INTERNSHIP AT THE CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ VASTU SANGRAHALAYA: FORMELY THE PRINCE OF WALES MUSEUM OF WESTERN INDIA

- A REPORT BY NILOFAR SHAMIM HAJA JUNE 2005

AKNOWLDGEMENTS

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Mr. S. Mukherjee (Director) for giving me this wonderful opportunity; I have gained a wholesome understanding and a uniquely fulfilling experience about a museum through this internship. I also want to thank Ms. Renu (senior curatorial assistant) for being my principal guide. My utmost gratitude goes to Ms. Vaswani (Librarian), due to whom I have gained a wealth of knowledge about the museum and its functionality along with the beautifully informative books that I read. I am happily indebted to all the other respected curators and immensely helpful staff and technical attendants of the gallery, who have made my one month at the museum a time of learning and understanding. I too hope to enter the portals of this field one day and to all the above people I shall always owe my initiation.

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he Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly The Prince of Wales

Museum of Western India) was set up in the early years of the 20th century by some

prominent citizens of Bombay with the help of the government, to commemorate the visit of the

Prince of Wales, the future King George V of the United Kingdom of Britain and the Emperor of

India.

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One of the resolutions of the Museum committee at its meeting on June 22, 1904 was, "The

building should have a handsome and noble structure befitting the site selected, and in keeping

with the best style of local architecture." The committee spared no effort to realize this dream. In

1905, the Prince of Wales and his wife, the future Queen Mary laid the foundation stone of the

Museum. On March 1, 1907, the then government of Bombay handed over to the museum

committee a spot of land known as the "Crescent Site", situated at the southern end of the present

Mahatma Gandhi Road. After an open competition for the design, the architect George Wittet was

commissioned to design the Museum building in 1909.

Completed in 1915, the Museum Building was first used as a Children's Welfare Centre and also

as a Military Hospital during the years of the First World War after which it was handed back to

the Trustees. The Museum opened its doors for the public on January 10, 1922.

The architecture of the museum is a unique marvel in itself. It was in the last decade of the 19th

century that Bombay (now Mumbai) witnessed a phase of experimentation in architecture.

Considering the eastern location of India, the British architects were attempting to incorporate

Indian ideals with European architecture. This synthesis of forms such as the horseshoe shaped

arches from Moorish Spain, Islamic domes and Victorian towers came to be known as the Indo-

Saracenic style of architecture.

This magnificent structure has successfully withstood the ravages of time and in 1990 was

awarded Urban Heritage Award of the Bombay Chapter of the Indian Heritage Society.

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INTRODUCTION

“Museums are the primary vehicle for housing and preserving the nation’s heritage. Basically,

Museums are non - profit making, permanent institutions, in the service of society and of its

development and open to the public” – International Council of Museums.

The need to record, document and communicate and exhibit one’s identity is inherent in human

beings. But the idea of the museum goes one step further in that it requires the ‘original’ material

to communicate and not some secondary source.

The Concept of art collection: Evolution of museums since classical period

Museums, from the earliest times have been used as educational mediums or tools of teaching.

Ancient museums were considered as places of philosophy and contemplation. The word Museum

is derived from the Greek word “mouseion” (which alludes to the Temples of the Muses). Even in

Greek and Roman times, due importance was given to the positioning and lighting of an artefact.

Early Islamic Collecting

With the rise of Islam in 6th century A.D. and the spread of its culture and learning in the

succeeding centuries, there is abundant evidence…of collecting (of fine arts) at this time. But the

purpose behind collection was not for the furtherance of the museum cause, rather it arises mainly

from religious motives; collections were also formed from the spoils of war and …many have

been incorporated into museum collections today.

Medieval Europe

During the heavily religious times of Medieval Europe, religion played a dominating role in the

collection of art; in effect, pagan symbols, artefacts and appreciating and displaying of things

relating directly to the pagan classical world was unacceptable. However, with the rise of

Christianity and of the princely families, it became commonplace for both to have treasuries

associated with their institutions and were to become the main source of collections throughout

Medieval Europe.

Renaissance

It was during the Renaissance, with its emphasis on experiments and observation that scientific

collections were formed. Italian nobles, merchants and the royal families turned Italy into a place

of art, with their slowly building collections of art, coins, curios, rare books, sculptures, etc,

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which were open to the public. Collections in the field of natural history also received great

emphasis.

The Original Museum

The first recorded instance of the use of the word museum was to describe a collection related to

the Medici (noble family from Italy) material at the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Other terms

used more frequently were from the 16th century; gallery to denote a place where paintings and

sculptures were exhibited while later, a “cabinet” was used to describe either a collection of

curiosities or the place where decorative art material was housed.

Enlightenment 18 th century onwards

By the time of the Enlightenment, with the advent of applying system and scientific method to the

understanding of humankind and nature, many of the collections were already more than just an

assemblage of curiosities; they were ordered.

Indian Museums

Museums in India were conceived under colonialism. The first museum collection in India was

founded in 1796—only forty years after the inception of the British Museum. The collections

accumulated after the founding of the Asiatic Society of Bengal were housed in the Indian

Museum in Calcutta, to be followed by the Government Museum in Madras in 1851 and then the

Prince of Wales Museum in Bombay in 1914. All three of these museums had art, natural history

and archaeology sections.

The major Indian museums are either managed directly by the Central government or indirectly

through a board of trustees. The museums have grown either out of the private collections of

individuals or the central governments itself has established museums (e.g. The National

Museum, Delhi) in order to house the collections of the Archaeological Survey of India, ASI). In

addition to these, there are the state museums, private museums, university museums, municipal

museums and the site museum of the ASI.

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INTERNSHIP AT THE MUSEUM: A LEARNING EXPERIENCE

My month long internship included various tasks and activities, which were to help me in

understanding how the institution functions and what are the various departments and personnel

that ensure the functioning of the museum.

First and foremost, I had to understand the collections of the museum. For this I read a

comprehensive and wonderful Museum catalogue named “Jewels of the Crescent – Masterpieces

of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya” written by Kalpana Desai.

THE COLLECTIONS

The enormous collections of the museum can be classified into 10 definitive categories:

Pre - proto history, sculpture, Indian miniature paintings, natural history, decorative arts, arms and

armour, far eastern art, Nepal/ Tibet, bronzes and textiles.

Archaeologists Sir Henry Cousens and Sir John Marshall are responsible for a majority of the

museum’s earlier archaeological collections. A major chunk of the Prince of Wales Museum’s

collections have been donated by Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorab Tata. A collection of miniature

paintings was acquired by Purushottam Mavji in 1915.

On general basis museums acquire their collections through three primary sources

1) From primary sites i.e. archaeological remains, palaces in which paintings and furniture

were originally kept, church frescoes or temple art – all of which are removed from the

primary site through excavation or due to the precarious conditions of the artefacts and are

then collected in a museum

2) Secondary environments are those accommodating works of art created for other locations

but brought together by later collectors.

3) Tertiary sources - Paintings or sculptures made especially for art galleries and museums

Museums thus acquire specimens through gifts, purchase or bequest, and it is essential for a

museum to secure evidential documents and provenances supporting their claim or gift.

Personal Observations on the Collections of the Museum

On a personal basis, I immensely admire the miniature paintings of the museum and as such,

many of my readings in the library was focussed on the different schools of miniature paintings,

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their time frames, the various manuscripts in existence and the present status of the various

miniature paintings in India.

The miniature paintings on the first floor gallery are a delight to the eye and a balm to the soul.

The main gallery offers a selected and choice glimpse of the various schools of miniature painting

in India, whereas the outer circle displays one pair of each miniature school. A lot of lacunae can

be observed when one looks at the miniature paintings at the outer gallery. For example, in the

miniature painting titled, ‘Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur’ (1638 – 1678), Mughal, 3rd quarter of 17th

century, the following details needs to be added; firstly, a background or history of the king along

with an important event of his life. Secondly, the school or genre of painting should be provided

in the next three to four lines. Most importantly, the context of the painting should be given, why

the painting was done (if such information exists), who was the painter, etc should be mentioned.

Another example is that of miniatures depicting rituals or festivals; one miniature depicted a lunar

eclipse taking place. A detailed write up, with bold and attractive fonts, explaining about the

superstitions of those times (17th century A.D.) should be given. The Gods being worshipped

during that time frame or in that region could also be mentioned, along with a write up of what

kind and how ere festivals celebrated in earlier times.

When it comes to miniatures of birds and animals (Mughal), write up should be provided about

how the Mughals were big patrons of naturalistic paintings. A list of manuscripts where these

paintings appear should also be mentioned.

In paintings depicting ‘village life’, write ups should be provided about the clothes, life style, and

the depicted scene and its significance (if information is available). In the painting of the

‘roadside seller’, a description of the weights and measures used during those times, along with a

drawing or sketch of the weights could be provided.

In the paintings depicting ‘conservation of nature’, with Krishna as protagonist, write ups have to

be given about the social context for the existence of such paintings. Moreover, it needs to be

mentioned why such genres of paintings came up in Bundhelkhand.

All these measures are necessary as the paintings have to be made more ‘alive’ and ‘current’ for

the visitor. He needs to be able to relate to it, as he cannot touch it, which becomes a significant

hurdle in appreciating art.

I have observed that the visitors very rarely pause and look at the miniature paintings as it is too

fine and detailed and is seen as just another wall decoration. In order to induce the reluctant

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visitor into understanding or even appreciating paintings, it has to be made more appealing

information wise, such as explaining the type of script that was used in the painting and the paper

or media that was used to paint on, if possible try to put up a display of the paints, and the brushes

or nibs that were used to paint in olden days. Interactive aids that have been used for children

should be modified and could also be used for adults. On a practical level, the display cases need

to be cleaned and brightened, as the glasses have dulled with time. Since the miniatures at the

outer gallery are also placed at the corners of walls, without any lighting, many people simply

miss their existence.

The Chinese and Japanese collections are also among my most loved galleries. The sheer

number of artefacts on display is astounding, and the beauty of these, delightful! The Japanese

Shinto display is one of the most unique displays in the museum. The number of porcelain – blue

and white ceramics that are on display is a sheer wonder.

Of course, there are numerous glitches in the gallery. Almost a majority of the displays lack

proper descriptive labelling or any simple labelling at all (the Japanese doll display, paintings

display, etc). For example, the description of the ‘Netsuke and Inros’ in the Japanese gallery is

confusing to say the least. It’s a bit technically described and thus appears boring, a common man

who might find the artefact unique, is simply not able to comprehend the use or purpose of it. A

drawing/ sketch of a Japanese man holding the Netsuke or attaching it to his clothes would be

more apt. The ‘Inro’ should be opened up to show the sliding compartments inside it, and a sketch

of how medicines, herbs or any other such things could be stored inside the Inro should be put up.

When it came to the display of pottery, which are really a lot in number, (and thus a majority of

the visitors simply breeze through them as they all look ‘similar’) the names of the dynasty or

period from which the artefacts flourished should be given (if information is available). For

example, what is Nabeshima and Kakiemon style of pottery? Are they names of an artist, era or

region? A brief write up about Japanese history, with main features such as religion, the legend of

the Samurais, their art and their important kings and prevailing deity would be really useful in this

gallery and make the public more aware and familiar with a dynamically unique and alien culture.

European Gallery – Tata gallery, is another well displayed gallery. The paintings are very life

like and well maintained after all these years. What is required though is a well written piece

about the Tata family history. Who are all the people on display in the paintings? A write up

about how the Tatas have been instrumental in contributing one of the Museum’s earliest

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collections (of artefacts) would be apt. On the other hand, the paintings that are European in

origin have to be described and explained, with the name of the artist and the painting’s context.

The second floor ‘roundana’ or outer gallery, where all the European decorative items are

displayed, including the spoons, glassware and, vases and jars, the labelling is simply inadequate

and the display system not up to the mark. The

The Bronze sculpture gallery is truly well maintained and perfect. The display and description of

the technique of metal casting is good and the lighting is apt. The same can be said for the Nepal

– Tibet Gallery. All the figures and artefacts on display are well lit, the labels although crisp and

to the point, could do with some additional background writing. For example, a write up about

Tibet’s close links with Indian philosophy and religious ethos, the important Gods and Goddesses

worshipped and the religion followed, should be put up. Some of the visitors really don’t know

whether Nepal is a part of India or not!! In such a scenario, a map would not be amiss. Moreover,

a general map of medieval India, showing which geographical regions were famous for their

artefacts and indigenous crafts would be well appreciated.

The stone/ rock sculptures in the ground floor gallery have some of the most beautifully carved

sculptures belonging to the Hindu, Jaina and Buddhist genres. However, these sculptures need to

be made more interesting for the common man to not just breeze through the gallery. Indians are

used to seeing sculptures, temple figurines and other images of Gods and Goddesses in nearly

every street corner. A write up, featuring rare (unusual) information about some of the sculptures

(found in scholarly books), the place a particular artwork might have flourished, who were the

patrons of the stone artefacts, the skills and effort required to carve out of monoliths – all this

information should be displayed. Moreover, it is quite tedious to always bend down and read the

small labelling; the labelling needs to be bold, and appealing.

The pre – proto history gallery also finds appeal with a lot of people, especially when they see

the picture of how man progressed from ape to human being. The crafts and decorative items of

the Stone Age man is well displayed, but the descriptions and write ups have to be updated,

especially with new excavations and research being done about Indus Valley civilization and the

recent controversy about Indus being called Saraswati Valley. It would be amazing if the museum

could afford to put up a display of dummy/ puppet or mannequin stone age man family,

mimicking how the ‘cave man’ must have lived with his family, preparing food and wearing

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animal skin clothes, with stone tools in hand and the women making beads and other decorative

items.

In the case of Ivory displays, more information needs to be put up about how tusks started being

used as art items. Which kingdoms and kings patronized ivory art and which was the time frame

in which ivory art flourished? What were the most common forms of designs made out of ivory

tusks? Thus, geographically, which regions were elephants found in? The tusks of which other

animals was used for decorative purposes? All these questions need to be answered and displayed.

The Natural History section, with its display of birds and beasts is also a well maintained and

well labelled gallery. No changes need to be made here, though the area could do with some

bright lights.

How Does The Museum Handle Documentation?

The museum has a unique role as a repository for three dimensional objects gathered both from

the natural and man made environment. Preserving the non intrinsic information about an object,

such as where it came from, who found it, its uses, etc is the responsibility of the museum. Thus

documentation is vital. The term documentation may be defined as a process of locating,

collecting, classifying and disseminating specialized knowledge with emphasis on micro

documents.

Documentation: Functions and importance

1) Many museums have collections of poorly documented objects which have lost much of

their usefulness due to lack of associated information. Documentation is used as a

fundamental and basic source of information and is essential to curatorial work

2) Documentation is important for the effective management of collections, encompassing

storage, security, auditing and insurance.

3) To formulate acquisition policies by identifying the scope and limitations of the collection.

4) To enable the collection to be researched and published. The value of publications and the

presentation of the collection through displays and educational work are related to the

quality of documentation.

5) A large number of non museum staff, such as researchers, students, writers, etc also need

documents regarding artefacts.

A documentation system should include three types of documentation which comprises a

comprehensive museum record:

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1) Initial documentation: On the entry of the object into the museum for loan, identification,

acquisition or other purposes.

2) Item documentation refers to full record of all information about the object incorporated in the

records or cross referenced to other files.

3) Control documentation, which records the movements and location of an object. This is an

essential tool for collection management.

Other considerations should be taken into account for an efficient documentation system;

1) It is important that the system should allow for the addition of data.

2) There should be safeguards to protect confidential information

3) The system should be easy to maintain and should be set down in manual

4) It should be able to accept information about a wide range of items and allow adequate

cross referencing between the different types of record incorporated into it.

5) Safeguarding of the documentation through use of proper paper an dink, back up and

physical storage conditions, fire and tamper proof, technical glitches (in case of computer

stored records), moisture and insect manifestation, the presence of a duplicate set of

records, etc.

HOW ARE THE ARTEFACTS CLEANED AND PRESERVED IN THE MUSEUM?

June 6th I observed how certain artefacts are cleaned in the museum and understood the various

methods used to preserve the vast collections. Every week the museum undertakes a general

cleaning task, implemented by the various curators and technical assistants. No special chemical

or treating agents are used, a simple ‘feather duster’, or cloth is used for dusting cabinets, display

cases, and big non – fragile artefacts. C cloth or feather duster manages to get rid of dust, cob

webs and other superficial and surface irritants.

Care is taken to preserve the artefacts in conditions that will not lead to their further deterioration;

one must understand that many of the artefacts are centuries old and as such time must have

already played a major role in their steady decay, disintegration or destruction; a case in point

being miniature paintings on paper or palm leaves.

Sculptures are displayed in glass cabinets and as far as my observation goes, other than the fact

that some of the smaller stone figurines aren’t allowed to be touched, a majority of stone

sculptures are simply kept in the open, where they are exposed to sunlight, atmospheric air, dust,

etc.

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As for paintings, they too are displayed in glass cabinets and no other special arrangements or

display techniques, air conditioners, for example, are used. The lights used for the display of

paintings too are normal (low wattage yellow focus bulbs); but cameras are not allowed, since the

flash light affects the fragile papers and manuscripts.

I also observed the interesting cleaning work being undertaken for the weapons, the swords and

daggers of the Mughal and Maratha period (June 9th, 2005). I was taken to one of the storage

rooms (which are numerous in the museums and ‘hidden’ one might say in the most unexpected

and inconspicuous of places), where racks of swords were laid out in order on the ground handled

by technical assistants, whereas the curators were handling the accession registers. Each sword

was individually handled by an assistant, cleaned with cotton dipped in machine oil. When each

sword was cleaned, the curators checked from their accession record whether each sword matched

the description given in the registers. The length of the sword, the design on its hilt, the curvature

of the blade, etc was read off from the register and compared with the sword. With time, many

changes occur in an object and thus, new descriptions are entered into the register with pencil. Of

course, the accession registers used were copies of the originals, which are stored in a safe place.

Glass, crystals, porcelain etc are also displayed in glass cabinets and are cleaned with care using

feather dusters. At all times, a curator has to be present to supervise the cleaning operation, no

matter how qualified the technical assistants are.

I was a bit saddened to see so many works of art and objects from centuries ago languishing in

storage rooms, which the common will never be able to see and realize the value of. Some

measure needs to be taken in order to ensure that artefacts ‘never die out before their time’.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN BY THE MUSEUM:

One of the primary function and purpose for the existence of a museum is to reach out to the

people, whose heritage it preserves. Display, awareness and knowledge, and education are the key

pillars of bridging the gap between museum artefacts and the public. Educational activities

conducted by a museum have to be in tandem with the local culture, the kind of response its

programs gets from participants and thirdly, how effectively does the educational activities

stimulate a sense of curiosity and eventually pride towards the museum and its artefacts, as one’s

own heritage – all these factors have to be kept in mind while designing and implementing

educational programs.

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The museum holds regular talks and lectures for school children; topics include museums and the

artefacts displayed. Workshops are held in bead making, warli painting, clay fashioning, etc to

help the children understand the artefacts displayed. Many of the miniature paintings actually tell

a story, and these paintings are explained to children through the use of drawing worksheets,

where the chief elements of the painting are printed. For example, in order to explain one of the

stories of ‘The Panchatantra’, (the tortoise and the ducks), a sheet with the outline of the birds and

reptile are presented to the children and questions are asked. Slideshows also help the children in

learning about their heritage, but in a simplistic and superficial manner.

In summary, here are the objectives of museums towards children:

1) To help the child develop a spirit of enquiry, making judicious use of his leisure,

2) To prepare children to learn and share responsibility for democratic living.

3) To develop child’s personality and above all

4) To instil the confidence of ‘I can do it’.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MUSEUM LIBRARY:Curatorial staff are expected to do research work on the superb collections they hold, write

articles and publications of popular interest as well as of scholarly content, plan thematic

exhibitions, prepare authentic labels and exhibition catalogues and write detailed catalogues of the

museum’s unique collection along with preparing educational and instructional kits for visitors; a

well equipped research library of a museum is thus very essential.

The Prince of Wales Museum has an excellent collection of reference books, journals, articles,

magazines, catalogue publications, dictionaries in classical languages, atlases, and a vast variety

of material on almost all subjects under history, culture, heritage, museums, art, philosophy,

religion, civilizations, geography, languages and literature. One can get happily lost in the unique

and rare, and well maintained books of the library.

I read close to 15 books during the course of one month, spending more than 5 hours a day

reading about subjects ranging from art, museums in India nd around the world, cartography,

Islamic art and architecture, travelogues, prose and poetry of medieval writers, and most crucially

the beautiful museum catalogue and its associated publications. The catalogue was instrumental in

helping me get a comprehensive understanding of the vast collection of the museum and studying

the history of the various artefacts on display. Moreover, reading international publications also

helped me understand how museums in Europe and the Americas function and interact with their

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public. I was also able to get a comprehensive understanding of various genres of paintings and

the art of the Himalayan region; subjects which I am very fond of.

I also helped Mrs. Vaswani, the librarian, in cataloguing a few reference books in Hindi and,

filling in the details of MARG magazines in the registry books. It gave me a good idea of one of

the crucial tasks of a librarian and the importance of having a well stocked museum library.

THE ROLE OF A CURATOR

It is indeed a privilege and an honour to be working in a museum, especially if one is truly

passionate about art and culture and bridging the divide between ‘unaware and unenthusiastic’

visitors and the museum artefacts. The privileges of a curator are as follows,

1) Free access to rare and precious objects which are not his/ her own

2) The use of paid time for research

3) The status of advisor to the community, individually and collectively, on matters relating

to the nation’s heritage.

4) The right to contend against social developments which maybe damaging to his

professional ideals.

5) Freedom to set standards for others, including those who aspire to become curators.

The curators in a museum have a huge amount of responsibility on their shoulders. Right from

maintaining accession registers (copies), to making sure their area of artefact (expertise) is well

maintained to creating informative programs for the public – they have a gamut of tasks to handle

everyday.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. S. MUKHERJEE, DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM

It was while I was nearing the end of my internship that I thought of conducting an interview with Mr. Mukherjee. When one steps inside a museum, one tends to forget that it is in fact an ‘institution’, and like all organizations and institutions, it needs an authority to run it, guide it and take it forward from strength to strength. People are enamoured by all the artefacts and tend to forget that running a museum requires immense patience, diplomacy, skill and organizational abilities, vast experience in the field and above anything else – tremendous zeal, passion and commitment for history and what the subject has to teach us. It was my good fortune to meet Mr. Mukherjee, whose passion and conviction for his work comes across and is inspirational to students who are planning on entering the field of museology. Here are some of the questions that I put forth to Mr. Mukherjee. (Please note: All comments are paraphrased, unless if shown with quotation marks)

Q: As a Director of The Museum, what are your responsibilities on a day to day basis and on a larger scale?A: On an everyday basis, a Director has to look after the development of the collections, maintenance and management of the collection, of the museum site, of the surrounding property, improving public facilities and infrastructure. Moreover, the core museum responsibilities of Research, Preservation and Conservation of artefacts, Development of Educational Activities, Timely exhibitions and lectures for various age groups, etc also come under the purview of the Director. But in a broad sense of the term “responsibility”, museum professionals are actually, “Custodians of public property”. It is important to realize that a museum professional does not own the artefacts and neither can one authority or professional influence the running and functioning of the museum. It is a team effort, a hierarchical structure to be precise, where every one has their role to play in ensuring that the basic existence of a museum is justified - that of exhibiting a small part of the nations’ and world’s heritage and cultural history.

Q: How does the Museum acquire its collections? What are the aspects taken into consideration while acquiring or taking a collection on loan?A: Many factors are taken into consideration for this purpose. First of all, collections are either acquired permanently, or they are taken on a short term loan for an exhibition or they are permanently on loan to the Museum. One has to remember that once a collection is permanently brought by the museum it becomes our (museum’s) liability. The documentation, maintenance, conservation, preservation and exhibition of the collection have to be accomplished. One has to also determine, before acquiring permanent artefacts/ collections, whether they add or subtract to the existing collections in the museum. Collections/ artefacts can be acquired from a private dealer, or other museums. Often, collections are often bequeathed to the museum by royal families, or important persons with a significant personal collection.

Q: How has the structure and functioning of the museum evolved over the decades?A: Well, as far as Indian museums are concerned the one “dramatic” change that has come about is the advent of computers! Museums in metropolitan cities are now operating with computers i.e. documentation is done manually as well through computers. Records, data pertaining to lectures, exhibits, collections, etc can be found in the computers. Of course, if one compares the Indian

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museums with their western counterparts, then change will seem infinitesimal; almost negligible. But many museums now use air conditioners – not a small achievement, considering the budget on which museums and other cultural institutions have to survive on without adequate or negligible government funding. The use of permanent in house preservationists and conservationists is also an added boon to museums in India. Coming to the Prince of Wales Museum, the introduction of audio tour guides in popular international languages (including French, Arabic, etc) is a much appreciated development. But on a broader scale, the basic attitude towards museums in India has remained the same, by and large. In order for a museum to thrive, it is important for “the people to have a certain degree of civic culture”. With a great majority of the population being uneducated and illiterate, the pursuit of aesthetics seems superfluous and trivial, when basic sustenance has to be taken care of. Thus, economic background plays an important role when it comes to appreciating art and the museum culture. This is not to say that people from the lower strata of society do not know how to appreciate art, rather their priorities are different and this reflects on the aesthetic development of a museum. Of course, today the urbane population take a keen interest in the activities and exhibitions of the museum, but it is restricted to those who are studying art, history, museology, then there are the writers, curators of art galleries, dealers and other professionals and some genuine culture lovers, who form the bulk of city visitors of the museum.

Q: Do you think museums in India should have an advanced infrastructure (e.g. public – to – computers interactivity, touch screen facilities) or should museums focus only on being artefact centric and concentrate on the acquisition of collections? A: Museums in India firstly cannot have hi - tech infrastructure, simply because more often than not we cannot afford it. Secondly, people tend to forget that the city is not a reflection of the entire country, The museum gets thousand of visitors each day and these people are by and large from villages, towns and other interior cities of India, where technology simply hasn’t penetrated the way it has become an all pervasive presence in metropolitan cities. Thus, museums have to be people friendly; it should not overwhelm the common man with hi tech gadgets and other modes of interactivity (that is seen in Western Museums), because this will simply intimidate the uneducated populace. In a country like India where more than half the population still resides in villages and small towns, it is important for the museum to be approachable and simple. It should thus serve the main task of “exhibition of its collections”. Moreover, in order for a museum to have a superior infrastructure and be technologically advanced, we need to have equally competent staff. Many a times we are simply “under – staffed”, so it is that much difficult to get regular staff who have added competency and qualifications to deal with technology. In order to improve the ‘people to museum’ connectivity a “sense of ethos” has to be created. The essence of what their country stands for should be imbibed in people; they have to be educated about civic culture, if necessary museums can induce people to appreciate their heritage by inspiring them with collections that are more suited to the local or regional history, environment and ethos. Q: Do museums in India really serve the basic function of making people aware of their cultural, ethnic or geographical/ regional heritage? Do museums in today’s times, inspire feelings of patriotism or cultural pride?A: Yes of course. But this is a dynamic issue which needs to be understood from various angles. One has to realize that patriotism or pride for one’s heritage cannot be forced upon people. It

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needs to come from within a person. Secondly, people find their own expression of patriotism – it is not necessary for them to come to a museum and be inspired, Especially since the Prince of Wales Museum exhibits collections that are not only India centric. Collections are based on various periods, various regions and various mediums (ivory, stone, porcelain, etc). Thus, the museum does serve its basic function of making people aware – but in a passive and static format. We do not aggressively promote the existence of the museum and induce people to visit it. Added to this, awareness about the museum’s technical background has increased with more educational courses being offered in the field of conservation science, art history and museology, in colleges. Teachers and students alike have the opportunity to experience a link with the heritage of their city and country on a first hand basis – this surely helps in developing a sense of pride. And once again economics plays a crucial factor. Only if people’s daily fiancés are taken care of, will they think of looking beyond the three pillars of food, clothing and shelter and diversify into education, art and entertainment. Pride and patriotism is intrinsic and subtle and doesn’t need overt expressions or modes of display.

Q: How do you think Museums of India will be in the future? Do you have a personal vision for the Prince of Wales in the next 20 years?A: I do have my own vision for the Prince of Wales Museum. Progress has already started with the various projects we have initiated in order to improve and expand on the existing infrastructure, and facilities of the museum. “I envision the museum to become a great cultural hub of the city”. The Museum has set into motion the ‘Redevelopment project’, and ‘Museosoft’ – a children’s activity centre, which will include an auditorium. An entire new wing will be added to the museum for this purpose. Of course, funding is crucial and all plans have to be approved, irrespective of the sanctity of the vision. On a general basis, not much change will seep into the museum scenario in India. Museums here will experience change on a much slower pace, since we will continue to be a developing country 20 years hence. It is only when we reach a position of sound economic competency, high literacy levels and good technological and infrastructural developments for the cities and towns will the museum scene in India alter too.

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SURVEY OF VISITORS TO THE MUSEUM

In the second week of my internship, I was entrusted with the crucial and interesting task of

conducting a survey of visitors to the Prince of Wales Museum. The survey was to be a formal,

albeit, an ‘on the spot’ questioning of visitors. I started off by preparing a questionnaire (a sample

of which can be found overleaf) through which I would be able to gauge their unbiased and

honest experiences while they visited the Museum.

It was thus very important to prepare a questionnaire that would allow people to be honest with

their opinions without them feeling the need to be diplomatic or defensive. Moreover it is crucial

that Museum professionals understand what the layman feels about the collections and how he

responds to art. The latter question needs addressing since what a professionally trained curator or

historian makes of art may not necessarily reflect how the general populace responds to art.

I soon realized that although I may be fascinated by every artefact that existed in the Museum, I

could not expect every visitor to feel the same aesthetic connection with all the artefacts present.

Art simply exists for the purpose of its beholder and speaks to every person with its unique

language. Ultimately one’s response to art has to be instantaneous and instinctive, and need not be

cultured and cultivated or analysed and interpreted with the gaze of the professional. And since a

museum is the custodian of our heritage, it is pertinent to determine and document their (people’s)

experience whilst in a museum.

In order to understand the visitor’s opinion about every aspect of the museum, I included diverse

questions on their opinion of the labelling, the lighting, the collection, the display, the ambience

and the facilities and infrastructure of the Museum. We also needed to understand the

background of the visitors and juxtapose it to their responses. Thus, questions pertaining to their

level of literacy, mother tongue, proficiency in the English language, etc have also been included

in the questionnaire. The Museum needed to gauge whether the labels and descriptions provided

for the artefacts on display were sufficient.

In this survey we were trying to get the opinions of predominantly rural/ town visitors; it was

important to find out how the semi- literate and non English language speaking visitors felt about

the labels (which are provided in Hindi and English) and especially the descriptions, which are

predominantly in English. Moreover, in spite of Hindi being the national language, a large

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number of the visitors did not speak either English or Hindi. Thus, it was crucial to understand

their experience and the difficulties they face in understanding a heritage that is still a part of their

identity – despite the language barrier.

Another important question to be answered pertained to how many people visited the Museum

beyond the purpose of sight seeing or as a tourist? Do people specifically come here to understand

the various collections and learn about their cultural, ethnic or national heritage? A point to note

at this stage is that surveys were meant only for Indians and did not focus on international

visitors.

From a personal viewpoint I wanted to know if people felt any personal connection to the

artefacts on display, to the existence of the Museum – after all, the Museum is the only place

which holds our collective heritage sacred. Do people feel proud and patriotic to see their national

treasures on display? Beyond the aesthetic beauty of the artefacts, do people view the collections

as a larger and broader source of their social and cultural identity? Or is the Prince of Wales

Museum guilty of metamorphosizing into that age old colonial taboo of being an “elitist”

institution? I hoped for all these questions to be answered.

TOTAL NUMBER OF SURVEYS UNDERTAKEN: 60

Number of males: 43 Number of females: 17

AVERAGE AGE GROUP OF THE VISITORS: AGES 18- 65 YEARS

Visitors below 18: 1 (female)

Visitors between ages 19 – 30: male: 3 female: 5

Visitors between ages 31 – 59: male: 38 female: 11

Visitors above age 60: male: 3

NUMBER OF VISITORS WHO CAME WITH:

FAMILY: 35

FRIENDS: 10

FAMILY AND RELATIVES: 7

FRIEND AND RELATIVES: 1

FAMILY AND FRIENDS: 2

ALONE: 4

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SCHOOL TRIP: 1

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF THE VARIOUS AGE GROUPS

Groups having Post Graduate Qualifications :

A majority of the people surveyed in the 31 – 59 age group (48 people), have post graduate

qualifications (15 of the surveyed) and some even have a B.Ed degree. The subjects include

Masters in Arts, Science, Education, Economics, etc. It has been observed that out of the 15

visitors (in this age group) holding post graduate qualifications, 11 of them show very high

proficiency in the English language, whereas 4 of the visitors show medium proficiency in

English, as in, they can read and write quite well, but aren’t ‘highly’ fluent in spoken English.

Obviously the one visitor under 18 years of age does not hold a post graduate qualification.

Among the remaining visitors, the group aged between 19 – 30 years has many visitors doing

their Masters in the areas of Arts, Sciences, Commerce, Technology and Management. Among

the visitors who are 60 and above (3 in number), only 1 of the visitor has a post graduate degree

(Mechanical Engineering).

Groups having a Bachelor of Commerce Qualification

11 of the visitors have B. Com qualification and are aged 22 to 68 years, with the average age

being 35. This group shows mixed proficiency levels in English; some of them have very high

proficiency in English (6 visitors) and 5 visitors have medium to poor proficiency levels. Poor

implies that they cannot understand spoken or written English fluently (they do have a limited

English vocabulary) and neither do they use it for communication.

Five of the visitors have visited the museum once before and this has been their second visit. All

the visitors of this group have come to the museum as tourists, 7 of them with family (including 2

with relatives) and the remaining with friends. Four of the visitors from this group are from

Mumbai and they have very high levels of English proficiency.

Mr. N D Raut (age 52, Mumbai, Sr. Manager for MNC) has come to the museum for the fourth

time. They felt that the museum was overall very well maintained and beautiful, but two of them

opined that “there are just too many objects in the display cases. It becomes saturating after a

certain point”.

Non Mumbai visitors of this group (from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and West

Bengal) had medium to poor English proficiency levels. They all loved the display of the

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artefacts, but wanted changes in the upkeep and maintenance of the museum – during the rainy

season care should be taken that water doesn’t pour in, Air conditioners should be installed, and

more seating should be made available. Moreover, many of the visitors also felt that “labelling

should be crisp, and a well outlined background and conclusion should be provided”, about the

artefacts. Mr. Sanjay Purohit (age 36, Rajasthan, railway Employee, Jodhpuri language) asked for

the presence of a “museum catalogue”, so that we know “what collections the museum contains

and we will know which floor houses which artefacts”.

Moreover, few visitors have also requested that detailed labelling and descriptions should be

provided in the Hindi language, along with bold and bigger labels.

Groups having a Bachelor of Arts Qualification

Six of the visitors have a B.A. qualification and are aged 21 to 47 years. Out of the six surveyed,

two are females (aged 21 and 45). All, except one of the visitors, have extremely high levels of

English proficiency. The mother tongue of these visitors included Urdu, English, Punjabi, Bengali

and Tamil. All come from various geographic locations of the country and are occupied in

government and private sector offices. Among this group, five of the visitors visited the museum

as a tourist, whereas one visitor, Ms. Farzana (school teacher, age 21, Mumbai) had come to the

museum with her class students as an educational activity. Surprisingly, five visitors of this group

said that they didn’t have enough time to see all the displays, since “our tourist bus will leave at

any moment”. Moreover, all of them complained about the poor quality of the labels and the lack

of directions for going from one gallery to another (since there are so many entrances to a

gallery). But overall, all the visitors in this group loved the museum and found it beautiful.

Groups wherein the visitors have less than a Bachelors Degree

Other qualifications would include, visitors who are 10th pass (3), 12th pass (4), matriculation (2)

and SSLC pass (1), 8th pass (2) and an undergraduate (Second Year B.Sc – 1), Diploma in

mechanics (1) and visitors who are graduates in other streams, such as, tourism (1), architecture

(1), computer engineering (2), mechanical engineering (1), and jewellery designing (1).

Thus, 14 of the visitors are under graduates and are aged 17 – 72 years, wherein a majority of

them are aged above 40.

One of the visitors who had high English proficiency was Mr. M. Johns, whose mother tongue is

Burmese. He is aged 72 and is a retired driver, now settled in Chattisgarh (Madhya Pradesh). He

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had a wonderful time in the museum and had come to Mumbai for his daughter’s medical

treatment and in spite of tensions regarding his daughter’s health, he had made it a point to visit

the museum, as he had heard high praises about it. His trip was worthwhile and he wished me a

successful career and a happy life!

Another interesting demographic of this group is that more than half of the visitors have come to

the Museum more than once. Mr. Nagesh B (age 50, mother tongue Marathi, SSC, banker) has

actually visited the museum for the fifth time and every time he makes sure to bring all his near

and extended family members. He particularly loves the few displays found on Shivaji Maharaj,

as well as the sculpture gallery. Mr. Mohammed (age 35, Malayalam, Kerela, 8 th pass) is another

visitor who has come to the museum four times already. He always comes with his friends and

has always hoped that a Malayali guide could be provided for people like him and many of his

fellow language speakers, who don’t have the knowledge of English or Hindi. Even though they

couldn’t understand the labels, they found the collections beautiful and Mr. Mohammed

especially liked the Mughal miniature paintings.

Many of the visitors of this group have also asked for the introduction of newer & varied

collections, since many of them have visited the museum before. Moreover, since many of them

have poor grasp of the English language, they found that the labels and descriptions provided

were inadequate for them.

Salman Akhtar (52, Dubai, 10th pass, Arabic mother tongue) loved the museum a lot and praised

India’s beauty. He also liked the ‘lively audio tour’, in English. Urmila T, a housewife from

Nagpur, loved the sculpture gallery, but suggests that the detailed descriptions of artefacts are not

necessary and should be shortened. An interesting opinion from Mr. M. Vijayan, from Madras

(age 53, SSLC, mother tongue Tamil) is that, “geographical history of mountains and other

physical features of the country should be put up in the museum”. Mohammad, from Kerala (age

35, 8th pass, mother tongue Malayalam) also suggested that he couldn’t understand or read the

labels provided, as his mother tongue wasn’t English or Hindi. He especially liked the Mughal

paints, and would have loved to understand the background of the miniatures in his language.

A.K. Chand, from Patiala in Punjab (age 39, mother tongue Hindi, 12th pass), appeared a bit

disgruntled with the collections, “all of the artefacts are just put together haphazardly, there seems

to be no sequence to them”. Hamza Davar, a cloth merchant from Gujarat who came with his

family found the museum to be beautiful but regretted that ‘there aren’t any detailed descriptions

22

of artefacts in Hindi’, further on, ‘there needs to be arrows or pointers between various galleries

showing us where to go’. He requested for a guide if, ‘the labels cannot be provided in Gujarati’.

Overall, most of the visitors in this group didn’t have a high English proficiency or fluency and

thus couldn’t understand or read the English labelling. Moreover, Hindi too not being their second

language, they were disappointed with the labels and lack of guides. Overall, this group found the

museum to be “perfect and beautiful”, but it could do with some minor improvements.

MOTHER TONGUE OF ALL THE VISITORS:

Interpreting what each of the respective language speakers (of a particular mother tongue)

felt about the labels and descriptions and the display of the artefacts:

A majority of the visitors in this group spoke Hindi as their first language, visitors. Urdu and

Marathi come second. Third most common language among the visitors was Tamil (5), followed

by Punjabi, Gujurati and Malayalam with four native speakers for each language. The other

languages (spoken by 6 visitors) include Burmese, Bengali, Maithili, Jodhpuri, and Parsi.

Visitors whose mother tongue is Hindi

16 visitors speak Hindi as their first language. Their age group ranged from 29 – 68 years. Out of

the 16 visitors, 5 of them have high levels of English proficiency; the rest (8 visitors), spoke and

understood English, but did not communicate in it on an everyday basis (medium proficiency). 3

of the visitors had a poor English proficiency; they found it difficult to understand spoken English

and didn’t use it at all for communication purpose. For six of the visitors, this is their second visit.

Says Mr. Manish G, a service man (aged 32) from Delhi, the museum is beautiful, but time

constraints do not permit us to view all the galleries or see all the artefacts properly…lighting

needs to be improved for the displays’, a view that is reflected by many visitors. In fact, visitor

Balwant Rai, 48 year old service man from Delhi said that, ‘we don’t even have the time to think

of what comments to give for this questionnaire or about improvements for the museum!’

Mr. A K Chand, a service man from Patiala says that ‘a map should be provided at the ground

floor showing us the various objects that the museum has and in which floor and gallery’. Mr.

D.P. Singh from Gauhati (Assam) felt that ‘the museum should be more focussed on

Maharashtrian and local culture’. Overall, the visitors felt that the museum is perfect, and

improvements needed to be made in the labelling area.

Visitors whose mother tongue is Urdu:

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10 visitors speak Urdu as their first language. Age group ranged from 21 to 58 years. Eight of the

visitors have a high level of English proficiency, while two visitors had a medium level of English

proficiency. Farzana, a 21 year old school teacher has come for the third time to the museum with

her school children, as part of their annual educational trip, ‘animal gallery is what I like the most

as it is very realistic’. Sajida Syed, 23 year old MA history student from Lucknow, ‘loves the

miniature gallery…the display could be improved with better lighting…but this museum is much

better than the Lucknow Museum’. Mr. Masood Sayani, (age 37, Hyderabad), a computer

professional, suggested that, ‘a history of the sculptures that are present outside in the park (near

the gates, as we enter the museum) should be provided’. He also wanted to see more glass and

crystal artefacts on display.

Mr. S. Musadiq, aged 28 from Lucknow (MA Psychology) was pretty emphatic about the

improvements needed by the museum, ‘isn’t it obvious? Make the labels bolder and give some

more details…get some more seating; fans…where are all the guides? More pictures should be

more available at the (Museum) shop’. Complaints also come from Ms. Banu Peer, who came to

see the Keshalankar exhibition (age 45, Mumbai, housewife with high English proficiency), ‘this

is my third visit here and the collections are the same…more seating should be provided…make

the labels bigger, with details about the artefacts’. Her husband, Mr. Aman Peer (age 58, Import

Export dealer) also echoed her view, ‘try to bring in new collections, especially since we come

here often’. But both agreed that the museum is a beautiful place to visit.

On the other hand, Mr. Ali Khan, a 38 year old Leather exporter from Lucknow (both Urdu &

Sindhi as mother tongue) was extremely happy after coming to the museum (this is his second

visit), ‘the staff are so informative & cheerful. They have been really helpful & co –

operative...the museum here has many artefacts that the Lucknow museum doesn’t have’.

Visitors whose mother tongue is Marathi:

7 visitors spoke Marathi as their first language and 5 of them have high English proficiency. 3 of

them have post graduate qualifications, SSC pass (1 visitor) & Diploma holder (1) both with poor

or negligible English proficiency. All, except one have visited the museum more than once.

Nagesh B, Banker from Lalbaug (age 50, SSC pass) has come to the museum almost 5 times and

feels that ‘more collections should be added to the museum’. He particularly liked Shivaji’s

display and the sculpture gallery. N.D. Raut, Senior Manager at an MNC (B.Com, Mumbai, high

English proficiency) has visited the museum 4 times and likes the miniature paintings a lot. He

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feels strongly against the display of ivory artefacts, as ‘the killing of all these elephants is bad’,

and believes that the museum should not be displaying or encouraging it. Shweta Rao (29,

advertising executive, Mumbai) believes that, ‘even though the museum was named after Shivaji

for political reasons there has to be a gallery dedicated to him with detailed history about Maratha

times’.

Visitors whose mother tongue is Tamil or Malayalam:

Since Tamil & Malayalam are close cousins in the language family, I decided to club together the

visitors (9 in all) who speak the above languages. Only 4 of the Tamil visitors and one of the

Malayali visitors have good English proficiency & are graduates in Engineering (2), commerce

(1), economics (1) and law (1). Abraham J, an advocate from Bhopal (Malayalam, age 39), had a

lot of complaints against the museum, ‘The stands are so dull. Where are the lights? All the

objects should not be crowded in one cabinet’, he said, referring to the galleries & cabinets in the

second floor. Ramya, a 17 year old student from Dubai (Malayalam) felt that the ‘museum is

beautiful as it is…but the labels need to be bold & descriptive’, a view that is echoed by Mr.

Vidhyadharan, a 48 year old ex – army service man from Kerala, ‘labelling needs to be clear’. P.

Kumaran, a computer engineer from Bangalore (Tamil, age 43) suggested that, ‘a drop box should

be provided at the entrance so that the visitors could write in their feed back about the museum

and their experience’.

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DISPLAY OF THE ARTEFACTS: LIGHTING AND POSITIONING

The number of visitors who liked the display of artefacts: 44

The number of visitors who didn’t like the display: 9

The number of visitors who thought that display was satisfactory: 7

Visitors who didn’t like the display of the artefacts and who thought that the displays could do

with some improvement had three common complaints: Firstly, lighting was poor for many of the

glass displays or was totally absent; secondly, labelling or detailed description was either poor or

absent from many of the displays and thirdly, visitors felt that many a times, too many artefacts

were displayed in the same cabinet, making it (glass cabinet) appear crowded.

Let us analyse if changes can be fashioned for this aspect of the museum. Firstly, visitors are

genuinely not aware that too much lighting can cause damage to sensitive artefacts, like paintings

and other fine arts materials such as textiles. In the case of sculptures, they are displayed in the

ground floor of the museum, where there is ample of natural light; the size of the sculptures,

moreover, doesn’t necessitate excessive lighting. When it comes to bronze artefacts, lighting is

necessary to highlight the minute detailing seen on them. The golden glow of bronze artefacts

(figurines, lamps, jewellery, etc) gets enhanced with the proper lighting. Visitors have no

complains towards the display of bronze, ivory or stone artefacts. Complains came towards the

display of the artefacts in the second floor “outer rotunda”, where European decorative artefacts

(including spoons, vases,) and the Chinese Japanese galleries are displayed. Many of the glass

cases did not have adequate lighting or labelling.

Actually, it should be noted that while this survey was being conducted, the monsoon season was

underway; cloudy skies and constant rains did make the museum appear gloomy, dull and damp.

Artefacts, which must have otherwise been found in good natural lighting, appeared dull and

uncared for.

Another complaint was the height at which many artefacts were displayed inside the glass

cabinets. Visitors, young and old alike found it cumbersome to bend down and look at artefacts

and press their faces against the glass to read the minutely written labels.

Labelling and description of the artefacts

Number of visitors who read the labels: 49

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Number of visitors who read the labels sometimes 9for certain artefacts only): 8

Visitors who didn’t read the label at all: 3

Many reasons are cited by visitors who don’t read the labels properly or those who do not read the

labels at all. The three primary reasons were (1) lack of time. (2) The labels were absent (3)

certain artefacts didn’t interest them enough to read the labels provided for them.

An overwhelming number of visitors are tourists (51). These visitors come to Mumbai in tourist

buses, where in all the “hotspots” of the city are visited, with 30 minutes allotted to each tourist

site. On a practical level, the museum demands more than a mere 30 minutes for seeing the

various galleries and sections. With the visitors in a hurry to catch the bus, reading the labels for

each and every artefact becomes a bit of impossibility.

Secondly, the labels provided were found to be a bit inadequate. A majority of the visitors asked

for a descriptive background or history for all the artefacts. They maintain that whether or not

they have the time to read the labels, the museum should provide descriptive labels. Many of the

visitors who weren’t tourists opined that, “we need to know more than the time period and

civilization of an artefact. What was the purpose of the artefact? Who created it? Any incidents or

events connecting to the artefact, etc should also be mentioned”.

It was interesting to know that a handful of professionals also come to the museum to derive

inspiration for their work, as can be seen from this jewellery designer, Renu Kashyap (Mumbai,

age 31), “I came here to see some of the Indian jewellery on display as I am working on ethnic

designs for my jewellery collection. So I hope to find inspiration here”.

I personally observed many tourists on the “Mumbai Darshan” tourist bus breeze into the museum

breeze through the various galleries and breeze out again. Many of them expressed their

disappointment at not being able to enjoy the museum at leisure. Some visitors in fact claimed

that they come here (to the museum) three to four times (once a year) to solely study all the

artefacts in the museum.

But it does seem a bit unjust to the local visitors that they do not have descriptive labels to

understand the background of the artefacts. Local visitors visit the museum more than 3- 4 times

a year and it would be an asset to the museum to draw in more local crowds.

The most admired galleries

The three most loved galleries were: Arms and Armoury, Japanese and Chinese gallery and the

Natural History gallery. An army officer revealed that, “since I am an army man, I am fond of all

27

these weapons that teach us about the history of India’s battle tactics and the weapons which the

kings and soldiers must have used”. Many army officers also replied that they loved the arms and

armoury gallery because they could understand the collections and identify with it.

The main reason why the gallery is loved so much is that each and every artefact is labelled

perfectly, the lighting is adequate and the description provided for the various displays is quite

informative and interesting. Moreover, the various drawings, sketches etc induced the visitors to

read the detailed descriptions of the weapons.

Visitors loved the Chinese Japanese gallery because of the sheer beauty and exquisiteness of the

delicate artefacts on display. The blue and white ceramics and porcelain figures, the paintings and

other decorative items (textiles), were found to be extremely unique and rare. Although China and

Japan both come from ancient civilizations of Asia, their culture is vastly distinct from ours.

Hence, the Chinese and Japanese galleries are such a wonder to the visitors, as they can get a

glimpse of what our neighbouring civilizations are like.

The Natural History Section is once again admired by the young and old alike. People find the

display very “natural” and “realistic”. More than that, one can understand that birds and animals

hold a special attraction for children and parents too find that they can understand the display.

Historical objects on the other hand distance themselves from our understanding due to the time

frame and relevance of their existence. A common man will simply not find it in his interest to

gaze longingly at a miniature painting belonging to the Mughal dynasty. But a realistic display of

birds and animals, which people can easily recognize and comment upon without any expert

knowledge of the subject displayed, is what draws visitors to the Natural History Section.

Questions were raised as to why there are not many displays pertaining to Shivaji’s life? “since

this museum is named Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, why are there such few artefacts about

Shivaji?” Another visitor also opined that there has to be a sketch provided about Shivaji’s life,

his rise to power and how has he become an icon for Maharashtra. In this context, Shivaji’s court

documents, the clothing and other jewellery used during his time, and the various coins circulated

during Shivaji’s reign could be acquired and displayed.

Visitors also did not comment on the metal artefacts, including the beautiful bronze figurines

from South India displayed in the ground floor galleries as well as the Nepal - Tibet artefacts.

Neither is any comments found on the display of artefacts from the Indus Valley civilization. It is

sad to realize that people do not identify with their country’s ancient civilization. The artefacts

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displayed are all part of the material culture of our ancestors, but visitors could hardly identify

with them on a personal level. Age and relevance once again played a crucial factor.

One is not surprised that many visitors didn’t comment on the sculpture gallery. India is a land

where temples, monuments and sculptures are found at every street corner. The artefacts

displayed at the sculpture gallery, will be exquisite to the student of history and Indian culture,

but the common man and museum visitors did not find anything “novel” about them. Moreover,

the kind of labelling that is provided is inadequate and dull. In fact, the talk found on the audio

tour for the sculpture gallery is enlightening and an enriching experience, as the narrator makes

the artefacts come alive for the listener. Moreover, the display of the sculptures should be

improved to a large extent; better lighting is necessary, windows have to be widened, the

backdrop of the glass cabinets have to be made cleaner and brighter. Moreover, no one is

interested in seeing defaced or damaged sculptures or sculptures where half the body parts are

missing. Good colour photographs should be used for this purpose, along with a brief description

of the sculpture’s history.

Another gallery that found some admiration was the European Paintings gallery on the second

floor of the museum. Here visitors had the opportunity to see some of the members of the Tata

family. Moreover, the novelty of the paintings was finally understood by a few visitors. The

European paintings, which include full length portraits of beautiful women and regal men and

other scenes of men and women together are such that viewed from any angle, it will appear that

the eyes of the “painted people” will seem as if they are following you. Such is the popularity of

these paintings that they have been dubbed as the 3 – d gallery by some of the gallery attendants!

Personal Analysis on visitor behaviour:

When I started on this survey, I felt that I wouldn’t get a positive feedback or an enthusiastic

response; because that is exactly what I got from a majority of the visitors that I surveyed. They

were polite, eager to give their honest opinion and finally, very constructive in their criticism.

Some of the people genuinely were interested in the fate of museums and wanted to see positive

changes in the way a museum exists and functions.

I actually wanted to concentrate on taking a survey of people who came from villages and small

towns, but couldn’t stick to the objective. Firstly, there is no correct or particular way of

identifying village folks, as they too have started wearing ‘western clothes’, and not the typical

dhoti kurta that you associate them with. Moreover, the month that I was doing my internship

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(June) I somehow happened to meet mostly town and city folks, who came to visit Mumbai as

tourists. Anyways, I got a comprehensive result even from the surveys I undertook of city

dwellers.

I generally didn’t have any plan of conducting a survey. I just decided to ‘accost’ the jauntily

moving visitor and politely request him or her for a survey for the benefit of improving the

museum’s environment and making the museum a better place for all visitors. This introduction

generally broke the ice between the respected gentlemen or lady and me and I fired off my

questions.

Before taking the surveys, I spend three days in just observing visitor attitude or behaviour. I had

rather a naïve notion that everyone who would enter a museum would be enamoured by all the

beautiful and exquisite artefacts and would spend time looking at each and every display, read

each and every label and try to enjoy the museum in its entirety. But my notions were soon put to

rest. Within a day I realized that not everyone who comes to the museum, do so for the explicitly

purpose of appreciating their heritage or enjoying a beautiful display of unique and uncommon

objects.

The first hurdle in really appreciating a museum is its sheer size – the museum is a huge place,

with thousands of object on display, over two floors, covering time periods and geographical

regions that are completely disparate from each other. It becomes a bit overwhelming and tedious

to view each and every artefact and after a point, they just begin to blur together!

Secondly, visitors are mostly tourists who arrive by the tourist buses, which are rather in a tearing

hurry to move to the next ‘tourist hotspot’, thus, viewing or appreciating every gallery in a matter

of 35 minutes is laughable.

Thirdly, it is arrogant to think that everyone should be able to appreciate their heritage. Many of

the galleries, such as the Chinese and Japanese gallery, European decorative items, and even the

Nepal – Tibet gallery are quite unfamiliar and alien to the common man. The artefacts displayed

are definitely not displayed in Temples or other places of frequent visit, where people might relate

to them personally. As such, many artefacts just become items of curiosity rather than an

opportunity to really understand different cultures and celebrate these differences.

Fourthly, visitors (a majority of them) do not enter a museum with a frame of mind that says, ‘We

have entered a portal of learning and pride of our land’. Many of us simply enter a museum to

literally have a good time by strolling through two floors of ‘pretty objects’, thus, expecting every

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visitor to appreciate the significance of a museum or learning about various civilizations and their

arts and crafts is asking for too much.

In the beginning, I approached only those visitors who I observed took some effort in viewing the

objects and reading the labels provided. I also approached visitors who took an effort in

explaining to their children about any particular object they liked and taking time to really

appreciate the artefacts. Such people, as I had expected, really had constructive opinions to

supply. They understood what the museum lacked in relation to a visitor and gave honest answers.

Gender distinction: Visiting the museum in families, many of the northern women did not even

raise the pallav of their saris to glance beyond their sequestered bodies. Obediently they followed

their husbands. Some women would touch the exhibits of popular gods like Ganesha, Shiva or

Vishnu or even Nandi and perform the regular obeisance providing a very good example of the

fact that not everybody responds to museum objects as is commonly understood.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MUSEUM

After detailed analysis of the visitors’ response, I have made an interpretation of how their

responses could lead to the museum becoming a better experience for the visitors. The museum

has been appreciated for its beauty, its vast collections, its ambience and the wonder it fills all the

visitors with. Many of the visitors simply didn’t want any changes made to the museum, as one

gentleman opines, “Only an interior decorator could make the museum more beautiful. It’s perfect

as it is!” By and large, everyone had a unanimous opinion when it came to the display of the

collection, “It needs proper lighting and better labels”. Let us see, what the survey results tell us

about the changes people want to see in the museum.

PROS AND CONS OF LABELLING AND DETAILING :

“Some people criticize the clinical aspect of the modern gallery…but such criticisms seem

sometimes to betray a lack of feeling for the pictures themselves. In an attempt to recreate the

period setting of a particular picture, there is a danger of giving too great an importance to

historical authenticity. A painting can thus be reduced to the status of an archaeological specimen.

The process become self defeating…originally designed to fulfil a very limited function, a

painting may offer very much more for the imagination and this quality places it apart from the

vast majority of works of its kind. It has meaning outside its original circumstances and for people

living perhaps centuries later. It is this factor that distinguishes an art gallery from a historical

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museum. The exhibits are there for people to find present pleasures in them. However, paintings

are not always self explanatory and for the visitor confronted with examples of Western Art from

the 13th to the 19th century, some guidance is desirable” – Michael Wilson, 1977

As can be seen from the results of the survey, visitors want each and every artefact to be labelled,

giving the date, period and genre of the piece. Moreover, visitors require a background and

history of the artefact, including the civilization or dynasty to which it belonged, its utility during

a particular time, any incidents or events associated with it, etc. A common refrain from visitors is

that, we visit the Museum more than once, so if during one visit we are unable to read the labels

and descriptions, we will go over it in our subsequent visits.

Moreover, labels need to be bold, that is, the font size has to be increased and it should be

displayed in a ‘vertical and raised’ position, so that people do not have to bend down to read each

and every label.

THE LANGUAGE TO BE USED FOR THE LABELS

This is another area of contention for the visitors. Amongst those surveyed, a majority of them

spoke Hindi and Marathi as their first language, thus the bilingual labelling was appropriate for

those just wanting factual information about the artefacts. But one must remember that a majority

of visitors to the museum come from the interiors and small town as well as from South India,

where Hindi as a language has still not gained acceptability in schools. Though Hindi is the

national language, a majority of the visitors neither speak nor understand it. What’s more, even

English is the language of the urbane metropolitan cities and larger towns; in such a scenario,

visitors suggested that multilingual guides should be provided by the museum for visitors who

come in a group. Moreover, some of the visitors pointed out that just as there are audio tours in

international languages, guides could be provided for languages such as Gujurati, Bengali, Tamil

and Malayalam. Interestingly, many visitors wished for a guide in spite of understanding the

labels and descriptions, as “the spoke word is more appealing to listen when it comes to history”.

Added to which, the audio tours are much too expensive for a family of four, where the children

too want to understand the display.

CHILDREN AND THEIR OPINION OF THE MUSEUM

On a very informal basis I asked 20 children (aged 8 – 14) on their experience in a museum. It

was not surprising to hear from the really young children that they found the museum “big and

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beautiful”, or this really interesting observation from a young girl from Kolkata, who wanted to

know why are “such old and broken things’ being admired by everyone! Some mature children

too demanded a “teacher” (meaning guide) who could explain to them in a clear, lucid and lively

manner the history of the museum and the importance of all the artefacts. One such young boy

(Mohit Sudan, 17) from Mumbai city itself made a beautiful observation, “It’s so nice to see our

heritage being displayed in a safe environment, but these objects need to be made more “alive”

(made more interesting to the visitors). More interactivity is needed where youngsters can

understand the reason why a particular artefact was created and what ultimately brought it to this

place. Lectures and Educational activities are hardly ever publicized by the museum”. When I

pointed out that the Museum does conduct regular lectures and workshops for young students he

retorted back saying, “Are the school children really mature and sensitive enough to understand

the concept of heritage, culture and national pride?” Point noted.

THE NEED TO ENLIVEN ARTEFACTS

What museum professional need to understand is that just by enclosing artefacts behind glass

cases don’t make everyone realize that they (the objects) lived and breathed in a time and era

when none of us were present. They soaked in the history of a place, they were shaped and

moulded and given life to by dedicated and passionate artisans and artists and now stand mute

testimony to our heritage – our roots. The following paragraph by the illustrious Karl

Khandalawala in his book “Indian Sculpture and Painting”, 1938, speaks up for the creators of

artefacts, ‘I have already pointed out that the historical and still more so the religious background

of Indian art cannot be neglected, but nevertheless, it should be realized that it is fallacious to lay

undue stress on the oft repeated theory that the Indian artist was unaware that he was producing a

work of art and further that he was unconcerned to do so. Though popular creeds demanded the

creation of cult images and the walls of temples and monasteries were painted in response to the

requirements of religious doctrines, fundamentally every work of art has resulted from certain

primary instincts “was not the graving of a thing in brass or stone, was not the painting of a

reindeer in the depths of a Palaeolithic cave, a practical method of saying to the moment “stay

longer, thou art so beautiful!”

Many of the displays were crowded together in one cabinet itself, this is especially true for the

second floor galleries. There were too many types of porcelain and other ceramic items put

together, as such, people weren’t able to appreciate the individual beauty and uniqueness of each

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artefact. Moreover, visitors tend to see all the glassware and pottery as one homogenous mass and

lose interest in reading the various descriptions of the Chinese – Japanese collections. This issue

is easier to understand because even the museum professionals can see that all the artefacts on

display in the Chinese gallery do look almost homogenous and care should be taken to present

this collection in a varied manner.

Further to this, in order to make the artefacts “come alive” for visitors, charts, diagrams and

drawings should be provided of how a particular artefact was used in its period. Seeing the

practical application of the artefacts that are now used for display purposes, will help connect the

visitors to the collections on a personal level.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES

Over all, the visitors found the museum an amazing experience. But when asked for suggestions

for improvement of the museum, many visitors had practical requests. Many of the visitors

wanted adequate seating arrangements at the top floors, especially for elderly people and

women, staying on foot for the whole museum visit was a bit taxing.

Secondly, an ENTRY and EXIT sign should be placed at the doorways of all galleries and

sections. It is mandatory for the museum for the museum to put up labels and signs denoting the

ENTRANCE to the Natural History Section. Although this is the most widely visited and loved

gallery, many people simply miss seeing the place because they failed to see the corridor leading

to this section. As such, many visitors also failed to notice the presence of a canteen.

Guides should be provided for people who do not understand Hindi as well as English.

A Catalogue of the museum collection should be provided at the ground floor gallery. So that

serious museum visitors (those who want to understand the collections, read all the labels and

descriptions, etc) can have a truly worthwhile experience at the museum. The brochure provided

doesn’t do justice to the vast collections of the museum. Moreover, a catalogue will allow visitors

to decide which galleries they want to see and where to start from. Many visitors who have visited

the museum before, have a particular gallery that they are eager to understand much better – a

catalogue would be invaluable for this purpose.

Camera pass facility should be improved. Many of the visitors didn’t read the SIGN posted at

the entrance that they have to take a pass (make a payment) for the use of cameras (including

video cameras). A bold sign should be placed at the TICKET COUNTER itself to make sure that

no confusion arises regarding the use of cameras. Moreover, many visitors complained that they

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weren’t allowed to click many pictures, thus good quality pictures and postcards should be

provided at the museum shop. One visitor, Ms. Deepal Shah, (aged 27, M.Com) from Gujarat

even requested that the ‘clicking of snaps should be made free’.

Only a handful of visitors were aware of the museum shop and a lesser number of visitors visited

it. The museum shop is located at the foyer and as such, people simply forget to pay it a visit.

Moreover, with the shortage of time, many tourists simply cannot afford to peruse the articles and

books available at the museum shop at leisure. The museum shop should be made more

prominent, perhaps with a board/ sign large enough to attract people’s attention. Many of the

visitors lamented that they couldn’t get good quality photographs of their favourite artefacts.

Books should be provided on many more topics pertaining to art, history and culture. Visitors

who did visit the museum shop loved the paper weights, mobile phone covers, jewellery and

postcards available.

Many visitors also asked why the park wasn’t open to visitors. Since the canteen is crowded with

people who are having their lunch or snacks, many visitors wanted a place where they could just

sit and relax and enjoy the peace of the park with the beautiful view of the museum.

The use of elevators was requested by some visitors, as such; many elderly visitors and people

with physical ailments did use the elevators and were ably assisted by the gallery attendants. A

handful of visitors also requested the installation of air conditioners at the museum. Climbing two

floors was no mean task, as they had to walk through a lot of galleries and the humid climate of

Mumbai was quite bothersome for many. Mr. Salman Akhtar (age 42, Mall owner, Dubai, 10th

pass), gave the museum high marks and requested that Air conditioners be provided as the “hot

and humid climate of Mumbai was unbearable”.

HOW WAS THE OVERALL VISITOR EXPERIENCE?

As has been stated previously, visitors had a wonderful time at the museum. It was a visual treat

to see so many beautiful and exquisite artefacts under one roof. Many visitors were tourists; as

such they still managed to enjoy their whirlwind tour of the museum.

The gallery attendants received a lot of praise and appreciation for their co – operation, helpful

nature and knowledge of the artefacts on display. One visitor suggested that for those who didn’t

get a camera pass from downstairs, a camera pass could be obtained from the various gallery

attendants. Moreover, the gallery attendants, with their fluency in Hindi and Marathi (or other

regional languages) and their knowledge of the collection, could also act as guides to those who

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wanted one. This possibility should be pursued by the museum by providing a brief training/

workshop for the gallery attendants and ascertaining whether such a venture can be undertaken.

Many visitors also stated that compared to other museums (National Museum, Delhi, State

Museum of Lucknow, etc), the Prince of Wales Museum had nothing new to offer. The same

collections are found in these museums as well, with only a few different artefacts. As such, many

visitors, especially those who came to the museum regularly, asked for the presence of new

artefacts at least once in two years. One young visitor (Kaivan Merchant, aged 22) having

travelled to Europe, wanted the Prince of Wales Museum to be “as high tech and technologically

advanced” as the museums overseas. Few of the visitors wanted to see interactive experience

between the artefacts on display and the visitors. A touch screen computer wouldn’t be amiss!!

It is surprising that not a single visitor mentioned the Karl Khandalawala gallery display on the

first floor of the museum! Surprising because this is the most beautiful, well displayed and well

maintained section of the museum. One will be surprised that the museum houses such a gallery

in is premises, due to the sheer “modernism” that can be seen with the Khandalawala gallery. The

place has an exclusive feel to it, with the lighting technique not found in other sections of the

museum.

Only two visitors talked about the Keshalankar Exhibition that was going on during the month

of June. The exhibition, being displayed just beyond the Karl Khandalawala gallery was

extremely well displayed and labelled. The sequence of the articles was well thought out and

provided a visual treat to the viewer.

The museum should take efforts in coming up with an exhibition once in 6 months. This will

ensure that the museum stays in touch with the local visitors. Moreover, it should take an effort in

publicising these events and stop depending on passive promotion or publicity or word of mouth

to advertise events, workshops and lectures. Many city folks, who are truly interested in the

activities of the museum, do not know how or where workshops on history, art and museology are

held. It is for the interest of such people that the museum should strive to become a more

interactive and open institution.

ETHICS OF DISPLAYING

On a personal level, I didn’t appreciate the artefacts made of ivory being kept on display. I was

actually surprised when a handful of people also pointed out that they didn’t like to see ivory

ornaments and other decorative items on display. Said Mr. Sandeep Singh (age 41, tourist from

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Jalandhar), “The art of the elephant’s tusks should not be displayed”. Another comment can be

found from Ms. Sheila Menezes (age 45, Hyderabad, banker), “so many of those poor elephants

were hunted and killed”. Ms. Mumtaz M an Economics professor from Hyderabad also strongly

echoed their sentiments and said, ‘I don’t think the museum should display ivory artefacts

especially after the Indian government has banned the killing of elephants’.

I did explain to the concerned and aggrieved visitors that the ivory artefacts were made hundreds

of years ago and are a symbol of the handicraft and skills of the artisans of bygone eras.

Moreover, the use of ivory was now banned by the Government of India and thus no ivory

artefacts were made by killing an elephant. Of course, poaching (a crime punishable by

imprisonment and fine) of elephants for their tusks keeps going on in various pockets of interior

India, but the ivory artefacts on display belonged to the past and were not recent. What the

visitors found appalling about the ivory displays is that it promotes the killing of innocent animals

for the purpose of human art and recreation. People should be made aware that it is ethically

wrong to use the parts of animals after killing it purposely for the sole purpose of “decoration of

homes”. Such activities should not be condoned. A brief description about the activities of the

medieval kings, like hunting and how elephant tusks came to be used as decorative artefacts

should be provided besides the display.

UNDERSTANDING THE VISITOR – MUSEUM RELATIONSHIP

Another important thing museums have to determine is what influences and elicits a response

from museum visitors towards works of art - is it their educational background and level of

literacy or rather, their aesthetic sensibility, which may or may not be influenced and shaped by

their educational backgrounds. This understanding is crucial, especially since Museums are

perceived to be elitist institutions to a large extent, by the small town and rural populace.

Moreover, another pertinent question that was raised was, “Do museum visitors appropriate

museum exhibits within the range of heir own vision and reconceptualize them according to their

cultural experiences, exposure and desires?”

An architect visitor lamented that many city folks (Mumbai inhabitants) simply weren’t aware of

the “existence of the museum. The museum is an integral part of Mumbai culture”. He suggested

that the museum should do aggressive publicity to draw in the local crowds. Events and

workshops should be announced in the newspapers, so that such information can be utilized by all

the keen youngsters and professionals who love history and heritage.

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CONCLUSION :

ociety in general rarely recognizes the significance or relevance of history. As long as it’s

not our personal past, the collective history of mankind seems of little import to us.SMany of us in fact truly cannot relate to the cocooned heritage and culture showcased in our

museums, which are (obviously) centuries and millennia old, and therefore, do not hold any

temporal significance to our present lifestyle and society.

As such, people simply fail to value or attach any sentiments to artefacts that are salvaged or

treasured from the bowels of the past.  It is therefore commendable that a few hundred institutions

around the world carry on the mammoth task of studying, preserving, analyzing, interpreting and

classifying material evidence that give us an elusive yet concrete oeuvre of mankind’s identity.

Indeed, our very existence in the present is dependent and hinged on our past and George

Santayana has rightly said, “Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it”

In today's post industrialist, post modernist and post globalized age, the subject of history, and

museums for that matter, doesn't elicit an enthusiastic response from the general populace, save

from the professionals of the field and a portion of the public who attach aesthetic values to works

of art. In such a scenario, the very existence of a functioning museum that pulls in hoards of

crowds every day, on a consistent basis, is a marvel. But the purpose of a museum isn't to simply

pull in the crowds; each and every citizen, belonging to ‘a’ particular nationality, or linguistic or

ethnic background (or rather, irrespective of his background) should be able to understand the

fundamental reason for a museum’s existence and determine whether it (museum) fulfils its raison

d'etre.

On the one hand, art is a reflection of the individual’s identity and on the other it reflects the

subtle essence of the collective aspirations of society. A work of art is a material evidence of the

kind of social, political, economical and cultural era that the artists lived and worked in. Since art

forms an essential evidentiary component of mankind’s history and collective identity, it becomes

very pertinent and crucial to analyze, interpret and understand the purposes and consequences of

works of art. More important is the dissemination of the knowledge gained, to the public at large,

so that people can collectively begin to identify with historical artefacts as a sort of personal

memento, heralding echoes of a distant and sometimes alien past, to be cherished as equally dear

as their very own.

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My one month internship at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya helped me to

comprehend a tiny portion of this behemoth of an institution, the Museum, who I now believe are

silent custodians of stones that unflinchingly protect and preserve our collective roots - our

identity as MAN.

A museum is almost like a living entity; it needs to be nurtured with sensitivity and patience.

Moreover, in order for a museum to really thrive and reach the public, the Director needs to have

a ‘vision’ for the museum; how can one acquire such collection as will suit the local atmosphere

and ethos, how can an exhibition be influential in shaping people’s perception of their heritage,

how can the museum in its entirety be made people friendly and art be made accessible

intellectually, aesthetically and tangibly to the public – all this constitutes the vision of the

director. And thus, it is important that the reins of a museum is held in the hands of a selfless,

motivated and sensitive director – who understands the limitations of his environment and at the

same time is ready to function and thrive within the system. The latter seems especially important,

since the museum is governed by a Board of Trustees, who will have their own vision for the

museum. Acquiring and maintaining a collection is also dependent on such commercial and

mundane aspect such as rate of the property per square feet and the budget of the trustees. Thus,

one realizes that acquisition of artefacts is a practical decision and cannot be influenced by one’s

emotions or personal likes and dislikes.

In a developing country, where people are more concerned with sustenance and survival on a

daily basis, aesthetic entertainment comes way down the list of “things to do in life”.

Moreover, language does play a crucial communication barrier

A museum would hopefully grow into a place where people of all ages and backgrounds can find

their space to admire, appreciate and express their cultural, linguistic and regional inclinations.

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Bibliography

Desai, Kalpana, “Jewels on the Crescent – Masterpieces of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya”, Museum Catalogue

“A Centennial Bouquet – The Khandalavala Collection of Indian Art in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya”

Khandalavala, Karl, “Indian Sculpture and Painting”, 1938

“Manual of Curatorship – A guide to museum practice”

Chandra, Moti, “Indian Art”

Dwivedi, V.P. (ed.), “Museums and Museology: New Horizons”

Khan, Aftab Ahmad, “Islamic Calligraphy”

Brend, Dr. Barbara, “Islamic Art”

Choudhury, Anil Roy, “Art Museum Documentation and Practical Handling”

Harley, J.B. and Woodward, David, “Cartography in the traditional Islamic and South Asian Societies”

Mandel, Gabriele, “How to Recognize Islamic Art”

Powell, Robert (ed.), “Exploring Architecture in Islamic Cultures – Criticism in Architecture”

Dudley, Dorothy H., “Museum Registration Methods”

MAPIN and Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Intimate Worlds – Indian paintings from the Alvin O. Bellak Collection”

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