Exhibitions

Under special Exhibition Programme, a most prestigious; exhibition of 80 works of German 2Expressionist painting was displayed in the Gallery from February 12, to March 24, 1982. The exhibition was extremely well attended and students of Art institutions from different places in India visited it in large numbers.

For the Festival of India organised in the United Kingdom this year, the Gallery loaned 49 works from is collections to different institutions. 34 works were sent to Tate Gallery, London, one work to Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and 14 works to Lalit Kala Akademi for contemporary Indian Art Exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

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An exhibition of "Modern Indian Paintings" containing 50 oustanding works was organised at the Hirshhorn Museum and Picture Gallery, Washington D. C. during July-August 1982 to coincide with the visit of the Prime Minister to the U.S.A.

The Gallery also received 170 works of Rodin from Rodin Museum, Paris which were shown in an exhibition held up. to the middle of December, 1982.

During the period under review, besides the general public, 4568 school children and 2363 foreign visitors visited the Gallery and were provided guided tours of the, Gallery. 150 film shows were held for public and schools during this period.

251 books on art were purchased and 89 books were received as gift for the Reference Library.

The Restoration Laboratory handled 107 art objects during this period Restoration report for the works sent abroad or received from outside were prepared by the Laboratory.

The catalogue of the exhibition German Expressionist paintings, the catalogue of the exhibition Modem Indian Paintings and colour reproductions were also brought out.

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi

The Museum continued to maintain its popularity and attracted a large number of visitors every day. The average daily attendance was 2,835 and on Sundays and holidays on an average 3,288 persons visited. the Museum. The on-going project of lecture-cum-tour of the museum arranged with a view, to creating an awareness of the struggle for freedom in India, and the role of Jawaharlal Nehru as an architect of modern India, among the younger generation especially in the age-group of 11-15 was continued. During the period more than 1,000 students drawn from different schools in Delhi attended the lectures and were conducted round the Museum. This programme has been organised in collaboration with the Directorate of Education, Delhi. The permanent display on the story of Indian National Movement remained popular with the visitors for its educative value. The film shows on the life of Jawaharlal Nehru and other great national leaders continue to be regularly, screened for the benefit of the visitors.

The research resources of the library were further augmented. In all 2,670 books were added to the library,raising the total number of books on shelves of the library, to 81,600. Besides purchase, valuable publications were received as gift from the Prime Minister's House, Prime Minister's Secretariat, Lok Sabha Secretariat and National Library, Calcutta.

The library resources on microfilms and microfiche have been further enriched. At present the library has 6.039 rolls of microfilms and 10,615 microfiche plates which are being increasingly consulted by students working on the study on modern Indian History. The library continues to be profitably used by scholars from India and foreign universities on account of the availability of excellent source materials and service through qualified staff. A total of 323 new scholars were registered during the period bringing the total to 4,172 scholars enrolled since January 1974 when the Library shifted to its new building. The library of Photographs now has 57,966 photographs on the national movement and its leaders which continue to be increasingly drawn upon by authors and various agencies engaged in organising exhibitions and for making documentary films.

The acquisition of private papers and records of non-official organisations continued to make progress. Among the notable collections acquired during the period, mention may be made of the papers of Bhimsen Sachar, Ameo Kumar Das, Pushpa Lata Das, Debeshwar Sarmah, Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta, M. A. Candeth, Verrier Elwin, syed Mohd. Saadulla Bisnuram Modhi, Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, G. L. Mehta, Gokul Lal Asawa, Sumangal Prakash, C. Y. Chintamani, Jaisukhlal Hathi, Munshi Premchand.

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and Kamalashankar Pandya. In addition, the records of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee were also acquired. Noteworthy collections of papers microfilmed were the papers of the Bengal Coal Company, Madan Mohan Malviya, Gyani Pratap Singh and Surendra Nath Dwivedy.

The microfilming of the old newspapers and periodicals continued to make significant progress. Among the materials micrifilmed during the period mention. may be made of Gujaratmitra and Gujaratdarpan' 'Swadesamitran', 'Vigil' and 'Praja Mandal'.

Under the Oral History project, 45 sessions of; interviews with 15 persons were recorded. The nine new interviewees included Shri Durga Das Sehgal, Shri Amar Nath Malhotra, Shri Raja Ram Shastri, Dr. Anand Prakash Bhayana, Shri Nalin Bhanja, Smt. Subhadraben, Shri Vadilal Lallubhai Mehta, Slid Dhanwantbhai Oza and Shri Vajubai Shah. Some of the interviews were conducted at Ahmedabad and Vadodra. Transcripts of interviews of four interviewees were finalised during the period bringing the total number of such transcripts to 377.

The lectures having a bearing on modern Indian history and Indian Nationalism continued to be arranged under the auspices of the Nehru, Memorial Museum and Library. The speakers included Prof. Gautam Mathur, Prof. John Broomfield, and Prof. V. B. Damle. A seminar on "The Structure of the Empire : Architecture and Migration in the late nineteenth Century" was arranged during the period. On the eve of the Gandhi Jayanti a symposium on "Mahatma Gandhi: An Historical Assessment" was organised. Lectures are proposed to be arranged on Prem Chand, Jawaharlal Nehru and the Land Problem in India and two Padmja Naidu Memorial Lectures. Efforts are under way to organise a seminar on 'Social Transformation and the Creative Imagination', in which scholars from various universities will participate.

The first volume of the Selected Works of Motilal Nehru covering the period 1899-1918 was released and work on the second volume covering 1919-25 is in progress.

III. MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE AND LABORATORY

National Council of Science Museums, Calcutta

The National Council of Science Museums administers and manages the following Museums/Centres.

(1) Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Calcutta (BITM)

(2) Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Bangalore (VITM)

(3) Nehru, Science Centre, Bombay (NSC)

Shrikrishna Service Centre, Patna, functions as an institutional project of the BITM/. Besides these, NCSM is engaged in setting up of four Dis- trict Science Centres at Purulia (West Bengal), Gulbarga (Karnataka), Dharampur (Gujarat), and Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu). on permanent footing An experimental District Science Centre is also run by the BITM at Malda (West, Bengal). A Planning Cell is also functioning in. New Delhi under the Council.

The National Council of Science Museums is primarily engaged in the task of popularising science, and technology among the students in particular and the. mass in general through a wide range of programmes.

The Museums/Centres in Calcutta, Bangalore, Bombay, Patna, Purulia, Malda and Gulbarga were visited by a, large number of persons during the year 1982-83. Six 'Museobuses' each carrying a series of, working exhibits on a specific theme held exhibitions at 139 places all over the country. About 2,24,748 people visited the Mobile Science Exhibition Units. Be sides., 32,000 people attended the scientific film shows held at different rural sites. The Science Park which was set up in the District Science Centre at PurUlia. was visited by 25,000 people. The District Science Centre at Purulia, Gulbarga and Malda continued their regular extension activities to cater to the needs of the local people and students in particular. Shrikrishna science Centre at Patna added many exhibits in its Science Park and

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permanent exhibition gallery. The Centre was visited by 1,45,362 people. The Museum /Centres organised Science. Fairs/Camps in Calcutta, Bangalore, and Bombay Other regular features like holding of scientific film shows, science quiz competition, training programmes on amateur radio activities etc. were also organised in all Centres. Temporary Exhibitions on 'Space and Mankind' 'Personal Transport', Vintage Car, 'The work of Feri Otto' and Trees and Environment, 'Techno Art' were organised in different Museums and Centres during the period. In order to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Launching of Man's First Artificial Satellite, the Council took up a year- round programme to mark 1982 as Year of Space. Seminars, Essay Competition, Poster Competition, Quiz Contest, Exhibition and so on, all on the subjects 'Space & Mankind' were organised for youngsters. Miss Saira P. Kurup a school student of Delhi was adjudged one of the runners-up for her essay on the topic 'How Space Activities could Transform my country and the World, by the United Nations. This is the first time the Council undertook the programme of organising a competitive Science Seminar for school students at National, district and State levels to 'create interest on Space Science amongst the school children. Participants from all States and Union Territories assembled in New Delhi at Vigyan Bhavan to deliver their essays on the subject on October 4, 1982.

Science Demostration Lectures for school students were arranged at various places in West Bengal and Karnataka. 124 lectures Were attended by 11282 students during the period. 125 teachers were trained under the Teachers' Training Programme' to provide the science teachers of high school. with short term training in handling some of the basic and important tools and also to, fabricate easy and low cost scientific models and teaching aids for their day-to-day class room teaching.' Telescope Making Programme was organised at the Nehru Science Centre, Bombay for interested persons. A 6 Idia Newtonian reflecting type Telescope was prepared by the local enthusiasts and it was found to be comparable to commercial ones. Popular Lectures on contemporary scientific topics were organised in all the constituent Museums/Centres of the Council. The Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore organised a multimedia programme on Life and Works of Sir M. Visvesvaraya for school students during the period. 150 students attended the multimedia show which was developed by the Museum. A National Students Design Contest was also held where 98 entries were received from all over India. A Seminar for college students on 'Impact of Technology on Environment' was attended by 10 colleges in and around Bangalore. To create a hormonious synthesis of thought and expression between art and technology, a 'Techno-Art-Camp' was organised at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore from June 20-30, 1982. The camp was attended by eleven reputed sculptors of the country.

Science Museums all over the world are switching over to participatory exhibits so as to make it more interesting and educative. Conceptual development of participator exhibits needs a special kind of exposure and training. With a view to facilitating such training, the National Council of Science Museums arranged an Indo-US Workshop on 'Conceptual Development of Participatory Exhibits' for the Science Museum Personnel from November 15, 1992. The Workshop was followed by an intensive project work for. development of participatory exhibits and compilation of design data for a book on such exhibits. Sixteen Indian participants from existing Science Museums and four U.S. experts joined, the Workshop.

The National Council of Science Museums has launched a new programme for publication of a series on Animation Techniques' which gives an idea about some of the participatory exhibits developed by the various units of the Council. Three such volumes have already been published with full illustration and have been circulated to other Science Museums and allied institutions as source book. Besides the following publications were also brought out during the period :

(1) Souvenir on Student Science Seminar,

(2) Museum Programme of Events.

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(3) Souvenir on. National Science Seminar,

(4) Brochure on Techno-Art Camp,

(5) Souvenir on Personal Transport Exhibition,

(6) Leaflets on Energy,

(7) Folder on Transformation of Energy,

(8) Folder on Man and Machines,

(9) Folder on Space and Mankind,

(10) Science Club Newsletter.

National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, Lucknow

There are a number of activities of research, technical assistance to various institutions, training as well as conservation programmes in which the laboratory is involved. The main activities have been :

Research Projects

During 1982-83 following were the main research projects :

(i) Metallurgy of iron in ancient India : Objects from Kausambi and Hellur have been examined; (ii) Metallurgy of copper, in ancient India Micro-structure of objects belonging to important sites in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. have been studied; (iii) Identification of dyes in medieval textiles; (iv) Identification of materials of miniature paintings; (v) Consolidation stone; (vi) Use of anion exchange resins for removal of salts from metal objects; (vii) Techniques of conservation of birch, bark manuscripts; (viii) Evaluation of the durability of Nepalese tissue paper; (ix) Survey of fungi growing on paper materials in Indian Museums; (x) Evaluation of copper corrosion inhibitors, and (xi) Evaluation of strength of adhesives.