When Indian objects are returned from museums abroad, there are, deservedly, moments of celebration. It spurs Indians on to push for the restitution of more objects that were taken as war trophies, smuggled out illegally, looted or wrested from communities by force. But giving a home to the objects we love and cherish must extend to the objects within India’s borders too.
Historian Usha Balakrishnan, who curated India’s only jewellery gallery, the one at the National Museum, says that objects that return too often vanish from view. “For now, at least, antiquities are more accessible at Western museums where the public can get a good look at them, get permission to study them closely and learn from them,” she says.
India’s 212 repatriated items, for instance, are housed in a gallery in Delhi’s Purana Qila (an upgrade from their previous lodgings in an Archaeological Survey of India warehouse), but few people know they’re there. “They were returned with fanfare, but since then there has been no travelling exhibit, no monograph, no scholarship,” Balakrishnan says.
Overall, India has a bleak track record when it comes to restoring and displaying its treasures. Much of the National Museum’s jewellery is in storage; even Balakrishnan is denied access. Temple wealth and jewellery are kept hidden even from devotees.
Sunita Dwivedi, author of four books on Buddhist history, says that thousands of Silk Road antiquities were brought to India from China on British expeditions between 1900 and 1914. “They’re still lying in boxes and almirahs in Delhi and Kolkata museums due to lack of air-conditioned halls and resources for restoration work.”
Experts on all sides of the debate agree that India must focus on building a more robust museum-going culture. “As a next step, we should work towards repatriated objects going back to the communities they were intended for,” says Anuraag Saxena, co-founder of the non-profit India Pride Project, which has helped the government identify artefacts that rightfully belong in India.
Alongside, new technology and the international community could help. The International Council of Museums (ICoM) maintains a Red List of cultural artefacts at risk from theft and trafficking. In the past, these have included objects in museums in Iraq and Syria. But “there’s no global database for stolen antiquities,” says Vinod Daniel, a museologist and member of the Board of the ICoM. Worldwide, museum exhibits typically represent less than 5% of their collections. There’s increasing pressure for them to make their full inventories public.
Dwivedi adds that the Indian government could also maintain a digital catalogue of Indian antiquities that lie abroad, to foster cross-border academic and cultural cooperation. “There already is one such collaborative effort, the International Dunhuang Project, which enables study and research of art material from northwest China,” she says.
And we must fight the small battles too. Balakrishnan says it’s easier to campaign for the short- or long-term loan of an item than its permanent repatriation. “I remember viewing the Padshahnama [Book of Emperors] at the National Museum in the early ’80s,” she says. The book, a rare illustrated chronicle commissioned by Shah Jahan, lists his achievements. It was gifted by the ruler of Awadh to King George III in 1799 and is part of the Royal Collection Trust. “It is certainly possible for Western museums to part with items from India,” Balakrishnan says.
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