The Origin of Museums in India: A Walk Through History.
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When poetry comments on political reality!
I recently found this poem by the famous British poet W H Auden doing the rounds of social networking sites. It is startling how the British poets have not minced words to criticise war, violence, brutality, torture, pain perpetuated by their home country. Anyone remembers the painful poem by Rupert Brooke 'The Soldier'? Though the Auden poem below is... Continue Reading →
Carrying on the Ranjan legacy: please publish the NID craft documentations
Dear NID community: alumni, present, future students and staff, and associated It was extremely painful to learn that MP Ranjan left us so early in life. He left too many ideas in their formative stages, far more ideas in their just about-to-hatch stages, germinating seeds of ideas, and most of all he left us lonely, lost... Continue Reading →
The human element is always the best connector!
Throughout the British Museum, and other museums all over the world, there are handling desks, also called hands - on desks or hands - on sessions. Here, volunteers sit with real objects, not replicas, and explain the history of the object, its context, its relation to present day, its place in the gallery, its link... Continue Reading →
Modern glass creations at the V&A ‘What is Luxury’ exhibition
This exhibition is about the explorations of luxury, its meaning, essence and interaction between the human element at both ends of the chain - the creator and the consumer of luxury - through the objects. It also creates an interesting dialogue between the past and the present concept of luxury and how the word has... Continue Reading →
Moko Jumbie sculptures, British Museum
The British Museum has installed two 7 metre high carnival figures on stilts made by the UK-Trinidadian artist Zak Ové, they celebrate African contributions to world carnival. According to the British Museum website: The Museum commissioned these figures to coincide with London’s Notting Hill Carnival at the end of August. Moko Jumbie figures became a key feature... Continue Reading →
Gold objects, Bodh Gaya, Bihar
These objects were found at the base of the temple dedicated to Buddha at Bodh Gaya, Bihar - probably offered by various devotees. It includes a coin moulded on those during the times of the Kushana king Huvishka I. Aren't these objects intricate and beautiful? They are quite small, as if someone would have taken them off their personal... Continue Reading →
Gold coins of the Gupta dynasty – 3rd – 6th century
These are the three gold coins that I saw at the British Museum, London, South Asia Gallery. While researching and writing about the Gupta dynasty for the Bihar Museum, I read and wrote about these gold coins by just seeing their images on the British Museum online database. But seeing them today offered a different perspective... Continue Reading →
Timeline of Sudan, Egypt and Nubia at the British Museum
This set of Timeline belongs to the Sudan, Egypt and Nubia gallery at the British Museum. The Timeline has a real artefact placed in front of it, making it attractive to the visitor. There is a much lesser volume of events being handled here, which means less physical space on the Timeline. This immediately makes it easier... Continue Reading →
Timeline at the British Museum
Uploading images of the 2 interesting Timelines I came across at the British Museum. This Timeline is for the Egypt gallery, and it is obviously handling a lot of time. It starts from 11, 000 BCE to 2, 000 BCE, spanning the artefacts of the galleries it is linked to. It has mentioned 'detail' when a large... Continue Reading →
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