Makeover for city museum will begin soon

MUMBAI: Work on the much vaunted Bhau Daji Lad Museum restoration project will commence next fortnight.
The run-down 1872 Palladian-style museum building with its ornate Victorianstyle interior in the Byculla zoo complex will subsequently be closed to the public for a while.
The restoration will be carried out under the supervision of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cutural Heritage (INTACH), Mumbai, with a Rs 1.5 crore donation from the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation.
The restoration will be supervised by conservation architect Vikas Dilawari, who restored the Corporation Hall a couple of years ago. The work will be completed by the time the museum turns 132 on May 2 next year.
It entails, among other things, repairing and repainting the museum''s hall with its ornate pillars, wrought-iron work, woodwork and ceiling.
"It has taken seven years for this project to fructify, so we in the museum trust are all very excited that it is finally getting off the ground," said INTACH Mumbai convenor Tasneem Mehta.
"This is an extraordinary building and an extraordinary little museum. Our restoration scheme, therefore, has two goals—to bring the shine back to the heritage building and to turn the museum into the vibrant educational institution it once was," she added.
Ms Mehta was instrumental in convincing the BMC, which runs the museum, to allow a special museum trust to be formed to spearhead the restoration project and to promote the special educational activities planned for the museum after the restoration is completed.
The 19-member trust includes BMC officials, museologists, art historians, heritage experts and educationists. She also convinced the Bajaj foundation to fund the project— their first such in Mumbai.
"Our foundation normally funds development projects in rural areas. However, we decided to fund the Bhau Daji Lad project because we recognised the museum for the priceless piece of urban heritage that it is," said Niraj Bajaj, director of the Bajaj Group.
"Highlighting as it does the lifestyle and crafts, trade and industry of Mumbai and its hinterland, it tells the story of our city. It deserves to be promoted as a beautiful bit of Mumbaiana," added the industrialist.
Mr Bajaj''s view is echoed by Jyotish Desai, the curator of the museum, and museologist-trustees such as Sadashiv Gorakhshkar and Jyotindra Jain. "The artifacts, models and dioramas— and old books—here are a wonderful representation of local life and culture, flora and fauna," said Mr Desai.
"It''s important that this ambience is preserved," added Mr Jain, who established the Crafts Museum in Delhi. "Any new exhibits and sections —like a Bollywoood section, perhaps—must be carefully selected to enhance this local flavour."
The trust will consider expanding the collection after the renovation. Its priorities are to display the existing exhibits to better effect, to set up a conservation laboratory and expand the educational activities in the museum, said Ms Mehta.
So, in the course of the next year, while Messrs Dilawari and co work at sprucing up the building, Ms Mehta and her fellowtrustees will be talking to foreign experts such as Brian Bath on enhancing the displays and making them userfriendly and reworking the lighting.
They will also be talking to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to bring down experts to hold lectures, and seminars and special shows when the refurbished museum opens.
Deborah Swallow, chief curator of the V&A''s South Asian section, has assured the trust that their museum will be happy to lend its support to the Bhau Daji, said Ms Mehta. "That''s only as it should be, because the Bhau Daji was originally called the Victoria & Albert Museum and has close ties with its counterpart in London."
Many of the artifacts and models in the Bhau Daji are also to be found in the V&A.