Plea to restore glorious past

BUSINESS CLASS

Baroda Museum urgently needs a visionary to save it from decline.

Mention Baroda to anyone in the art world and it conjures up images of some of the best art produced in India in recent times. Baroda has been one of India's leading art centres for over three decades.

Most of us are familiar with artists such as Bhupen Khakher, Gulam and Nelima Sheikh, Nalini Malani and Himmat Shah, who are part of the Baroda school and helped develop a new language in art after the post independence progressive movement. Baroda is also famous for its M S University, for successfully producing some of India's greatest artists in recent times.

On a recent trip to the city I was pleased to find that the city now houses two major commercial art galleries, Sarjan and ABS. I had always heard of the famous Ravi Varmas in the collection of the Fateh Singh Palace and even though I'm not a real fan of the artist, I have to admit that these were probably some of his best works.

The real surprise though was the Baroda Museum. It houses some of the finest works of art across categories available for public display in India today. However decrepit the museum may be, its contents reveal the tremendous vision of its founder, Maharaja Siyajiro Gaekwad III.

"If you want to measure the value of the culture of a country, look at its fine arts," believed Gaekwad, the founder of the Baroda Museum, who was reputed to be one of India's most enlightened rulers.

The Gaekwads, in general, were known to be far ahead in education, diplomacy and governance than their contemporaries.

Siyajirao, in particular, showed a lot of interest in the arts and invited artists such as Ravi Varma who painted for several years in a studio specially set up for him. Gaekwad also invited the noted Italian artist Felici and British artist Dermant Wood to work alongside other Indian artists.

The Baroda Museum was set up in 1895 and underwent a series of expansions over the next few decades.

The museum currently houses ancient metal work, ceramics and terra-cotta objects, arms and armour, a superb collection of miniatures and textiles, a stunning collection of European paintings as well as works of art and even modern paintings.

Siyajirao was certainly ahead of his times and his vision could probably teach the present day ministry of culture a thing or two. The Maharaja's vision lasted for quite some time after his death.

The idea to call upon Herman Goetz to become the director of the museum from 1942-1952 was probably one of the best things to happen to Indian museums.

The government was so impressed with his work that it gave him financial assistance for the reorganisation of the now five decade old museum as well as a plan for development of other museums across India.

Soon museology was a part of the post graduate programme at the M S University. A 1962 Unesco survey of Indian museums reported that India led the world in museology. Whatever happened in the last few decades remains a mystery.

The Baroda Museum is in quite a poor state today. The tubelights are far too dim and glass reflections do not allow you to appreciate the masterstrokes of some of the greatest artists in the world such as Rubens, Zoffany and Boudin.

The broken wood signage does little justice to the finest miniatures and textiles in India. I hope that someone in the government would learn from the vision the museum's founder and to go out and call experts and find funding to return the museum to its former glory.