UP must virtualise its heritage museum experience
Museums are an important means of exchange and enrichment of cultures. As we observe the International Museum Day on May 18, the COVID19 crisis has crippled the world with the museum traffic having come to a grinding halt. In such challenging times, it has become imperative for all the concerned authorities to make all museums accessible through online virtual tours.
VIRTUAL TOURS OF WORLD’S GREATEST MUSEUMS
World’s biggest museums already have great online experiences possible through virtual tours. People can explore Egyptian antiques and travel to another era in Louvre’s virtual tours. Virtual tour by Google’s Art and Culture Network takes us to Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
Vatican Museum offers breath-taking 360-degree view of Sistine Chapel. British Museum, London has audiointerfaced virtual tours. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York has great virtual tours. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam offers virtual tours of artworks of the legendary Rembrandt.
VIRTUALISATION OF INDIAN MUSEUMS
Some work has already happened for virtualisation of Indian museums. Ministry of Culture’s website offers virtual tours of National Museum Delhi, Indian Museum – Kolkata, Salar Jung Museum Hyderabad, Victoria Memorial Museum – Kolkata and others.
National Council of Science Museums also offers virtual galleries including a peep into the Birla, Nehru and Visvesvaraya museums. Railway Museum in Delhi also offers virtual 360 degree tours. While some worthwhile work has already happened, the efforts have not been consistent across Indian museums.
ONLINE IMAGERY AT UP MUSEUMS
UP is a gold mine of rich cultural heritage some of which can be experienced in its museums. Taj Museum and Allahabad Museum of Government of India have a limited online presence. State Museum – Lucknow offers no virtual tours. UP Government not only needs to spruce up their museums significantly but also make available the online virtual tours at the earliest to enhance the citizen experience, leveraging the new generation technologies available now.