Visakhapatnam:
Soda bottles manufactured in 1907 being showcased with early 20th century radio or television sets or wooden palkis (yesteryear’s mode of transport) on display with the model of a modern five-star hotel, violins with pocket watches and colonial era typewriters would surely confuse anyone who visits the heritage blocks of the Visakha Museum.
That’s not all. A life-sized statue of Sachin Tendulkar is being kept with models of tribal people, while modern portraits are kept with paintings of maharajas. Over 90% of artefacts and paintings in the museum are kept in a haphazard way without any proper legends or display boards mentioning the dates, description of the item, era or historical significance. As a result, visitors to the museum are clueless about the origin of any of the items.
Moreover, huge portraits of the royalty (again unidentified maharajas) are in a bad shape and almost non-decipherable.In the armoury section, a teenager was found asking his father about the guns, swords, spears and armours, but the parent had no answer about their history or chronology.
Nafisa Khatoon, a tourist from Kolkata, remarked, “The museum has such an awesome collection of artefacts spanning at least 10-12 centuries. But the display is so haphazard. I don’t understand the logic behind putting war helmets next to imported crockery, a Chinese or Japanese pagoda with astronomical instruments or models of industrial cranes in the same showcase as that of three autographed cricket bats.”
Pointing to the portraits of maharajas, another visitor Asmita Khanduri said, “It’s sad to see there’s no conservation at all. One can directly touch the portraits or paint as there’s no protective lamination or covering on them. I have been to the Baroda Museum and every artefact there is so beautifully arranged and identified as well as conserved.”
Even though the maritime block of the museum on the ground floor is well-maintained and the models of ships, submarines or aircraft have been identified with detailed maritime history, the generator is non-functional for the last three months and visitors have to go back in case of a power cut.
A visitor from Hyderabad, Suresh Jain complained, “I came with my family especially to view the maritime section as my children are interested in defence-related subjects. But there was a power cut when we were about to enter and were asked to go back or wait till power is restored. We came to know their generator is not working. The souvenir shop of the museum was also closed.”
When asked, museum curator MNA Patrudu conceded that conservation is urgently required, but dearth of funds is the main hindering factor. But quite naturally, civic issues and not the museum is in the priority list of the GVMC. “We require at least Rs 50 lakh for conservation of the paintings and artefacts. We have contacted the conservation unit of Intach (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), Bhubaneswar, who are to do the restoration works. We have also sent the proposal to the government regarding this and the file is under process. We are trying to tap funding from GVMC and other sources.”
As for maintaining display boards and legends, the curator said the process is on and a fortnight may be needed to get them ready. “We need proper research and professional help for the authentic details. Some of the donors are not alive and their families may not have the required information. We are doing our best to get the boards in the heritage block ready. The generator is also non-functional for the last three months. Files keep moving slowly in government setups. However, if funds arrive, conservation of paintings and artefacts will be done followed by installation of a lift and CCTV cameras,” Patrudu added.
source: http:/www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ The Times of India /News Home> Visakhapatnam / Sulogna Mehta / TNN / April 19th, 2016