Tuesday 19 June 2012

Maki and Associates of Japan along with Indian partner Opolis to build State-of-the-art museum in Patna

Patna will have a new world-class museum "on the evolution of the history and civilization of the Indian subcontinent" at a prime location in the city. The USP of this museum would be "Bihar Through Ages" to project the glorious past of Bihar through displays and audio-visuals. A brainchild of CM Nitish Kumar, the new museum would be located in Bailey Road area of the state capital.

Six spacious government bungalows, housing a university and a church among others, spread over 13.9 acres would be demolished to build the museum. The state building construction department (BCD) has started working on this ambitious project.

The existing city museum, built in 1917, does not have adequate space to display all the antiquities. "Out of over one lakh antiquities available at the museum, barely 20% artefacts are on display," said additional director, Patna museum, JPN Singh.

Hence, he said, it was essential to build another museum to display all the artefacts. Rare collection of the old museum is likely to be shifted to the new one. "We have created a separate gallery in the Patna museum giving the details of the project and architectural design of the proposed museum," Singh said.
The state cabinet has already given the go-ahead to begin work on the basis of its master plan. A Toronto-based firm, Lord Cultural Resources, has been made master consultant of the project. The department of art and culture has been made nodal department of the project. The new museum is likely to be constructed in about four years.
After completion, the new museum will join the ranks of Grand Egyptian Museum (Egypt), Luvre Lens (France), Guggenheim in Bilbao (Spain) and Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg (Canada).
A competition was held in November last year to select an architect for building the museum. After an elaborate exercise, an internationally-known firm, Maki and Associates of Japan, was selected for the job. This firm will execute the project along with its Indian partner, Opolis. The state cabinet approved the selection of Maki & Associates on January 12, 2012, after which a contract was signed in Patna on January 25, 2012. Maki and Associates and Opolis have started to develop their competition design proposal into a final design.

"The collection to be displayed at this new museum will not just include historically significant stone, bronze and terracotta sculptures, but also many artefacts that will tell the story of Patliputra and the lasting impact that the Magadh culture has had on this region, India and the world," said principal secretary, art and culture, Anjani Kumar Singh.

Stories of Buddha, Mahavir, Ashoka and other great political, literary and scientific personalities will be depicted in this new museum using multimedia and interactive methods. This museum will also have a children's section.
Lord Cultural Resources, the world's oldest and largest cultural planning consultancy, which has more than 1,800 museum and cultural planning assignments to its credit, will be working along with the department of art and culture and the building construction department for developing this museum.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 350 crore. The permanent collection at the new museum, based on the holdings of the present Patna Museum, will be complemented by unique audio-visual and interactive attractions that will appeal to people of all age groups and socio-cultural background.

The museum will also have a lobby, orientation theatre, educational centre, multipurpose central hall, shop, cafe, library, thematic permanent gallery and temporary exhibition gallery.

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