The iconic Victoria Memorial, which was beginning to look a bit seedy, has made a remarkable turnaround to emerge as the museum with the highest footfalls in the country. According to officials, it has sold more than 18 lakh tickets to visitors. The Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH), launched by Lord Curzon in 1906, has a collection of over 28,000 artefacts. Since it is able to exhibit only 10 per cent of its collection at one time, it is being remodelled in a way that will give a view of Indian history chronologically though the display. The roughly Rs. 60 crore project is being done under the Ministry of Culture, and involves separate storing facilities for manuscripts, paintings on paper, oil paintings, textiles, and statues, all of which need different storage temperatures. Besides the modernisation, VMH is drawing people with regular seminars on art, literary meets, and exhibitions that cover a wide range from Salvador Dali etchings to Abanindranath Tagore’s restored works.
