Foreword

To some, a museum is a silent gallery where time settles like dust on stone sculptures and miniature paintings. For others, it is a place of noise - of schoolchildren trailing behind docents, of arguments about whose histories deserve the wall space. It may be a storehouse, a classroom, a time capsule, or even a site of protest, depending on who walks in and what they carry with them. The meaning of a museum, like memory itself, is never fixed, it shifts shape with every visitor, every gaze, every generation.

The museum sector in India is undergoing a quiet but significant transformation. As anyone closely watching the sector knows, today’s museums are far from passive. They are dynamic sites of engagement, dialogue, innovation, and at times, dissent. And most importantly, they are being shaped by a new generation of cultural professionals, curators, designers, educators, and enthusiasts who are not just caretakers of history but also interpreters of and for the society.

Museum Mosaic was born from a need to document this changing landscape. We envisioned it as a platform that would spotlight the most exciting developments in India’s museums, not just to celebrate accomplishments, but to foster conversations and connections. Whether you’re a seasoned museum professional, a researcher, a student, or someone who simply loves wandering through galleries and peeking into showcases, Museum Mosaic is designed to keep you abreast of the pulse of the sector. Think of it as your annual check-in with the people, projects, and provocations shaping the museum world in India.

In this edition, we’ve expanded our scope to capture the many textures of museum work. From national institutions to hyper-local community museums, from illustrated reflections to resource toolkits, the magazine offers a rounded picture of where we are today, and perhaps, where we are headed.

As we publish this issue of Museum Mosaic, I am reminded of why this work matters. Museums are not just places we visit. They are reflections of who we are, what we value, and how we tell our stories. They can be sites of beauty, yes, but also of reckoning. They are spaces where we can come to terms with our past, reimagine our futures, and find our place in the larger narrative of a diverse and complex society.

To all our contributors, readers, and collaborators: thank you for being part of this journey. May this magazine inspire you to visit more museums, ask more questions, and maybe even imagine what your own museum might look like - real or metaphorical.

Welcome to Museum Mosaic 2024. There’s a lot to see. Let’s begin!

Anjchita B. Nair

CEO & Co-founder, Cultre

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