Delhi’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) has launched extensive virtual tours for viewers to digitally experience museum exhibitions. The navigation tools, as the museum promises are user friendly and panoramic in nature. Kiran Nadar, Founder and Chairperson, KNMA defines it as a “new moment for us”. With these virtual tours, she wants to take KNMA to the people, to their homes and devices. Excerpts from an interview:
What are the top features included in the virtual tour?
The virtual tours are currently in place for the exhibitions that are still on display, but were cut short due to the lockdown that was enforced in March. These virtual tours are in 360 degree panoramic view as well as 3D, using both technologies, and one can navigate to whichever section you want to view. A mini map pops up that gives you the option to teleport to different exhibitions with a quick click. There is an engage option, which gives you the artist profile, video and photos. Finally, if you choose to do the 3D walkthrough, there is also a highlights section.
What are the exhibitions on display?
At present, there are four exhibitions on display. There is Zarina: A Life in Nine Lines, this is a solo show dedicated to the artistic career of Zarina Hashmi. It is all the more poignant as she passed away in April this year. It explores her fascination with the medium of paper, it also showcases woodcut prints, lithographs and etchings along with a few sculptural objects. Then we have Line, Beats and Shadows, which presents artists Ayesha Sultana, Prabhavathi Meppayil, Lala Rukh and Sumakshi Singh and their eclectic interpretation of abstraction. In the exhibition, Abstracting Nature, we see the artworks by Mrinalini Mukherjee and Jayashree Chakravarty amalgamate myriad objects found in nature into their own oeuvre, and lastly, the show, Right to Laziness, is a thought-form part of the young artists of our times series devised by Akansha Rastogi is one of the important ones.
Tell us about the advantages and disadvantages of using a virtual medium for viewing the artworks?
While virtual tours can never replicate the sensory experience of viewing an artwork in person, I feel that it comes to a close second. Also, the huge advantage is that virtual tours will enable access to a greater number of audiences and it will not be limited by location. Our main aim at KNMA, is to make art available and accessible to all. These virtual exhibitions go a long way to achieve that goal.
Could you reflect on the artists fraternity, especially the upcoming ones, on their challenges during this time?
KNMA has not paused its efforts in the promotion and preservation of Indian contemporary art during this time. We hope that our efforts have played some role in helping Indian artists and artisans. However, from a historical perspective, times of great change, great pain and times of great learning have resulted in innovative, ground breaking works from artists. I have no doubt it will be the case this time as well and I look forward to seeing these works as they come to fruition.
Tell us about your plans about opening the museum in the near future?
At the moment we are awaiting a green light from the government. Once we have that, we will open up keeping hygiene, health and safety protocols in mind. Sanitisation, social distancing, mask wearing, will all play a part in our blueprint to reopen. We will also look at museums abroad, as well as international museum bodies for learning on how to re-open safety.