Pune’s prominent museums have decided to exhibit their artefacts and antiquities under one roof to mark International Museum Day on May 18 and revive the sagging culture of museum watching in the city.
The three-day exhibition will be held at the Symbiosis Society’s Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Museum and Memorial. Twelve of the 36 museums in the city, including the renowned Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, will take part in the exhibition.
“It is unfortunate that in a culturally vibrant hub like Pune many locals aren’t aware that the city is home to many museums of diverse intellectual hues. Many foreigners wanting to soak a whiff of the city’s much-hallowed heritage and history are at a loss owing to the lack of awareness,” said Sanjivani Mujumdar, director, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Museum and Memorial. The International Museum Day is an initiative of the International Council of Museums, the apex body of museums across the world, and is celebrated to raise awareness of the importance of museums. The city’s Mahatma Phule Museum with its impressive display of engineering tools, geology, natural history and armoury will participate along with the two museums of the Deccan College: The Maratha History Museum and the Archaeology Museum.
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Established in 1939, the Archaeology Museum hosts the finest collection of stone tools from prehistoric period and from different parts of peninsular India – some of which will be on display during the exhibition. But the exhibition boasts other treats like Joshi’s Museum of Miniature Railways, which charts the history of railways through painstaking miniature models, and Blades of Glory, which boasts the world’s largest collection of cricketing memorabilia.
“Today, museums have to compete and cope with distractions and entertainments like malls and multiplexes,” says Sudhanva Ranade, member secretary, Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum. “Despite the affordable entry prices in India, it is unfortunately not an experience treasured or preferred by audiences and the museum visit, instead of being a source of pride, is usually slashed in favour of a mall outing,” says Mr. Ranade.
The eminent Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum, which hosts 21,000 artefacts, sees an average footfall of 1.3 lakh visitors a year. Yet, despite being one of the most anticipated and prominent tourist to-do’s in Pune, lack of funds has hampered conservation efforts and upgradation, with the museum lacking basic audio guides to navigate its byzantine collection.
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“By this initiative, through posters, DVDs and other media, we hope to effect a dramatic change in the psyche of museum experience in Pune and Maharashtra,” says Mr. Ranade.
The museum boom in Europe where each city thrives on a unique cultural structure or collection, is not matched in India, says Mr. Ranade, observing trenchantly that the prohibitive costs to The Louvre in France or The Metropolitan Museum in New York has not impaired the passion of visitors thronging to see these places.
“In the West, passionate individuals retain their hobby throughout their lifetime. Yet in India, for most, the hobby stops once formal schooling ends,” says Dr. Ravi Joshi of ‘Joshi’s Museum of Miniature Railways’ noting that the average age of most visitors to train museums in the West was 35.
To this end, the museums in Pune eventually hope to register with the ICOM, not only for the purposes of funding, but as a vehicle for disseminating information.
Museums offer children an education antithetical to the one encountered by rote learning from textbooks at school, says Rohan Pate, who set up ‘Blades of Glory’ in the city’s Sahakarnagar area.
“In a country where cricketing is a religion, most would jump at the chance at seeing Tendulkar’s shirt or Geoffrey Boycott’s boot. So these are the inspired moments which make a visit to the museum moments to be savoured. And we hope to communicate this through this novel venture,” says Mr. Pate.
The exhibition is open from May 18 to 20 between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Entry is free