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ABOUT MUSEUM
 

Introduction

The institution of the museum, aimed at housing objects of antiquity, is of Western origin.  Indians themselves did not have a tradition of setting up museums of fragmented sculptures, rusted swords and out of context painting.  Broken images were immersed in holy water, worn-out objects were left to decay and merge with the very earth from which they were created. It is due to this continuous process of abandonment of the old and reproduction of the new that the tradition of craftsmanship have formidably survived in India. as archaeological museum concept in the nineteenth century, it missed out on the fact that, unlike the West, the 'past' and 'present' were not so severely divided in its case, and it therefore failed to give adequate importance in its museums to the evolving context of its culture - the living practices of rituals; festivals; weekly markets; picture-shows of itinerant storytellers; the materials, techniques and tools of artisans; the cultural changes and the attitude towards the past and the contemporary tradition as such.  it is this overlooked dimension of Indian culture which is emphasised in the concept of the Crafts Museum.
                
Soon after the independence of India, various projects and schemes for preservation and development of handicrafts were envisaged in the First and Second Five Year Plans.  the Establishment of a Crafts Museum was an integral part of this policy. The core collection of the Crafts Museum was put together in the 1950s and' 60z to serve as reference material for the craftsmen whose hereditary traditions were fading on the face of modern industrialization.

The low-lying museum building, most appropriate for displaying India's rural and tribal arts, is designed by the renowned architect Charles Correa, to act as metaphor for an Indian  village street - affable, accommodative and active.  A walk across the Crafts Museum building would be through open and semi open passages covered with sloping, tiled roofs and lined with old carved wooden jharokhas, doors, windows, utensils and storage jars and perforated iron screens; through courtyards having domed pigeon houses adorned with arches and lattice work panels, terracotta shrines dedicated to basil plants, massive temple chariots and vermilion covered anionic wayside altars, providing every now and then a peep through a window into vast museum galleries.  The Scales and proportions of the building are based on those of the traditional Indian village where objects of everyday life are hand made and used.