Curzon’s cuts
Think of Lord Curzon, and the first thing that flashes in your mind is the 1905 Bengal Partition. Bengal burnt, and King George V had to personally come to India in 1911 to annul the Partition and transfer the capital to Delhi.
The Indian Museum has become more accessible to researchers, historians, visitors and children as it has started an online exhibition of rare and antique artefacts, which were till now hidden inside the vaults of the museum.
In another two months, the museum is coming up with a theme-based story-telling exhibition in collaboration with Afghanistan art galleries.
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“We are trying to expand the accessibility of the museum and we have planned a calendar for the whole year with different types of exhibitions. Earlier, researchers, historians and art enthusiasts had to submit applications to see the rare and precious exhibit items. Now they can access those items through the website,” said Mr Rajesh Purohit, director of the Indian Museum.
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The exhibition was formally inaugurated yesterday at 12 noon on the website of the Indian Museum. A click on www.indianmuseam.org can open a new door to history.
The museum has a large collection of antique, precious and rare items but not every item can be displayed all the time because of the paucity of space and proper security.
So the museum has decided to come up with an online exhibition featuring 10 per cent of around 1.8 lakh objects under the “Rare and Precious Antiques from Indian Museum, Kolkata, Collection”, where the attraction will be the rich, antique jewellery from Nepal, Myanmar, and Chittagong along with the treasures of the Tagore family.
A ruby studded golden goblet, a bow ring belonging to Shah Jahan from the Mughal period, a model of a boat made with ivory from Murshidabad presented by Lord Curzon in 1904 are among the items that are being displayed online.
In the online gallery, there are three sections ~ art, archaeology and anthropology. Mr Purohit added: “All big museums have their virtual galleries. Now we have joined the list as we have added a virtual gallery to our website.”
The online exhibition will be displayed on a giant screen near the museum entrance and also at interactive kiosks in the galleries.
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