KOCHI: Walking through the gates of the stately premises of the Museum of Kerala History, one is immediately stirred by the wealth of stories it holds. Founded over three decades ago by industrialist and philanthropist R Madhavan Nayar with a singular agenda to document the history of his state, the museum is now witnessing a metamorphosis at the helm of its new director. Since taking over a little more than a year ago, Aditi Nayar, the grand-niece of the founder and an artist in her own right, is hauling the institution from just being a remnant of the past.
Aditi stepped in at a time when the board had reached a stalemate over what the museum meant to its visitors. “There was an urgent need to redefine the reason for our existence, to come up with a new vision and mission by gauging what the public expects from us,” she says.
In a year’s time, Aditi has managed to collate visitorship data. The museum has started framing a revival as a cultural space by hosting book launches, talks and collaborations with organisations such as Sahapedia. Most recently, it acted as a venue for Q-Loid, the queer documentary and short film festival.
“The world over, museums today are becoming hubs of not only the past but also the future and definitions of the present. The cultural interpretation of a museum is seeing a transformation. So it is important for an institution like ours to reinvent,” she says.
For Aditi who recollects watching the museum take shape, the role is extremely personal and important. “As a child, I would spend most of my time at Madhavan Nayar’s study. He would have a bunch of children’s storybooks that he had collected from across the world for me to read while he would discuss the museum. So this institution has been a part of most of my life,” she says.
As an artist, she has primarily worked with large scale installations and is cognizant of the spectator’s position, a preoccupation she has brought to her role as director as well. She personally conducts walks through the gallery engaging the audience to cull out interpretations of archival art history of the country. “One of my big concerns has been audience engagement and how he or she is positioned with respect to the artwork. I have always been drawn to kinetic installations, tactile and multidimensional experiences that pull in the viewer to interact with what is presented. So when I started, the biggest challenge was to re-curate the art gallery in such a way that even two-dimensional paintings are accessible to people in the timeline of 100 years of Indian art and the way they tie into the history of the nation,” says the artist.
Next on Aditi’s plan is to facilitate community engagement through instructive modules.
She is keen on raising sponsorships through corporate CSR initiatives which could aid educative programmes in schools. “Businesses need to realise the long term benefits of investing in liberal art studies which would forge refined citizens. The other thing in the pipeline as we move forward is that we would like to have a lot more collaborations with international museums and cultural institutions. Hosting people from abroad who come to engage with the city,” adds Aditi.