write a eassy about autobiography of a heritage building
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THE ORIGIN OF MUSEUMS IN INDIA: A WALK THROUGH HISTORY
In this three-part series, Poulomi Das will take us through the history, present and future of museums in India. In this post, we take a walk through the origin of museums.
When you visit a museum and look at objects placed within glass cases, some observing you with a forlorn expression, you might have wondered how they landed there. Who is responsible for picking these artifacts and choosing how to display them? Who imagined that a small text was adequate to describe them? Who thought of the first glass cases and wooden cabinets? When did the idea of a museum take shape in India?
We can associate the underlying idea of a museum to human curiosity. Humans have always been curious to understand their environment and the people who are part of it. One of the most interesting ways to achieve this is to examine the objects everyone creates. Historically, the beginning of acquiring and displaying objects of curiosity and art can be traced to the Renaissance in Europe, somewhere in the 14th century. This was the period when the world was becoming more accessible with the opening of new trade routes from Europe and the idea of acquiring objects from these new regions held appeal. Wealthy individuals now started buying and receiving objects for display at home and in their estates, thus laying the foundation for private collections.
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These collections attained a high social and historical value, placing their owners in prominent place in society. They also proved to be an aesthetic and pleasant means of learning about the world. The urge to extend knowledge to the public through private collections took shape in 1523 when the Grimani brothers donated their collections to the City of Venice.
Gradually, the concept of dedicating a building to house these collections began to hold currency. The word museum owes its origins to the Greek ‘mouseion,’ meaning ‘seat of the muses,’ and was used to denote a philosophical institution or a place of contemplation. It was used for the first time by Ptolemy I Soter for the great museum founded by him in the 3rd century BCE at Alexandria, though that was mainly a library or a prototype university. It was only in the 17th century that the term gained currency all around Europe to describe collections of curiosities.
Ashmolean was the first museum to open to the public in 1682, consisting of the collections of John Tradescant, bought by Elias Ashmole, and donated to the Oxford University. Although there is some ambivalence in the use of museum in the legislation, drafted in 1753, founding the British Museum, nevertheless the idea of an institution called a museum and established to preserve and display a collection to the public was well established in the 18th century. Indeed, Denis Diderot outlined a detailed scheme for a national museum for France in the ninth volume of his Encyclopédie, published in 1765 (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica).
In India, with the entry of the British, French, Portuguese, Danish, and Armenian traders beginning in the 13th century, the objects of trade such as textiles and decorative arts garnered much interest and appreciation. They moved beyond the realms of trade and represented an ‘exotic’ new culture.
Explanation:
I am one of the heritage buildings in this colony. I was constructed as a home and given on rent by the owner. My first occupants were a young couple with a three year old daughter. They were a very nice family and the girl was also well behaved. I was very happy to serve them and loved listening to their daily activities that the family shared among themselves at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the man of the house got a job transfer and they left after three years.
The next tenants were a group of bachelors. I did not much like them as they came late at night and spent most of the time partying with drinks. Moreover, they kept me dirty most of the time. Unfortunately, I realized that they were giving my owner a very large amount as rent. So, he was ready to allow them to stay for as long as they wanted. One day, they were partying late night with very loud music that it was a disturbance to the old age couple staying next door. They complained to the police who called up my owner and made my tenants vacate the very next day.
My owner who was angry at having to give up such a hefty rent decided to sell me to someone who would give him a decent price. After lying vacant for two months, someone who was interested in setting up a grocery store approached my owner. He was ready to pay more than what my owner wanted. The deal clicked and thus began my journey as a commercial building. The store had good business and every day I would see many new customers. It made me very happy too to see new people daily. Life was bliss for the next five years.
Then one day, suddenly my owner had a heart attack and was admitted in the hospital. He could no longer come to the supermarket like before. His son took over the business. The son was as good as the father and the business continued to prosper. After about years he sold me and I once again for the establishment of a post office. One day, they moved into a bigger premises. My then owner never found a tenant after that. Finally, someone bought me from my owner.
I was happy at the thought of coming to life once again. But alas, that was not to be. I was to be used as a company guest house. People stayed in me only if the company had delegates or people coming their onsite office. Unfortunately, the company suffered a huge loss and was forced to wind up. Someone came forward to buy me for a low price. My new owner never used me and considered me only as an investment purchase. Today, all the houses around me are full of life. I envy them and feel lonely. Sometimes, I think of my first owner who built me and why he did so when he never stayed there. I also wonder what happened to my first occupants and the little girl. Those three years were the best period of my life.