Itanagar: Tedir inaugurated NE gallery in Jawaharlal Nehru state museum
This North East Galleries, first-of-its-kind in entire NE region.
Itanagar
Arunachal Pradesh Cultural Affairs and Education Minister Taba Tedir on Monday inaugurated the North East Galleries depicting the vibrant culture, traditions and artifacts of the NE states of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim in the newly constructed annexe building of the Jawaharlal Nehru State Museum here.
“The North East Galleries, first-of-its-kind in entire NE region, together with the ethnographic collections of Arunachal Pradesh exhibited in the JN State Museum would present a synthesized overview of the regional cultural variation, on the one hand, and complexity of culture of this region on the other,” the Minister said in his inaugural address.
He expressed hope that it would foster mutual understanding among the different segments of population and also promote inter-state cultural exchange in the region.
Reiterating that State Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Pema Khandu is committed to work for all round development of the state including promotion of culture and traditions, Tedir assured that the Government will provide fund provisions to the Research Directorate for further expansion of museum activities in the state.
Director of Research Batem Pertin said the NE gallery is a manifestation of ambitions to expand the museum activity to keep pace with time beyond mere cataloguing of ‘dying’ customs and traditions.
“In NE, there exists wide range of diverse art, language, cultural characteristics and ecological situation where each of the tribes takes pride in its own identity and culture. The cultural exhibits of other parts of the NE would surely enhance the level of understanding, bonhomie among the people of the region,” he added.
Former Commissioner of Research Y D Thongchi while recalling the contributions of late anthropologist & ethnologist Dr Verrier Elwin, who was instrumental in establishment of ‘good’ museum in Arunachal Pradesh, suggested the Department to set-up museums in newly created districts of the state.
Earlier, Deputy Director of Research (Museum & Archives) Dr S K Ghosh, while giving a power-point presentation on genesis of museum development in Arunachal Pradesh, apprised the Minister about the various problems faced by the department including shortage of manpower, dilapidated condition of existing infrastructure in districts.
The newly opened building has three floors with the ground floor being reserved for the administrative block, and the first and second floors developed as NE Galleries and other museum activity spaces. The first floor accommodates three galleries, namely, Assam, Mizoram and Tripura, while the second floor has four galleries, namely, Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Giving reply to the reporters, Tedir said that he have directed the department to open the museum to open on Sunday as several employees, scholars and students can also visit and know about lots of history of the state and region which can support them in their educational activities. He also assured to solve the lack of manpower in the JN state museum and other museum of various district.
A souvenir of Directorate of Research was also released on the occasion.
