BHUBANESWAR: While the outbreak of Covid-19 has put a halt on travel and museums across the State are closed in view of the pandemic, the Odisha State Tribal Museum has decided to offer people a virtual journey through its interesting exhibits for free. The ST & SC Development, OBC and Minorities Welfare department is all set to begin virtual tours of the tribal museum from Sunday.
The initiative designed by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI), is part of the 5T initiative of the State Government. Director of SCSTRTI AB Ota said starting August 2, every Sunday a virtual tour of the museum will be offered on the social media accounts of ST/SC Department, the museum apart from websites of SCSTRTI, the department and Academy of Tribal Languages and Culture.
The tour may either be on the exhibits showcased in the museum, documentaries on indigenous knowledge systems, tribal huts, videos of select exquisite art and crafts of the tribal communities, documentaries depicting the life and culture of selected tribal communities or any of the galleries of the tribal museum, informed Ota. While the museum has been closed for visitors from March 12, the virtual tours will continue till November 2.
“We hope that over the period of three months, artefacts from collections of the museum, documentaries, short videos, photographs and virtual tours together will become a comprehensive digital resource on the life and culture of tribal communities of Odisha”, Ota said. People can also watch videos on indigenous knowledge systems of Lanjia Saura, Kutia Kondh, Paraja and Dongria Kondh communities besides live demonstration of art and craft of four tribes through the virtual tours from the comfort of their homes.