Culture hop

An arts platform has lined up workshops, lectures and virtual walkthroughs to celebrate Indias museums

Even as India unlocks in various phases, a whim of a trip to a museum in the city, spending the day soaking in art, history and culture, still seems out of bounds. But city-based consultancy Art X Company's latest offering safely allows one a peek into not just Mumbai's museum circuit, but India's too — without having to move from the couch. From museums in Udaipur to Kolkata, and virtual gallery hopping in Mumbai to a musical instruments workshop organised from Bengaluru, the second edition of Ghar Se Museum, promises to be a celebration of museum culture.

Founder Rashmi Dhanwani tells us that the two-day event features over 10 museums and related entities, including Artflute, Art Walks Mumbai, Bihar Museum, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, DAG Museum, Immersive Trails, Indian Music Experience Museum, Maritime Mumbai Museum Society and Piramal Museum of Art. "The idea was initiated in May during International Museum Day. At the time, there were a lot of online events and people would have to go to different pages to attend each museum's event. We were in talks with Insider to smoothen the process" she says, adding that the winter edition went into planning in September. Realising that not every museum had been able to transition digitally, they also reached out to museum professionals, organisations working with museums, consultants and freelancers.

Partition Museum, Amritsar. Pic courtesy/The museum

On offer are ticketed and non-ticketed lectures, workshops, walkthroughs and masterclasses. "We wanted to have participation from a lot of cities. Another factor was to appeal to families and individuals," Dhanwani asserts. The programming, too, cuts across interests, with a talk on arms production in Mewar from the collection of The City Palace Museum, Udaipur, a look at the memorabilia at the Partition Museum, Amritsar, a workshop on oral history, a dialogue on the cultural legacy of Raja Ravi Varma and a virtual walk through Gurusaday Museum, which is a repository of artefacts depicting Bengal's folk traditions, among 20 events.

There are also sessions that although are aimed at kids, will have something in store for adults, too, such as the one on archaeology as a hobby, and a GIF making workshop by Medhavi Gandhi of The Heritage Lab and Aleksandra Strzelichowska of Europeana.

Rashmi Dhanwani

For Mumbaikars craving a trip to the historic docks, there's a session conducted by Maritime Mumbai Museum Society which will delve into the city's relationship with the sea. "There's also a gallery hop session by Art Walks Mumbai, offering a tour of four art exhibitions now on view in Mumbai, and five highlights of BDL's permanent collection," Dhanwani informs us. So, can more Ghar Se Museum editions be expected in future, we ask. Her reply puts things into perspective, "The pandemic has given us the opportunity to rethink the normal. Although nothing can replace the physical experience, here's a chance to restructure ourselves."

On November 27 and 28
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cost Rs 50 onwards

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