The Directorate of Museums, Assam observed the 79th Foundation Day of Assam State Museum and 26th Foundation Day of Indian Art History Congress on Saturday, April 21 along with the final outcome of Archive and Museum Fellowship under the aegis of India Foundation for Arts (IFA), Bangalore. The Indian Art History Congress is the only national arts organisation with headquarters in Guwahati.
Arundhati Ghosh, Executive Director, IFA delivered the inaugural lecture on ‘Gaps, Erasures, Silences: The Art that Provokes History’.
India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), in collaboration with the state museum, organised an exhibition of three projects - (i) Museums are closed at night which is curated by Professor Mriganka Madhukaillya, (ii) Bramanising the Brahmaputra by Shubhasree Purkayastha and (iii) Integrating Spaces: Naga Realm by Sayantan Maitra Boka.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Ghosh and other dignitaries at the function. The first two exhibitions will run till April 28 and the last one will continue till May 31.
The organizers had carried out different exhibitions, lecture series, screening of documentary films at the Assam State Museum throughout the year 2017 and the present ones will be the culmination of the project which is a collaborative venture of IFA and Assam State Museum, to strengthen and promote heritage education.
The museum's authorities announced on its 79th Foundation Day that the Assam State Museum will be developed into a world-class one and will also host a South East Asian gallery.
Cultural and tourism additional chief secretary V.B. Pyarelal and cultural affairs commissioner and secretary Pritam Saikia also spoke on the occasion.