The Indian Music Experience is (IME) is India's first interactive music museum, and only a handful of such museums exist around the world, including the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle both in the United States, says vocalist and dancer Manasi Prasad, Project Director of IME. Six years of relentless work has gone into exploring India's music culture and history, in order to house them at IMEs 50,000 sqft interactive space. South Asia’s first interactive music museum at JP Nagar is all set for a launch on July 27 at 5pm.
The inauguration will feature a confluence of tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain and jazz legend Louiz Banks who is also a film composer, singer and keyboardist. “Zakir is coming to Bengaluru after a few years, and is waiting to present his collaboration with Louiz Banks as it fits well with the chemistry of our museum,” says Manasi. “He will donate some of his tablas to the museum to be part of IME’s exhibits,” she says.
The ₹45-crore project has experiential music galleries designed by Gallagher & Associates with nine thematic spaces, including an instruments gallery with over 200 rare pieces, performance venues, a sound garden, learning spaces, and computer-based interactive installations that allowvisitors to experience the process of music-making.
IME, which hopes to represent the vast repertoire of Indian music — and not less than 60 versions of ‘Vande Mataram’— also has curriculum-based music education and different sections to pay tribute to classical schools, contemporary styles, film music, and folk traditions. “There are souvenirs from Bharat Ratnas in an exhibit dedicated to musicians who have won the award,” says Manasi.
Team IME travelled to 10 museums in the US a few years ago, taking notes on everything from display and lighting to maintenance. Manasi says, “Since its soft launch in November 2018, over 10,000 people have visited IME purely on word of mouth. IME has now been invited to be an official affiliate of the Grammy Museum in LA.” Conceptualising the overall museum was in itself the beginner’s challenge, “as there was no precedent or prior example of such an institution,” says Manasi. Says Suma Sudhindra, Director, Outreach, IME, many people did not even understand what a music museum would entail.
“Finding the right experts and collaborators was another responsibility as it required out-of-the-box thinking to design spaces and create content,” she says.
Fundraising for this project was a nightmare, especially since the initial setup cost was ₹42 crore. “It was a mammoth task. Thanks to our Founder MR Jaishankar of the Brigade Group, the government and other donors, we were able to scrape through, but as we are still in debt we invite funds from corporates to support this cause,” says Manasi.
She adds the challenges they faced were offset by matchless moments like receiving Bismillah Khan's Shehnai from his family or accompanying Ameen Sayani to see his own picture at the museum. While the museum hopes to receive Ravi Shankar's Sitar next year, its present pride is in possessing Bickram Ghosh’s tabla, Sudha Ragunathan's Tambura, Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma's percussion instruments amongst others. “We also have a 120-year-old Erard Grand Piano,” says Manasi.
The IME project began with real estate developer MR Jaishankar’s visit to Seattle’s MoPOP. Inspired by the idea, he donated a two-acre plot at the Brigade Millennium Enclave for an interactive music museum.
- IMEs Sound Garden features 10 unique ‘playable’ musical sculptures like gongs, xylophones and bells
- The nine thematic exhibit galleries tell of Indian music through storyboards, pictures, artefacts, computer interactives and listening stations
- Permanent memorabilia in the museum include Bhimsen Joshi's paan box and MS Subbulakshmi's tambura
- The most photographed area of the museum is the instruments gallery that features 100 instruments of Indian classical, folk and contemporary music
- Computer interactives can tell you your Sruti , help you build a raga, and teach you tabla basics
- IME is open to schools and conducts tours for the visually and hearing impaired. It is accessible for those in wheelchairs
- The Contemporary Expressions gallery has two specially designed autorickshaws that showcase hits by Bangalore bands
IME decoded
Nine thematic spaces, including an instruments museum (gallery) with over 200 exhibits, performance venues, sound garden, learning spaces, apart from computer-based interactive installations allow visitors to experience the process of music-making. The centre has different sections to pay tribute to classical schools, contemporary styles, film music, and folk traditions.
