Yesterday was International Museum Day and I managed to visit my current favourite – National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore. It has recently acquired entire art collection and memorabilia of Air India which is now on display.

I saw happy to see inimitable Mario Miranda, R. K. Laxman and many familiar artists and cartoonists works. It was great to see Horses by M.F. Hussain on display along with his couple of other works. Most interesting and entertaining was the Rogue Gallery – funny, outrageous advertisement posters of Air India with its iconic Maharaja logo. Equally intriguing was to know the history of his stylish moustache which tells the tale of amity and goodwill between India and its neighbouring country – which also is fast becoming a rare museum tale – as spectre of war loomed large just a couple of weeks ago

Preserving, restoring and showcasing art and antiques is catching on in India. It is heartening to see efforts being made by all museums to celebrate the International Museum Day.

Here is what I had wrote after returning from Paris in 2018.

“Today is International Museum day! I can see lots of events and talks being planned. Last year I had the good fortune of visiting some of the best museums in Lyon and Paris. I know we cannot and should not compare our nation with any nation in Europe but I think one of the many differences between us and them is the culture of creating and visiting museums.

We saw a small groups of primary students being led around or sitting in groups within museum premises and discussing historical context of what they were seeing. There were not being hurried or disciplined constantly. Maybe they saw only a tiny part of the whole depending on the context of what they were learning.

Museums in France are free for everyone below 18 years. So younger generation is encouraged to visit and spend time in museums. They know the etiquettes. Though there was a large crowd of tourists, no teachers accompanying them were scolding or hurrying. The inherent politeness of their culture was very visible.

Most of educators in India think constant talking, loud reinforcements are necessary tools of teaching young kids. There students are actually encouraged to be quiet, to think, introspect and respond. They are treated respectfully as thinking individuals even if it’s a toddler. Their style of teaching, lesson plans include much time and space for student’s introspection and self-learning. And museums are the best spaces for self-learning if displays are self-explanatory.

I really hope we develop the culture of Museum visits here. A culture that views museum as a space and tool for teaching and learning. I know it’s not easy!”

Though I didn’t see many school children yesterday, I do hope our museum spaces become part of our pedagogical tools.

My son was at Auvers Sur Oise – the quaint village at the outskirts of Paris where Van Gogh spent his last few weeks. The village was the first artists commune where artists camped to draw landscape, village life and folks. The town has become an open air immersive museum which quietly celebrates history of art and laments death of Van Gogh under unfortunate circumstances.

I am glad my grandfather – Nana – Narayan Rao Kulkarni was a photographer and a museum collector, some of his museum collection are apparently housed somewhere in the city of Hyderabad. Due to lack of records we haven’t been able to ascertain it’s whereabouts. His Deccan paintings collection funds a mention in the renowned Shivrama Karanth’s book on Karnataka Paintings. A couple of Deccan paintings were traced to Philadelphia’s Met Museum.

Like every world, art world also has its dark side where antiques are bought and sold illegally and later acquired legally by connoisseurs and museums. As long as they serve the purpose of telling and preserving history, they will remain a conduit between past, present and future – the most crucial material evidence of human progress and creativity.

Did you visit any museum yesterday or recently?

Here are a few of clicks of yesterday’s visit.