BENGALURU: With their origins in colonial fascination with the act of ‘collecting’ precious artefacts from across the world, museums have come a long way. As the definition of art continues to evolve, these former institutions of colonial power have started to become increasingly out of place in the modern world, more so as movements to make art more accessible to everyone gains traction.
The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), a brainchild of philanthropist and collector Abhishek Poddar is at the forefront of this movement. Architects Soumitro Ghosh and Nisha Mathew of the city-based firm Mathew & Ghosh, known for their work on the Freedom Park, and National Military Memorial, designed the museum.
Spread across five storeys and over 4,000 sq ft, MAP hosts five galleries, an auditorium, research library and more. Yet from the exterior, it barely resembles a museum, lacking the usual elements of a traditional museum.
The design of the building was deliberately kept muted in an effort to make it relatable for Bengaluru’s cosmopolitan audiences. “There’s an ongoing debate about whether art galleries should just be ‘plain boxes’ that do not draw any attention to themselves or if they need to be ‘decorated boxes’ that also house art within them.
In the case of MAP, we decided that in the interiors, we do not want to draw any attention to the building itself so that the art can get all the attention it deserves. But the exterior was deliberately designed to attract attention,” he says, adding that a few other factors, including space constraints and regulatory requirements, influenced the design philosophy.
While the space constraints might have been avoided had the museum been established in any other part of the city, the location in CBD was an important factor. “The foremost reason was that there is a sizable body of cultural institutions around the locality, including three other museums. If someone were to come visit one of them, they could easily visit all of them. The location is also close to the metro. Furthermore, it’s in the heart of the city, between some of the older parts such as Malleswaram, and newer and upcoming localities like Koramangala,” Ghosh explains.