Forgotten Vista: Beyond History And Archaeology

Three ideas for leading Indian museums into a constructive public engagement with the present

- Gautam Bhatia

To answer the critics and to place the arena in a historical perspective, the new Central Vista website is a welcome addition; however, it still needs to address why culture’s participation in the scheme has been effectively sidelined.

Certainly, it is hard to argue against the government’s new expansion plans. Increases in the size of the Parliament, placement of buildings for military personnel, and additions to the bureaucracy are expected in a country with a vastly enlarged population since Independence. But equally, the capacity and content of culture has also changed over the period, and so needs due acknowledgment. What began at Independence as a museum display of heritage has diversified into very different cultural ideas in 21st-century India.

Beyond mere history and archaeology, the more recent public additions around the world include museums for urbanism, ecology, space, design and toys, besides the holocaust and partition museums. A Museum of Tolerance is a new addition in Los Angeles and a Museum of the Future in Dubai. Shouldn’t urban life in today’s India call for similarly diverse additions? More than ever now, the Indian museum needs to go beyond a cultural display for mere admiration of past achievement to a more constructive public engagement with the present. To this end, three potential ideas are currently being proposed.