Beyond the case of performance. What should be included in the new museums of India?

Do you know that there are 37 museums in Basel, Switzerland with a population of about 1,75,000 people? There are many people in India, such as Division, such as Bandra East, Mumbai. Upmarket Bandra, though no museum and city, barely a handful.

There is a group of mega museums on the horizon in India. Yuga Yugan Bharat National Museum is ready to cover a distance of about 1,55,000 square meters in New Delhi and is part of the major Forest of the Government of India in this space. Slated to open in 2026, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNAMA) will present 1,00,000 square meters in the national capital. In Gujarat, the National Maritime Heritage Complex in Lothal will be spread over 375 acres and open to the public in the stages starting this year.

These mega cultural powerhouses on the horizon for the future, even they offer treasures from our shared historical past. As the country shuts down its colonial cloak, and grows in the second quarter of this century, there are some indications for it to re -form its museums as future cultural institutions.

Buildings by Star Architect

When the housing is precious treasures, most museum planners turn into a well -established architect, a brief to dread the building as a luxurious speaking point. Therefore, is this architect Frank Gehri, who placed Bilbao, Spain on a map with the Guggenheim Museum or Fondation Louis Wuiton’s technology assistance in Paris, or Naoshima, Japan in Japan, Bansi House Museum, Museums in Japan, Museum Building in Japan is an ambitious attraction in itself. Endo’s relevant architecture is inspired by its own personal philosophy, which translates into powerful spatial experiences in buildings built by them and is ideal for us to consider.

Gugneheim Museum, Bilbao | Photo Credit: Getty Images

In India, a single example of an extraordinary museum building in recent times is Bhuj, a Smriti -Steel Memorial Museum by late architect BV Doshi in Gujarat. It was awarded the UNESCO Prix Versay 2024 Award and nominated among the seven most beautiful museums in the world. Attracting several million visitors in a year, it is a compass for future museums.

Smritivan Earthquake Memorial Museum, Bhuj

Better storyteller in room

The powerful story that presents historical reference or meaning is more relevant in museums than ever. The average city’s human today is blitzed with images ranging from wake up to lights out. Phone, screen, print media, hoardings and more have ensured less attention and reluctant to read. Therefore, it takes more than a printed label with a museum artifact for a visitor. The US gives a glimpse of a museum to open around the Future Storytelling, Slated to open early next year in the US $ 1 billion Lucas Museum of Katha Art, Los Angeles, California. It has a commitment to an embedded story in its name.

The palace museum in India in Jodhpur and Udaipur in Rajasthan, for example, papers their historical complexes with local performing artists. A flute or winding, intimate strains of colored folk dancers enrich the visible experience and create compelling memories. Effective presentation of precious museum precious accessories requires a mixture of good exhibition design, lighting, safety and beauty, wrapped in attractive story.

A mini-Quran By division. Photo Credit: Madhavi Jain/Museum of Material Memory

Welcoming millians

As a non-milainial, I offer the definition of the term for this argument, which is easy and constant access to technology and social media as any young person. Millennials today have avatars that live together in a terrible number of platforms. You and I brush your teeth in the morning, they share the individual stories of everything with clothes wearing (GRWM), community and caste trauma, complex family history, immigrant enmity and migrant ceremonies. Except for worldly, some stories are intestinal, raw and filled with emotions.

Now, take these young people to a museum filled with objects, screens and diagrams. Nothing. There is no connect. These audiences want history described through stories. They also want immediate access to photographs, shares, memes and speech. This is their language and this age group has been discontinued with a restricted access to photography, videography and collection with our major Indian museums.

A sewing machine as independent India. Photo Credit: Aanchal Malhotra/Museum of Material Memory

Not just a game

Do you know that Tate modern is a Pocestop? Has I lost you, and can I explain? Pokémon Go is a promotional reality game released in 2016. With more than one billion downloads, the players surprisingly cut all age groups and chased Pokémon demons in the real world, including museums such as Tate. Museums have lured gamers as geolocation and thus increased engagement, because once you enter a museum, even the most flexible visitors will find attraction in something. The Nintendo Museum, Kyoto, which was opened last year enables visitors to experience the apathy of the initial video gaming.

Nintendo Museum, Kyoto | Photo Credit: Reuters

Meanwhile, in India, the inclusion of Tech Museum or even high-end tech is still in a newborn stage and leaves a lot to be desired.

The author is the founder-director of EKA collection services.