MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES AND THEIR CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Government of India set up and have been administering a chain of museums and libraries, each with distinguishing features. They have also been extending substantial financial assistance to a few others, considered to be of great importance. Besides, they have been following a few schemes relating to their conservation and development. An account of the activities in this field during the year is given in this chapter.
MUSEUMS Museums are repositories of cultural, historical, technical, industrial or other kinds of materials and help in the preservation of the national cultural heritage. The Government of India maintain the National Museum at New Delhi and administer some other Central Museums, viz. (i) National Museum, New Delhi; (ii) Indian Museum, Calcutta; (iii) Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad; (iv) Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta; (v) National Museum of Man; (vi) National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (vii) National Gallery of Modern Art and (viii) Science Museums.
National Museum, New Delhi The Museum continued its activities in various fields such as acquisition, exhibitions, conservation and education.
Acquisition The collections of the museum Were further Augmented with the inclusion of 500 art objects acquired through purchases and gifts. Some of the outstanding objects are 11 country locks from Rajasthan; embroidery with gold threads of Rajasthan; a rare silver portrait coin of the Satavahana ruler of the 2nd century A.D. and an illustrated manuscript from Orissa and a Jain manuscript of Kalpasutra from Ahmedabad.
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Exhibitions The temporary exhibitions organized included (i) Einstein : His Life and Work; (ii) Copies of Indian Murals, including the, reconstruction of one of the Ajanta Caves; (iii) Thanjavur Paintings; and (iv) Indian Art At Paris.
Seven illustrated lectures by eminent Indian and foreign scholars were organised tinder the programme of "Extension Lectures and Gallery Talks",
Other Activities (i) The Life of Krishna in Indian Art by Dr. P. Banerjee was brought out. It has been awarded the first prize for excellence in printing and design under National Awards;
(ii) Eight hundred Volumes were acquired by the Museum library;
(iii) A three months' training course on conservation of paintings was conducted by the Museum;
(iv) One hundred and fifty educational and cultural kits were prepared;
(v) A workshop "Teaching and Research in Museology in Indian Universities" sponsored by the University Grants Commission was organised;
(vi) A six-week refresher training course in museology was held and two trainees deputed by the Sikkim Government were trained for one year.
Indian Museum, Calcutta
Exhibitions The following exhibitions were organised
(i) 'Aspects of Child Life in. Indian Paintings' to mark the International Year of the Child.
(ii) 'Indian Museum through Century, to mark 100 cars of the opening of the galleries in the present museum building.
(iii) 'Kalighat Paintings' to mark the 289th year of foundation of the city of Calcutta.
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(iv) 'Cultural Heritage of India in Postal Stamps' to mark the 125th anniversary of the release of postal stamps in India.
Publications The following books, bulletins and catalogues were published :-
(i) Remains of Bharbut Stupa by Shri Arabinda Ghosh (Monograph No. 9).
(ii) Kushana, Coins of the Land of Five Rivers by Dr.B.N. Mukherjee (Monograph No. 12).
(iii) A catalogue of the exhibits displayed in the exhibition 'Indian Museum through Century'.
Acquisitions (i) Twenty specimens of Cho masks collected from Cho- rida in Purulia for the Anthropology Section from field exploration;
(ii) Six decorated muslandi mats collected from Jalda, Sabang P.S. Dist. Midnapur from a field exploration for the Anthropology Section.
(iii) A few paintings of Asit Halder, Abdul Chaughtai, Jamini Roy and Kshitindranath Majumder acquired through purchase for the Art Section.
(iv) An embroidered Chadar and an Italian stone sculp- ture for the Art Section.
(v) Three Dhakai sarees of more than 100 years old were acquired as gift for the Art Section.
Other Activities (i) The Mobile Exhibition on Indian History and Archaeology visited various districts of West Bengal.
(ii) One hundred and twenty-two educational films were screened at various places;
(iii) A documentary film was produced for Calcutta TV.
(iv) Nine lectures and gallery talks were held.
(v) Practical training in Museology was imparted to 12 post-graduate students of Calcutta University.
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(vi) Three hundred and ninety three new books were purchased for the library of the Museum.
(vii) Two seminars were organised.
(viii) Cultural programmes including film-shows, dramas, music concerts were organised.
Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad
Conservation About 400 objects of different media were given preservative, and restorative treatment.
Exhibitions and Lectures The following exhibitions and lectures were held:-
(i) An exhibition "Tobacco-its Impact on Art", in connect- ion with the birthday celebrations of Salar Jung III. A souvenir brought out by the Indian Tobacco Company, Calcutta was also released on this occasion.
(ii) An exhibition "Children's, Art".
(iii) A lecture on "Salar Jung III and His times".
(iv) A gallery talk on carpets.
Installation of Recorded Commentary System The equipments for recorded commentary system received from Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute have been installed in Salar Jung gallery and Indian Miniature gallery and the commentary on the objects of these galleries have been recorded in four languages.
Birthday Celebrations of Salar Jung III The birthday of Salar Jung III was celebrated from September 7- 13, 1979. Cash prizes of Rs. 250 each and also commendation certificates for outstanding services were awarded to two best workers of the museum on the day of inauguration. A cultural get-together of the employees and cultural programmes were also organised as part of celebrations. Sports and games competitions were also held among the employees of the museum.
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Other Activities (i) Reorganisation of Gallery No. 6-Indian Textiles, is in progress.
(ii) Educational film shows were held.
(iii) In connection with the International Year of the Child, a painting competition was conducted for students.
Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta Special efforts for adding to the number and variety of historical and art objects emanating from Indian sources have resulted in the acquisition of paintings by celebrated Indian artists like Jamini Roy and Bhabani Charan Law, Kalighat drawings, pats, old lithographs, besides specimens of Indian handicraft like 'Kantha', scroll paintings and objects representing folk and tribal art. These have given to the Memorial a new dimension. The Memorial has enriched its collections through kind gifts of two Tibetan thangkas by H. H. The Dalai Lama, of 107 terracotta, pieces and scroll plaintings by the custodians of the collection of late David McCutchion, of a set of 400 books and journals on art by Shri P.C. Law of Calcutta besides large- sized rare paintings by Tilly Kettle depicting Nawab Sujauddalullah and Emperor Shah Alam among others and works of excellent art on historical objects undertaken in the 70s of the 18th century. The Conservation Units are now in a position to intensify their activities due to the purchase of essential equipments on the one hand and the higher course of intensive training in the U. K. made available, free of charge, to the Restorer, through the courtesy of the Curtauld Institute of London on the other. As an effective step towards organising a Centre of Advanced Study on Calcutta, special care has been taken to collect and preserve documents of historical importance. In collaboration with the Directorate of Land Record and Survey, Government of West Bengal and the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, a project has been drawn up and work has commenced on preservation of old maps and plans of Calcutta and suburbs and preparation of copies of original maps and plans for the benefit of scholars. The Research Unit, in addition to compilation of a register of photographs of town of old Calcutta, supplemented with biographical sketches on leading Indian personalities resident in old Calcutta, has completed the text of a comprehensive catalogue on water colour drawings in the collection of the Memorial. The academic programme, included 14 lectures, and five temporary exhibitions. besides publica- tions specially intended to bring the Memorial and educational
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institutions closer together and to acquaint the public with the contents of the Memorial. A reorientation course on the Museum's exhibits was held. A quiz contest on museum objects limited to school children emphasised the potentialities of the Memorial as a centre of education.
National Museum of Man, Bhopal The National Museum of Man has been conceived as an institution where man And his activities from the earliest prehistoric times shall be dealt with. The main focus of the museum will be on the following topics :
(a) Evolution of man and human variation;
(b) Man and culture; and
(c) Material culture in Indian unity and diversity.
The foundation stone of the museum was laid on April 21,. 1979 at Bhopal where a plot of 100 acres of land has been allotted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh for the setting up of the Museum and its out-door complex. Preparations are being made to organise an out-door exhibition which will mark the formal opening of the out-door complex of the museum. This exhibition will show typical dwelling houses/huts of some of the important tribal populations of India. Field work among some populations in Ladakh, Uttar Pradesh Hill districts, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh has been undertaken in connection with ethnographic, photographic, cinematographic and graphic documentation. One hundred and fifty nine anthropological specimens have been collected from field. About 1,400 black and white negatives and about 800 colour slides on tribal life, fair and folk dances, have been prepared. In addition, 1,500 ft. cine coverage has also been undertaken.
National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property,
Lucknow The Laboratory has been established at Lucknow for technical study of cultural materials by scientific means; research for finding out better methods of conservation; coordination of research; technical assistance to museums and other cultural institutions; training and documentation and conservation of literature.
Work on the research programmes already undertaken by the Laboratory has been accelerated. In addition, the Laboratory has formulated seven research programmes.
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Under its scheme of Technical Assistance to other Laboratories and Museums, the Laboratory undertook the conservation of wall paintings in Karnataka, Sikkim and at Kussum Samovar Govardhan. Besides, objects were received from several institutions for conservation.
The 2nd 6-month training course on conservation of cultural property and started on September 1, 1979. Seven trainees--2 from abroad and the remaining five from different museums and archaeological departments in various states-participated.
For the benefit of scholars and workers in various museum sections of the departments of archaeology as well as the general public, the Laboratory arranged special lectures.
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi The National Gallery of Modern Art continued its endeavour to enrich its collections by acquiring outstanding pieces of art. During the period under review. 29 works of art were added to Its collection.
An, exhibition of 'Modern Indian Art' was shown at Tehran, Damascus, Aleppo, Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Sofia. On return, the exhibition was displayed in India with a view to providing opportunity to the reviewer to discover the impact this exhibition made abroad.
The other exhibitions organised by the Gallery were
(i) an exhibition of 100 years of Asian Art in Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, where 100 works of Indian paintings and sculptures were displayed; (ii) an exhibition of the original works of the great master of Modem International Art "Paul Klee" held in the gallery from January 23 to February 25, 1979, and (iii) an exhibition of 73 Lithographs and Wood cuts or Ernst Barlach held in the gallery from March 22 to April, 23, 1979.
An art exhibition was organised by the Society of the Friends of the National Gallery of Modern Art at Lalit Kala Akademi.
Under the Indo-US Cultural Exchange Programme, the Restorer was sent to the U.S.A. for three months to study the latest development in the field of restoration and conservation.
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The following publications/reproductions were brought out during this year :-
(i) Six half imperial size multi-colour reproductions of paintings,
(ii) Two catalogues for the exhibition 'Paul Klee' and Ernst Barlach, and
(iii) Two catalogues on Performing Arts and Visual Art for South Asian Festival of Culture.
Under the education programme, 3,700 students and 200 teachers from all over the country visited the National Gallery of Modern Art and they were provided conducted tours. With a view to exposing the common man to the works of art at their own working places, Mobile Exhibition Bus containing an exhibition 'Selected Works of Picasso' visited various places in Delhi.
A seminar on Art History was conducted for the students of National School of Drama from July 16 to July 21, 1979.
National Council of Science Museums The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) (with headquarters at Calcutta) was registered on April 4, 1978 under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961 and administers :-
(a) Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, Calcutta; (BITM)
(b) Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore, (VITM) and
(c) Nehru Science Centre, Bombay.
These three Museums have been transferred from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to the Department of Culture. The Union Minister of Education and Culture is the President of the NCSM Society. The objects of the NCSM include the establishment and administration of new Museums of the kind.
In pursuance of its other important objective, namely popula- risation of science and technology, the three Museums organised special thematic exhibitions, film shows, teacher training programme and popular lectures at their headquarters. These were
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supplemented by science fairs/camps at district levels and interstate levels with a participation of 1300 schools, and science seminars at block levels, district levels and inter-state levels with a participation of 1,430 students, besides Science Quiz Contests with A participation of 356 students from 79 schools.
The special thematic exhibitions related to (i) Vintage cars (ii) Bee% Beetles and Butterflies, (iii) Technology at Home (iv) The World of Light Houses, (v) Special Communication, (vi) The Age of Shakespeare, (vii) New Technology for Growth, (viii) Life and Works of Albert Einstein, and (ix) Centenary of Electric Light.