Indian Museum, IIT Kharagpur tie up for AI artefact restoration

The Indian Museum in Kolkata has joined hands with IIT-Kharagpur for the use of “AI-based restoration” of archaeological artefacts and digital preservation of its collections, the Government informed Parliament on Monday.

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha, also said the Indian Museum, in collaboration with Google Art and Culture, has prepared a virtual exhibition for promotion of heritage through digital interventions.

Google Art and Culture is the cultural platform of the internet giant.

The minister was asked whether any national framework has been developed for digital archiving, collection management and virtual public access to museum collections in the country.

“Indian Museum, Kolkata, aligning with the vision of ‘Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi’ and in accordance with its mandate of promoting and preserving cultural heritage, has undertaken collaborative initiatives with the academic institutions to strengthen heritage conservation and digital innovation,” he said.

The Indian Museum has joined hands with IIT-Kharagpur for the use of “AI-based restoration of archaeological artefacts, for digital preservation of its collections”, the minister said.

Also, the Indian Museum, in collaboration with Google Art and Culture, has prepared a virtual exhibition for the promotion of heritage through digital interventions. As part of its modernisation, AI-based interactives and AR-based visitor engagement tools have been introduced to provide an immersive gallery experience to visitors, he added.

Besides, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has launched mobile-based applications for the archaeological museums at Hampi (Karnataka) and Nalanda (Bihar). The applications provide virtual tours of the museums and facilitate digital access to the artefacts displayed therein.

Delhi-based Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has undertaken documentation, research, publication and digital preservation of various aspects of Mithila art, traditions and manuscripts through its regular academic and archival activities, he said.

The Government also said the Ministry of Culture is taking different initiatives in digital archiving and collection management to preserve our cultural assets through digitisation with JATAN software, developed by C-DAC, Pune, for digitisation of museum collections and archival resources.

A national digital repository has been created through the Museums of India portal, where digitised collections of eight national-level museums, two ASI site museums and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Museum, Pune are available.

In tabulated data, the minister also shared the status of digitisation of museum collections available on the website through JATAN software, according to which out of the total 4,78,971 artefacts at these eight national-level museums, 3,36,359 artefacts (or 70.23 per cent) can be digitally seen on their respective websites.

The individual figures for these museums stood at — National Museum (total 2,06,169 artefacts), 51.15 per cent can be digitally seen on its website; Indian Museum (total 1,08,000 artefacts), 72.17 per cent can be digitally seen on its website; Victoria Memorial Hall (total 28,394 artefacts), 98.34 per cent can be digitally seen on its website.