In the current situation, culture is the only hope: Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS is one of Mumbairsquos iconic culture and intellectual hubs The 99yearold museum had to shut its doors to visitors last year because of the ongoing pandemic so the cityrsquos art lovers were jubilant when it reopened this February Sadly due to the second wave of Covid19 the museum is now again shut to visitorsRecently they made their collections ndash over 50000 pieces including sculpture paintings natural history specimens and artefacts ndash available for viewing online While you can now devour their extensive collection on your laptop the museum has a lot more to offerOn the occasion of International Museum Day on May 18 Sabyasachi Mukherjee director general of CSMVS will be delivering a talk titled lsquoBust of Gandhi with a Churchill connectionrsquo MidDaycom spoke to Mukherjee about his upcoming lecture the role of technology in museums and plans for their centenary year Excerpts from the interviewSabyasachi MukherjeeWhat is the concept behind your upcoming lecture lsquoBust of Gandhi with a Churchill connectionrsquoThe bronze bust of Mahatma Gandhi has been in the museum for a long time When we were doing our research we found out that it had arrived at the museum in 1940 The bust was exhibited in the central foyer under the dome during British rule in India Later it was sent to the storage area and everyone forgot about it In 2012 I spotted this sculpture wrapped and neatly kept in a corner of the storage area A brief note on it said lsquoBronze bust of Mahatma M K Gandhirsquo lsquoSource Loaned to the Museum by His Excellency The Viceroyrsquo lsquoArtist Clare Sheridanrsquo and the Museum Accession No 404rsquo Only this much information was found on the pedestalI was curious to know more about the bust and the artist A search through the museum records fetched a little more information which we gathered from different sources An email from Dr Jonathan Black who wanted a picture of this bust of Gandhi for his research was particularly helpful Sheridan was an English sculptor journalist and writer She was known primarily for creating busts for famous sitters and writing diaries recounting her travels She was a cousin of Winston Churchill but apparently they did not have a good relationship they had contrasting ideologies How the bust came here and what was the purpose is something Irsquom going to share during my talk Sheridan has a fascinating story and I will cover that in my talkWhat challenges did CSMVS face during the pandemicWe are one of the major cultural institutes in the country that is unaided by the government We are struggling like many other unaided institutes and organisations but we are managing and overcoming thanks to the people of Mumbai supporting us We are waiting for the situation to improve and reopen When we reopened for a short while in February we were very surprised to see the overwhelming number of visitors we got There is a cultural need that people have In a situation like this what we are currently going through I think culture is the only hope It can transform our consciousness expand our sense and sensibilities and sustain the essence of wonder along with a criticality to perceive the moment we are living in People have come and they will return when we reopenIn terms of museum work we are fortunate that there four or five officers including me who reside in the campus We visit the museum every day Our senior curators come once a week to inspect the collections Fortunately the collections were not impacted and the credit goes to our conservation staff and curators We emptied our galleries and collections were stored in our stateoftheart storage area which has a climate control systemCSMVS is now open for virtual tours How do you think technology will impact walkin museum visitorsTechnology is playing a major role at this point But when we reopen when the situation is better people will definitely come back They want an organic experience Right now they have no option and thatrsquos why they are choosing the virtual medium The dependency on technology today and postpandemic will be different However it is certain that technology is going to play a very important roleMy anticipation about the postpandemic situation is that some museums will lean more towards technology and some will maintain the balance between technology and inperson visits We fall in the latter category I view technology as a support system and not as something that will dominate us So wherever we need technology ndash to reach out to people and gather information ndash it is there to help For example you cannot truly experience the Ajanta caves or the Taj Mahal virtually You need to be physically present there to truly understand the significanceKeeping the future of the museum in mind we also have plans to establish a digital department Museums have to change with the times But the balance will always be maintainedCSMVS turns 100 next year What are your celebration plansWe are completing our 100year journey on January 10 2022 There are many events planned ndash exhibitions lectures etc There will be around six to eight major exhibitions Some of them are international exhibitions We also have plans to open a new gallery dedicated to ancient world history It will highlight the Indus Valley civilization and Indiarsquos history in relation to the rest of the world among other thingsThere are also plans for an underground auditorium with a capacity of around 300 people and a new space for contemporary art Also a gallery dedicated to the history of Mumbai is on the agenda Sabyasachi Mukherjeersquos talk will be held online on May 18 530 pm To register visit httpszoomuswebinarregisterWN_cK4m1vSTSxaavKd1aB5BvAAlso Read Mumbairsquos Jehangir Nicholson Gallery celebrates 10 years of being open at CSMVS