But if his performance during the short period he has been at the helm is reviewed, then the decision to move him out is not just random –– it is extremely callous and short-sighted, and a tragedy for the National Museum and the country. Dr Venu has managed, in less than 18 months, to totally revitalise the museum, opening up galleries closed for years, organizing many exhibitions of excellent quality and, perhaps most significantly, bringing in a new work culture, enthusiasm and excitement, in what was for all purposes a dead institution,” Ghosh, whose five year tenure saw a snazzy café, a refurbished store, refurbishment of dormitories of the visiting craftsmen, revamp of galleries, and an increased number of visitors.
“I do feel that government generally, and as a body, does not always understand the value of culture and heritage. And often when it tries to, it does so in such a ham-handed fashion that it does more harm than good! This is perhaps even more true of crafts where we are constantly battling against the general perception in government that craft is a ‘sunset’ industry! As regards cultural institutions, the essential problem is that there is no care of institutions in government. If the government was concerned about the National Museum, if they had done their homework and taken the trouble to understand the huge transformation that has taken place, could they have ever suggested that Dr. Venu be moved out?” adds Ghosh revealing that the recruitment rules for the post of Senior Director were recently severely downgraded from a technocratic post requiring a Ph.D and many years of experience in the crafts sector, to a completely bureaucratic one, where all that is now required is 12 years experience in government administration!
Like Crafts Museum, there is a lot of unfinished work at National Museum which will get impacted by his transfer. What happens to the eight exhibitions planned for 2015 including a large scale exhibition on the Parsi minorities’ heritage, publications and academic research on collections, will depend on the timely appointment of his successor and many more things.
“National Museum was headless for several years which really affected the institution. After Dr. Venu joined it, he made it alive not just through some incredible exhibitions but internally too through archiving, documentation. He should be allowed to continue,” says Jyotindra Jain, a museologist who has headed National Crafts Museum and IGNCA in the past. He has signed Sardana’s petition.
Hoping and praying for National Museum to continue on its current path, Sardana cites a particular remark by a signee, “The National Museum of India, the face of India’s culture to the world and its own people had just begun to communicate with people. Is it then prudent to cause his transfer? He is doing incredible work and being untimely moved to another Ministry, I wish such erratic decisions were unheard of and hope that this petition is heard.”
Museum on a roll under Venu Vasudevan
* One of the highlights of his tenure is Yuva Saathi Programme under which college students were trained as guides for visiting school groups at the museum.
* For the public there is Volunteer Guide Programme (VGP) or Path Pradarshak. Visitors interested in visiting the museum with the help of a guide can book their requirement of a guide on National Museum’s website in advance. On this 90 minutes tour, the trained guides introduce highlights from the displayed collection which runs into lakhs of art works.
* “The Museum in 90 Minutes’ was another initiative launched to make the whole experience easy and quick for those who are pressed for time. A booklet titled “The Museum in 90 Minutes”, given to visitors free of cost, introduces them to 25 most unique pieces of the museum. With the help of the book and the audio-guide, navigating the museum is like a breeze.
* Some major exhibitions like “Musical Landscapes & The Goddesses of Music Recent Advances in Interactive Art”, “A Passionate Eye Textiles, Paintings and sculptures from the Bharany Donation”, “Unearthing Pattanam – Histories, Cultures, Crossings. Union Culture Minister Dr. Mahesh Sharma to Open Exhibition; Trench Replica, Select Excavation Findings”, “Nauras: The Many Arts of the Deccan”, “The Peranakan World: Cross Cultural Art of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca” and “The Body in Indian Art” — a stunning exhibition of 300 art works from 44 institutions, studying representation of body over 4000 years across regions, religion and culture.
* Before Venu Vasudevan joined, six crucial galleries were shut at the museum for years. While four of these galleries have been opened, a new one launched, and the remaining two — Bronze and Manuscripts – are to open later this year in 2015.
* In collaboration with UNESCO, the museum organised a seminal workshop on ‘Making Museums Accessible for Persons with Disabilities’ in April this year. The workshop coincided with the exhibition “Cadence and Counterpoint: Documenting Santal Musical Traditions” wherein a Braille booklet, tactile graphics and an audio-guide are being used for the first time for the benefit for visually-impaired people.
* Nearly 10,000 objects have been digitised and put online making it accessible to public.
* A number of publications, lectures, talks, public programmes, children’s programmes.
* He also played an important role in organising the Kochi Biennale 2014.
* A theatre practitioner, he performs with his theatre group “Abhinaya”.
In protest
Lalit Kala Akademi’s cause has also been espoused on different fronts. While on the one hand artists have moved the High Court questioning the removal of its Chairperson Kalyan Chakravarty and its take over by the Government, on another, former bureaucrat, poet and author Ashok Vajpeyi has filed an online petition protesting the random move.
