Ministry of Culture organised a four-day inter-ministerial stakeholder consultation and capacity building workshop for upcoming Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum, slated to be built in the North and South Block as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project. The workshop was held from 26^th to 29^th June 2024 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The final day of the deliberation was attended by the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and senior Ministry officials such as the Secretary, Shri Govind Mohan as well as Dr. Thierry Mathou, French Ambassador to India.

The consultation engaged individuals from the museum ecosystem, both private and government to discuss the upcoming Yuga Yugeen Bharat (The timeless and eternal India) Museum. The Capacity Building was spearheaded by a team of experts from France Muséums, an international museum consultancy.

Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, on the concluding day of the four-day Capacity Building Workshop said “This museum will stand as a testament to India's rich heritage and its unwavering spirit of progress, as it draws inspiration from its past as a blueprint. The Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum will transcend the traditional museum experience, embodying the spirit of inclusivity. It will be a museum of the people, centring community narratives – a testament to India’s legacy as the mother of Democracy.”

The new National Museum of India is set to come up at North and South Block as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment project that seeks to revamp India's central administrative area located near Raisina Hill, New Delhi. The museum will be spread over 1,54,000 sqm, making it the largest museum in the world. The video walk through for the museum was first unveiled by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the first International Museum Expo organized by the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) Division of the Ministry of Culture on 18.05.2023 and was reiterated during the inauguration of the Bharat Mandapam in July 2023.

The Museum will be developed through Adaptive Reuse, in collaboration with France owing to their expertise in similar projects such as the Louvre, which too housed the French Ministry of Finance. The French are partners for this project owing to the long-standing friendship between the two countries, which had contributed to a Letter of Intent being signed between both governments in 2020 that emphasised Museum & Heritage Co-operation.

Pursuant to this, the GLAM Division spearheaded a series of capacity building workshops that aimed to foster critical objectives: alignment amongst stakeholders and generation of synergy for a unified vision. The first of these was a brainstorming session held on the 14^th of June, bringing together other ministries and departments of the Government of India. This not only fosters interdepartmental coordination but also ensures the project resonates with various facets of Indian society.

Following this, an intensive four-day brainstorming session was held at Bharat Mandapam from 26^th to 29^th June, amongst stakeholders of the museum ecosystem such as high-level management from government museums, private experts such as conservation architects, scenographers, exhibition designers, publishers, conservationists, educators and many others.

The intensive brainstorming session and workshops held over the past few days have provided invaluable insights into the core operational elements of a world-class museum. These sessions focused on critical areas such as collection management, curatorial practices, administrative best practices, and the strategic integration of technology. The knowledge gleaned will be instrumental in shaping the development of the Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum.

BeenaYadav/RituKataria