Museum at your doorstep

The Discovery Tent plan is in a rudimentary stage but the Museum on Wheels is expected by year-end.

“The Museum on Wheels is an attempt to extend the museum experience beyond the walls of the museum and take it to those who are not able to come to us. It will be a travelling exhibition inside a bus,which will move in the city and remote and interior parts of Maharashtra as well. There will be an interactive set-up or a projector,both inside and outside the bus. There will be a provision to have an exhibition outside the bus too. The aim is to reach out to as many people,especially students,as we can,” said Bilwa Kulkarni,education officer,CSMVS.

The bus will have interactive objects and tactile models children will be able to touch,pick,feel and remake. The initiative is part of the modernisation plan of the museum and is being funded by a special grant by the Ministry of Culture.

There will be information kiosks. Various sections of the bus will focus on art,storytelling,painting and archaeology among others. While each exhibition will focus on a specific theme,workshops and films will be part of the mobile museum. It will give an opportunity for budding curators to showcase their talent.

For the Museum on Wheels,CSMVS is partnering with India Foundation for the Arts,which has issued two fellowships for the initiative.

“Two fellows will assist the curators. The bus is likely to hit the road by the end of 2013. The hands-on activities and workshops will enable students to think out-of-the-box and go beyond textbook knowledge,” said Kulkarni.

The Discovery Tent is intended to be an interactive space for children. The plan is to include workshops and other activities so that students can touch,feel and play with objects like replicas of artefacts. It could include a theatre space,reading corner with library and pottery making corner,among others. It will include both indoor and outdoor activities.

As part of its efforts,the CSMVS has been focusing on several interactive activities for children,which involves learning by doing. In 2011,the museum kickstarted a project on creating interactive learning resources so that students can get a “feel” of what they learn. The first in the series were replicas of Harappan artefacts. Last year,original Egyptian mummies were displayed in Mumbai,at the museum,for the first time. Egyptian artefacts,original and replicas,along with four original mummies were put on display,which were an attraction for close to four lakh visitors.