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Monks in
Ladakh get crash course in museology
New Delhi, July 3:
The exquisite sculpture of ‘Maitreyi’ Buddha, swathed in serene calmness,
stands majestically in a monastic complex in the snow-capped Ladakh. The 40 ft
high statue has for its company an assortment of objects — Thangkas, masks, big
utensils — that are a visual delight for the visitors.
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| A Museum personnel explaining to visitors on handling of replica objects at City Palace Museum, Jaipur |
Miles apart and almost as an antithesis, the City Palace
museum in Jaipur in the desert state of Rajasthan showcases an array of
glistening weapons for defence and destruction that also brings hordes of
visitors.
For a better understanding of the power of museum objects
beyond face value and their connect with the visitors, two prominent museum
institutes from India and the UK have been holding a series of field studies
and workshops, the latest being in Ladakh last month.
The ground-breaking research project, entitled “Things
Encountered, Things Unbound: Objects engagements in museums in India and the
UK”, is being jointly organised by the National Museum Institute (NMI), Delhi
and University of Leicester, UK.
As part of the Ladakh project, a workshop was held at the
Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS), Leh to deliberate upon the
results of the visitor studies conducted at the Thiksey Monastery Complex,
Ladakh. The workshop was jointly organised by the NMI and School of Museum
Studies, University of Leicester.
“The project aims to investigate museum visitors’
engagements with objects in India, connect this with related research in the
UK, and develop long-term collaboration between the two main partners (NMI and
School of Museum Studies),” said Dr. Manvi Seth, HOD, Department of Museology,
NMI who coordinated the project with Dr. Sandra Dudley, University of
Leicester, UK.
“It is a pioneering project not only in India or the UK but
perhaps anywhere in the world. A study of this kind of visitors’ engagement
with objects has never been conducted before,” she added.
During the course of the project, field research in three different
kinds of museums in India and the UK each is being done. It also involves
training of museum students and professionals, besides extensive intellectual
exchange in workshops in India and the UK. In addition, it explores the role of
objects in museums, how visitors engage and have a dialogue with objects and
how this may differ across cultural settings.
The first phase of the project was held at Jaipur in
February and the second at the Thiksey Monastery Complex, Ladakh. Five research
scholars from the NMI and three from Ladakh worked together for this project.
Mr. Rigzin Spalbar, Chief Executive Councillor, Ladakh
Autonomous Hill Development Council, who was the chief guest at the workshop,
said the project would help the monasteries and museums of Ladakh.
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| Monks attending the workshop at CIBS, Leh conducted by NMI and University of Leicester |
“The work in museology training, documentation and
handholding for projects in museum and heritage field being done by the NMI’s Department of Museology is immense. It has
helped in creating unparalleled awareness amongst monasteries, museums and
scholars in Ladakh,” he added.
The Department is also
working on the ‘Documentation of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ladakh
Region’. Through this pilot project, the NMI is documenting age-old treasures
in the field of performing arts (mask dancing, music); oral
traditions (folk
stories, songs, recitation of Buddhist verses);social traditions (birth ceremony, horse racing,festivals,
cuisine, costumes); and knowledge about nature (agricultural practices,
seasons, weather, medicinal plants).
Ven. Khenchen Tsewang Rigzin from Central Institute of
Buddhist Studies, Ven. Lobzang Thapkas from Thiksey Monastery and Ven. Gyan
Konchok Tashi, Secretary, Ladakh Gompa Association, graced the workshop.
“The monks present at the workshop would greatly benefit
from this research. In fact, this kind of research can also work as a model for
other monasteries,” said Ven. Rigzin.
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| Research work in progress at City Palace Museum, Jaipur |
Highlighting the objectives of the research project, Dr.
Manvi said museums are not just places for people to learn about history, but are
also places of inspiration, transformation and engagement at many other levels.
“The power of objects needs to be understood beyond
educational utility in museums,” she said, adding: “Not everyone comes to a
museum to learn.”
Dr. Sandra said that
“through such studies we might be able to help museums and museology discipline
to understand the visitors, objects, and their relationships better”.
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