| Coming soon, a Rs. 400-cr. facelift for Patna Museum Here at a time, when the Central and State governments are cold-shouldering public interest in history, ignoring their museums and allocating paltry funds for protecting the precious collections in them, Bihar has taken up an ambitious and well thought-out project to rejuvenate and rebuild its crown jewel — the Patna Museum. "In Bihar, as master planners, we have advised the government on the conceptualisation of the museum, evolved a small business plan, and worked on financial and human resource deployment. This comprehensive planning will lead to a museum of international standards that will be relevant to Bihar," she added. Of the nearly 1,000 museums in the country, 90 per cent are state-run. K. N. "While all the five designs were equally competitive, we [the State government] had to give due weight to financial considerations after the presentations and the jury selection," explained Anjani Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary (Art s. Along with it, the Lohanipur Tirthankara — the earliest extant example of Jaina art — Buddhist bronzes from Nalanda, terracottas from Bodh Gaya, the Mauryan lion head and other precious artefacts will in addition move to the much-improved museum, that may be carried out in 2015. The most impressive feature so far is the approach adopted by the Bihar government. Last year, after deciding to build a new museum, the State appointed Lord Cultural Resources, a Canadian museum planning consultant, to advise it. Subsequently, a two-stage international competition was announced, and a seven-member jury, including Martin Roth, Director of the Victoria arks in museum experience in the country and turn around government apathy to cultural facilities. The KMOMA will be built at a cost of Rs. 400-crore new museum in Patna. Maki and Associates, a Tokyo-based architecture firm, and its Indian partner Opolis have been chosen. The 2,000-year-old Didarganj Yakshi, one of the most popular and iconic sculptures in India, would remain the star exhibit in the new museum, but with a difference. "We have worked in 50 countries and have been museum consultants to get more than three decades. What makes Bihar stand out is that while the KMOMA is a tripartite venture among the government of West Bengal, the government of India and the private sector, the new Patna Museum is an entirely State initiative. It has also moved at a professional pace, while the KMOMA has been in the making for four years. The only aberration has been that the Bihar government has overruled the design jury's recommendation to award the project to the U. Goswamy Committee's report on modernising Indian museums, nor did he look to cultural tsars from Delhi for directions. |
Monday 12 March 2012
Coming soon, a Rs. 400-cr. facelift for Patna Museum
