Museums are, without a doubt, a storehouse of a particular nation’s history and culture. Through which they exhibit and chart the course of their county’s development. A serious discussion on the topic “Museum and our History” was held with panelists P. J Vincent (moderator) and Dr. V. Venu, Bara Baskaran and Kavitha Balakrishnan. The discussion was blessed by the presence of Romila Thappar the great Indian Historian.
“Museum has its own form. It is legitimizing anything in terms of an authentic objectivity” said Kavitha Balakrishnan. She suggested that the hypocrisy of the museum needs to break. It is a collection of knowledge. It is difficult to break. Authenticity works in a museum as a quality. It is not altogether a claim. The crowd can interact with the object. But it is untouchable and showcased and distant from the crowd. The ordinary men have no idea about the worth of the museum. They are marveling the object. She added that the museum wants to converge as a conversation then we will get a beautiful idea. According to Kavitha the people are watching museum as a zoo.
“Authenticity of museum is a political position” said Venu. Focusing on Dandi March it is true that museum is a European concept. The discussion concluded with the idea that museum is a space for conversation but unfortunately we don’t allow it. We have a very old syllabus so we shouldn’t restructure it. Kavitha quoted Nelson Mandela to explain the point that all of our museum should be a community museum. Architectural mapping would help us to our next generation.
Watch the complete session :