Ministry of Culture holds webinar on revitalising museums, cultural spaces

The Ministry of Culture, brought together top experts in from the museum and cultural spaces to kickstart conversations around creating sustainable cultural organizations in post pandemic India.

Discussants included Abhishek Poddar, Founder Trustee of Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Bengaluru; Bose Krishnamachari, President of Kochi Biennale Foundation; Brendan Ciecko, Founder and CEO of Cuseum; Sanjoy K Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts. Raghvendra Singh, CEO of Museums and Cultural Spaces, Ministry of Culture, moderated the webinar.

Singh said the objective of the discussion is to identify the possible policy actions that will help alleviate the short and long term effects of the coronavirus crisis on museums, cultural spaces and their broader ecosystems.

The experts touched upon topics of impact, innovations and post-crisis planning in the context of museums and cultural spaces. A recent term of 'Museo-preneurs' was also discussed to see how museums can embrace the entrepreneurial spirit and work on sustainable business models.

The discussion also re-imagined cultural spaces and introduction of innovative ideas to maximise the social and economic value of cultural heritage and to build capacity in order to engage with local audiences and tourists.

The government plans to prepare a policy paper and hold more discussions with the private and corporate sectors so that the cultural and creative industries can move forward post pandemic.

In a separate report, UNESCO confirmed that museums have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and nearly 90 per cent of them are shut. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said: "This pandemic also reminds us that half of humanity doesn't have access to digital technologies. We must work to promote access to culture for everyone, especially the most vulnerable and isolated."

UNESCO and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) expressed concern over the global cultural space due to the pandemic..