Home to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, one of India’s leading arts events, Kerala now aspires to become the center of museums in India. “It is time for us to get out of the notion that museums are places where history sleeps. They should be able to converse with visitors, especially young people, ”said Dr Venu V, Additional Chief Secretary of the Government of Kerala, who oversees the departments of Archeology, Archives and Museums.
Under the initiative, mini museums will be promoted across the state.
Anchored by the Keralam Museum, an organization formed to build and modernize museums, the “new museum movement strives to challenge outdated norms on the preservation of cultures, replacing them with revolutionary concepts that are gaining ground in other parts of the world.”
Among other projects, the Bastion Bungalow in Fort Kochi will now function as the Ernakulam District Heritage Museum, with its galleries visually explaining the interventions of the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial powers in the political dominance of the kingdoms of Kerala.
A newly opened District Heritage Museum in Palakkad, 150 km north of Kochi, focuses on the agriculture, arts and music of the region.
In recent years, the Keralam Museum has completed several other assignments, including the Koyikkal Palace Folklore Museum in Nedumangad in the Thiruvananthapuram district, the Gandhi Smriti Museum in Payyanur, and the Gandhi Memorial Museum of Vaikom Satyagraha in the Kottayam district. . More than 20 heritage museums in the district are underway.
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