Policy on anvil
Ministry of Culture will formulate a National Culture Policy with a view to develop and improve museums in the country.
Speaking at the Global Summit on ‘Reimagining Museums in India’, Govind Mohan, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, said that the museums today are more crucial than ever before as visual communication has become intrinsic to the younger generation. He said, “As India celebrates Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav with a view to commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people culture and achievements; the time to rethink the functioning of museums becomes even more pertinent in this national reawakening, where 1.3 billion Indians, especially the young rediscover
their evolutionary journey and socio cultural identity. Museums will play a significant role in showcasing this cultural heritage." Mohan highlighted that through this Summit, Ministry of Culture aims to
initiate a dialogue to understand the best approach for developing India's museums, forging strategic partnerships between Indian and international institutions and drawing a master plan for renewal of Indian museums and to make them truly world-class. “We aim to come up with a standard operating procedure for developing the finest museums worldwide. Under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the message of rejuvenation of museums and cultural spaces will continue to play a critical role in the task of nation-building and discharging responsibilities towards character-building of our citizens in the 21st century. Taking forward the vision of the PM of the two T’s –Tradition and Tourism, for India the potential for this development in the museum space is vast and waiting to be unlocked,” he stressed.
He further shared, “Specialists and planners, both have highlighted the need for investment in culture as a national policy, as it is done for Education, Health or infrastructure. This message has been internalised within the Ministry of Culture and we are well on our way to developing a national culture policy with the right growth impetus through policy and markets. The expansion of the museum landscape in India will lead to an exponential increase in income generation and job creation, and culture in general, and museums specifically will become a major driver of economic growth.”
He shared that earlier the role of Ministry of Culture in promoting museums wasz mostly restricted to providing financial assistance under two schemes—the museum Grant scheme and the scheme for promotion of the culture of science.
“We want to go beyond this now with a renewed mandate of modernisation, upgradation and establishment of new museums. We aim to bring our institutions closer to international standards of Museology, which are relevant for the 21st century. Broadly, The areas that need renewed attention is the management of museums with highest standards of professionalism and best practices education in audience engagement, development of capacity and skills and the sustainable growth of museums,” he highlighted.
He suggested that there is a need to facilitate strategic partnerships and collaborations, develop capacities for heritage professionals, and develop an ecosystem for a robust network of stakeholders to engage in this sector. Putting stress on the digitalisation in the post-pandemic world, he claimed, “In the new normal ushered in, by COVID-19, the digital has emerged as the most important space for engagement in the museum sector. The use of digital technology to enhance user experience is however, not limited to just artificial reality or virtual reality - AR and VR, But it is to widen, public access through modernisation and digitisation of collections and exhibitions.
We have seen extensive use of technology for enhanced user experience and engagement in our national museum in Delhi and advanced projection mapping at the Victoria Memorial Hall Kolkata and also the National Gallery of modern Art's New Delhi,” he pointed out.
He claimed that while India has a vast number of museums, they have so far received limited attention from international or even domestic tourists, educational entities or private stakeholders.
“We feel that there is an urgent need to significantly improve the visibility of these spaces through marketing and outreach initiatives to attract visitors, increase both public and private investment, improve livelihoods, generate employment and ideally ensure longevity and sustainability for museums,” he said.
He concluded, “Museums in India today need to create a sustainable future by taking care of their core assets and collections and ensuring that the museum continues to be relevant and valuable to future generations.
We are well on our way to developing a national culture policy with the right growth impetus through policy and markets
The reimagining museums in India Summit expects to illustrate and discuss best practices from India and abroad, which can create conditions that will integrate the global museum community with some of India's, most significant cultural institutions and museum spaces. I envisage that 2022, which marks 75 years of India’s independence will see immense growth and development of the museum sector in India.”
It is said that there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose Time Has Come. reimagining, museums, is India in India is indeed such an idea.
The resumption of international scheduled flights is great news, not only for our economy but also from the travel industry standpoint. It is definitely going to give industry the scope to quickly address the need to have strong inbound traffic slowly. This move is also a great sentiment booster, as now hospitality and travel companies will start pushing their marketing efforts to create business opportunities. Consequently, with time, this will augur well for the inbound demand in India. At present with India easing travel within as well and business getting back to business as usual, international travellers will find it easy. This is also the right moment as we will get time to ensure that within six months, business comes back in the right track as per our targets.
This is great news for all travellers and the industry, especially before the peak summer season. The demand for international travel is picking up in India and there has been a significant uptick in travel search queries for popular international destinations such as Australia, Sri Lanka, US and UK. Travel search queries from India for Australian cities such as Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney have jumped 15 to 20 per cent this month. We are seeing a trend of travellers now eager to book long-haul destinations, fuelled by international borders reopening and relaxation of rules across the globe. Resumption of international commercial flights will also regularise the demand-supply balance resulting in lower international airfares.
The announcement by DGCA and Ministry of Civil Aviation regarding the restart of scheduled international flight operations is a positive start and we hope things get normal going forward. This announcement has sent a wave of excitement through the industry and we have already started getting good number of queries for the coming season under FIT and smaller groups. However, few of the clients are still watching on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and once it ends we expect those queries converting into business and closure. Over and above, social events like birthdays and anniversaries outside India are getting back in demand for this season. Let’s hope year 2022 be good for tourism industry.