Managing Museums


Book Description

Demand for a National Museum of India was first voiced on 26th July 1837 by Sir James Princep, then Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, in a Memorandum to the east India Company. But it was not until 15th August 1949 that the National Museum was set up. it was started at the Rashtrapati Bhawan with a nucleus of about five hundred collections from an exhibition of Art of India and Pakistan, displayed at the Burlington House London, immediately after Independence. The Museum shifted to its new building on 18th December 1960. The Museum has now more than two hundred thousand collections, some of them rarest of the rare, but hardly for percent of the collections are displayed. Not more than hundred fifty thousand people visit the Museum annually, compared to nearly 60 million visitors to the Louvre in Paris and 50 million to the British Museum of London.




Treasures


Book Description

This volume highlights the treasures of the National Museum New Delhi. The museum has over 2,10,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of Indian art and craftsmanship. The collection includes sculptures in stone, bronze, terracotta and wood, miniature paintings and manuscripts, coins, arms and armor, jewelry and anthropological objects. Antiquities from Central Asia and pre-Columbian artefacts form the two non-Indian collections in the museum. The museum is the custodian of this treasure trove of our multilayered history and multicultural heritage. The collection allows Indian visitors to feel a sense of pride in their ancient culture and identity and enable visitors from other countries to appreciate India's culture and its values.




Museum of Chance


Book Description

"Museum of Chance is the first publication of Museum Bhavan, which is a collection of museums made by Dayanita Singh in New Delhi. The museums hoiuse old and new images made by the artist. Each wooden structure can be placed and opened in different ways, and holds around a hundred framed images, some on view, while others wait for their turn in the reserve collection, also kept inside the structures. As Singh keeps adding images to the museums, the museums themselves give birth to other museums. For example, the Museum of Embraces comes out of the Museum of Chance, and the Museum of Vitrines is contained within the Museum of Furniture. This publication is a mass produced artist book for the museum by the same name. Each image in the book is a cover image on one of the books."--Colophon.







PAHARI PAINTINGS OF THE NALA - DAMAYANTI THEME


Book Description

The paintings reproduced in this beautiful volume were created in the second half of the 18th century in the Dogra Pahari region of North India, mainly in what is now Himachal Pradesh. Apart from their martial qualities and rich folklore, the several schools of Pahari art have been a major contribution of the Dogra-Pahari people to the grand mosaic of Indian culture. Professor B.N. Goswamy has with great competence traced the historical and geographical back-ground in which these painting were produced. I would only add that they combine the beauty and freshness of the mountains with the rare delicacy and grace of the people living in the area.










India


Book Description

A selection of 333 works of art representing masterpieces of the sacred and court traditions as well as their urban, folk, and tribal heritage.




Handbook of Museum Textiles, Volume 1


Book Description

Handbook of Museum Textiles Textiles have been known to us throughout human history and played a vital role in the lives and traditions of people. Clothing was made by using different materials and methods from natural fibers. There are different varieties of textiles, out of which certain traditional textiles, archaeological findings, or fragments are of cultural, historical, and sentimental value such as tapestries, embroideries, flags, shawls, etc. These kinds of textiles, due to their historical use and environmental factors, require special attention to guarantee their long-term stability. Textile conservation is a complex, challenging, and multi-faceted discipline and it is one of the most versatile branches of conservation. Volume 1 of the Handbook of Museum Textiles focuses on conservation and cultural research and addresses the proper display, storage, upkeep, handling, and conservation technology of textile artifacts to ensure their presence for coming generations. Spread over 19 chapters, the volume is a unique body of knowledge of theoretical and practical details of museum practices. Chapters on textile museums, the importance of cultural heritage, conservation, and documentation of textiles are covered in depth. Conservation case studies and examples are highlighted in many chapters. Management practices and guidelines to pursue a career in the museum textile field have been given due attention. The respective authors of the chapters are of international repute and are researchers, academicians, conservators, and curators in this field. Audience The book is a unique asset for textile researchers, fine art scholars, archaeologists, museum curators, designers, and those who are interested in the field of traditional or historic textile collections.




Cultural Contours of India


Book Description

Comprises articles on the life and work of Satya Prakash, b. 1914, Indologist, and papers, most on the history and culture of Rajasthan, India.