Gurusaday Museum

Gurusaday Museum
Established1963; 61 years ago (1963)
LocationP6, Diamond Harbour Rd, Diamond Park, Joka, Kolkata, West Bengal 700104
Coordinates22°27′19.5″N 88°18′12.3″E / 22.455417°N 88.303417°E / 22.455417; 88.303417
TypeEthnographic museum
FounderGurusaday Dutt

The Gurusaday Museum is a folk arts and crafts museum located in Kolkata, India.

History

The eminent Indian ICS officer and folklorist, Gurusaday Dutt collected over 3000 artifacts in the course of his entire career, spanning from 1905 to 1941. The bulk of the artifacts were collected between 1929 and 1939. Dutt has been referred to as, arguably, one of the foremost pioneers in the field of conservation of folk art and culture.[1][2] The notable Bengali historian Nihar Ranjan Roy once commented: "Gurusaday Dutt had revealed the origin and flow of folk art and culture with the insight of an expert jeweller, who can easily identify a real stone".[3]

After his passing away his belongings, especially the artifacts, were collected in an estate which was placed under the supervision of a trust of which the two original trustees were his brother-in-law, Major (Honorary) Basanta Kumar De, Commercial Traffic Manager (retired),[4] of the BNR, who was the family nominee on the board of the trust and Shri Subimal Ray, Bar-at-law, formerly Judge of the Supreme Court of India, who was the legal adviser to the trust. Dutt's son, Birendrasaday Dutt, Esq.,[5] formerly of the Burma Shell, was also closely involved in the management of these artifacts. Based on the recommendations made by the two members of the trust and his son, the Bengal Bratachari Society founded the museum. Later, these artifacts were shifted to the newly established museum built in Joka, Kolkata. The museum building was formally opened in the presence of the then-chief minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Ray in 1961 and the galleries were opened in the presence of the education minister of India, Professor Humayun Kabir in 1963.

The museum was administered by Dutt's daughter-in-law, Aroti Dutt, who was its long-time chairperson. The historian, Barun De, was a family nominee on the board of the museum for several years.[6] The museum is an autonomous body, which has been under the guidance of the Ministry of Textiles of the Government of India since 1984.

Collections

Its collection includes archaeological objects, deities, manuscripts, masks, musical instruments, paintings, textiles and woodwork.[7][8]

Present status

In 2017, the central government stopped funding for the Gurusaday Museum and since then the museum had resorted to crowd-funding in order to sustain itself.[9][10][11][12] The central government proposed to transfer all the artefacts present in the Gurusaday Museum to the Indian Museum. This decision which may have been taken independently of the staff at Gurusaday Museum was met with widespread criticism.[13][14][15] As of December 2022, the museum has been temporarily closed to visitors.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hauser, Beatrix (2002). "From Oral Tradition to "Folk Art": Reevaluating Bengali Scroll Paintings". Asian Folklore Studies. 61 (1). Nanzan University: 105–122 – via JSTOR.
  2. ^ Ghosh, Pika (2005). "Narrating Kṛṣṇa's Biography: Temple Imagery, Oral Performance, and Vaiṣṇava Mission in Seventeenth-Century Bengal". Artibus Asiae. 65 (1). Artibus Asiae Publishers: 39–85 – via JSTOR.
  3. ^ Chakrabarti, Asis K (2008). "The Tradition of Scroll Paintings with a Special Emphasis on Lord Jagannatha" (PDF). Orissa Review: 13–18 – via Odisha Government.
  4. ^ "Lives Less Forgotten: Basanta Kumar De". Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Lives Less Forgotten: Birendrasaday Dutt". Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Lives Less Forgotten: Barun De". Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Collections of the Gurusaday Museum". Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  8. ^ Ghosh, Pika (2020). Making Kantha, Making Home: Women at Work in Colonial Bengal. Seattle: The University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295746999.
  9. ^ Basu, Anasuya (23 February 2020). "Centre's plan to shift artefacts from Gurusaday Museum to the Indian Museum". The Telegraph India Online.
  10. ^ Basu, Anasuya (15 January 2018). "Folk museum faces closure". The Telegraph India Online.
  11. ^ Bhattacharya, Snigdhendu (18 April 2019). "World Heritage Day: Only museum of Bengal's cultural history looks to crowdfunding for survival". Hindustan Times.
  12. ^ Dutta Majumdar, Arkamoy (21 April 2018). "Will the curtain fall on Gurusaday Museum?". Livemint.
  13. ^ Mukherjee, Sujaan (16 February 2018). "If this rare Kolkata museum shuts down, Bengal will lose a part of its soul". Scroll.in.
  14. ^ Sen, Indrajit (3 March 2018). "Bengali diaspora laments close down of Gurusaday Museum". Get Bengal.
  15. ^ "Kolkata's Gurusaday Museum seeks financial support from Centre". ANI News. 18 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Gurusaday Museum shut down: "A National Treasure of Indian Heritage" and unique collection of Dokra Metal craft – West Bengal". Tribal Cultural Heritage in India. 20 October 2022.

External links

  • Official website
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