The Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) and the British Museum (BM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-operate for mutual benefit, to further the interests of research and heritage management.
The MoU was signed by P J Cherian, director of the KCHR and Roberta Tomber of the BM, in the presence of Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb, in Kochi. The long-term collaboration would be in effect for five years from the date of signature.
“Both KCHR and the British Museum are keen to build on their existing co-operation and to create a long-term partnership by working together on research, conservation, loans, exhibitions and other key areas of museum activity for the benefit of audiences in Kerala, London and worldwide,” said P J Cherian.
Following discussions, the KCHR and the British Museum have identified areas of potential collaboration across a range of activities. Sharing expertise through collaborating on research projects including excavations at Pattanam, located off North Paravur, would be one of the activities.
The two institutions also intend to share expertise through workshops in the areas of maritime technology, pottery and personal adornment and develop greater access to the collections, to audiences in the UK and India. Finally they hope to develop long-term sustainable partnerships in the fields of archaeology and antiquities, collections’ management, conservation and museum management.
Roberta Tomber of the British Museum stated that the MoU would do much to further mutually beneficial collaboration between the two institutions and that many of the stated aims were directly relevant to the important on-going work at Pattanam by KCHR.
Hoping that this would set in one of the best traditions in international academic collaborations, Cherian said that this collaboration with the British Museum would help the state’s capacity building in heritage management.