PM Modi to inaugurate mega International Museum Expo in Delhi on May 18

Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate a three-day international museum exposition here on May 18 during which a host of cultural activities will be organised, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a three-day international museum exposition here on May 18 during which a host of cultural activities will be organised, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Wednesday.

The event will be held from May 18-20 and will also commemorate the International Museum Day that falls on May 18.

It will be held at Pragati Maidan as part of the second phase of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Reddy said, adding PM Modi will inaugurate the International Museum Expo on May 18.

During the opening ceremony, the prime minister will also unveil the mascot of the expo -- an image of the prehistorric dancing girl (found from Mohenjo-daro), which will be "stylised in Channapatna toys form", a graphic novel on museum, a directory of Indian museums, a pocket map of Kartavya Path, and a deck of 75 cards on various museums of India, said Mugdha Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture.

In a presentation made during a press interaction at the National Museum premises here, Sinha said that Prime Minister Modi will also launch a "virtual walkthrough" providing a glimpse into what will be the upcoming National Museum at North Block and South Block.

According to a booklet shared on the International Museum Expo by the ministry, the upcoming museum will be called Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, and it will showcase the rich civilisational culture of India spanning over 5,000 years.

The joint secretary during her presentation also shared that the scale of participation will be big, and about 1,200 museums are slated to take part in its various segments.

There will be three exhibitions to be hosted as part of the event, including of 75 "star objects" -- artefacts drawn from illustrious collections of over 25 museums and institutions across India; exhibitions of covers of books and publications, including from pre-Independence era and an exhibition of Ragamala Series, she said.

A 12-level app-based video game 'Indian Museum Tycoon' will also be launched on the day of the inauguration, and it will be available on both Android and iOS platforms.

The Directory of Museums in India consists of over 1,200 museums located across the country, and has been compiled by the National Museum Institute.

The pocket map of Kartavya Path will have infirmation on the various State House or Bhawans like Kota House and Jaipur House which were built during the British era around India Gate, and cultural spaces and ministry of culture's institutions.

A handbook on conservation, a pictorial bibliography on museums, will also be released during the expo, the senior official said.

Reddy said the ministry is running nearly 383 museums across the country, of which 145 have been constructed since 2014.

Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi said many of these 145 museums constructed in the last 8.5 years have been "built in tier-2 cities, and on subjects perhaps not much spoken about", such as the Birsa Munda museum, as also the Pradhan Mantri Sanghralaya in Delhi.

And, to develop areas, museums are being built at places where there is wealth of heritage, but palaces which are not on the cultural map, she said.

As part of the event, the ministry in collaboration with the Mumbai-based Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya has created a 'museum on wheels'. And, the bus will go around the National Capital Region to bring museums closer to people, officials said.

Besides, five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) will be signed with nodal departments of five cities -- New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Varanasi and Ahmedabad -- in pursuance of setting up of five cultural spaces, they said.

In January 2020, Prime Minister Modi had announced setting up of these five cultural spaces.

There will be masterclasses and thematic panel discussions and an oral storytelling session -- 'Dastangoi', 'Dastaan-e-Ajaib'.

Joint secretary Sinha said participants from the UK, the US, France and Russia, among other countries, are slated to take part in the expo, besides culture and tourism ministers from various parts of the country.