The three-day National Seminar on ‘Ethnographic Museums in India: Contributions, Representations and Future Possibilities’ began here on Sunday with an inaugural session Chaired by Prof Sarit Kumar Chaudhuri, Director IGRMS.
The seminar was inaugurated by the formal lighting of lamp in the presence of imminent scholars and museum representatives like Amreshwar Gala, Chief Curator, Amravatathi Heritage Centre & Museum, Andhra Pradesh; SB Chakravarty, General Secretary, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata; Prof Vinay Kumar Srivastav, Director, AnSI; KK Chakravarty, Former Director, IGRMS, Prof Sarit Kumar Chaudhuri, Director, IGRMS, Prof KK Basa, Tagore National Fellow, IGRMS and Dilip Singh, Joint Director, IGRMS. The inaugural session commenced with a welcome address delivered by Dilip Singh, Joint Director, IGRMS; followed by a deliberation on the theme of the Seminar by Prof KK Basa who gave an overview of the theme of discussion wherein he provided a broad spectrum on the ethnography and museums from complementary role of colonial discourse and the thrust of it that undergone changes in the post-colonial development with alternative community voices against the stereotypic colonial constructs. Amreshwar Galla, presented a key note address in the Seminar with an excellent presentation on how the Amravati Heritage Centre and Museum in Andhra Pradesh transformed to the present status with active involvement and participation of the locality which he coined as ‘Museolity (Museum Locality)’. He asserted three models in ‘Rethinking Academic, Professionals and Community’.
The projection of less participatory by the young generations/ students in the museums, he emphasised is not the lack of interest to these tender minds but it is because of the fact that we the museum professionals makes our presentation irrelevant to them. He cited an example of the ‘Ultimate Dude’, an attractive visual representation of Lord Siva to arouse an interest and relevant to the young children. He further gave an insight to the on the key elements on aspects and transformations like the Museum Collections could be transformed into knowledge and experience; exclusiveness could be harnessed into inclusiveness and from passive involvement it could be transformed into active involvement.
The first day of the seminar had two important sessions. The first session being Special Lectures that primarily focussed on the theoretical implications. Prof KK Basa chaired the morning session where three special lectures were presented by the eminent scholars SB Chakravarty, General Secretary, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata; Prof Vinay Kumar Srivastav, Director, AnSI; and KK Chakravarty, Former Director, IGRMS.