‘The Met’ comes calling to Amaravathi Heritrage Town

A file photo of Deputy Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Carrie Barratt and Chief Curator Dr. John Guy with Prof Amareswar Galla at the Amaravathi Museum.
A file photo of Deputy Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Carrie Barratt and Chief Curator Dr. John Guy with Prof Amareswar Galla at the Amaravathi Museum.

New York museum to hold exhibition on Buddhism

The historic legacy of Buddhism and the famous Amaravati School of art brought senior personnel from the New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (‘The Met’) to the Amaravathi Heritage Town (ATH) by the banks of the Krishna river, 35 km north of Guntur. The Met, among the most renowned museums in the world, is planning an exhibition on Buddhism in October 2020. Following the Buddha’s footprints in Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Jeta Vanam, Nalanda and other places mainly in northern India, its Deputy Director Carrie Barratt and Chief Curator Dr. John Guy spent a day in Amaravathi, with Chief Curator of the ATH and heritage advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government Amareswar Galla.

Going around the town, Ms. Barratt was particularly taken with the theme of Ma Vooru Ma Kodallu (’Our Town Our Daughters-in-Law’), an initiative mediated by local women to bring together the people of the town. “Working with local women to turn the museum into a community centre for learning and engagement is an incredible thing and very inspiring,” said Ms. Barratt.

Limor Tomer, General Manager, MetLiveArts, The Met’s performing arts programme, said such collaborations juxtapose art and sculpture with contemporary creativity and bring museum collections alive for diverse and growing audiences.

Dr. Galla said the significance of Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh is its outstanding universal value. Conservation and heritage tourism must integrate sites such as the ATH, he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by P. Sujatha Varma / Vijayawada – November 21st, 2017

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