Bhubaneswar: The first Museum Walk at the Odisha Crafts Museum or Kala Bhoomi at Gandamunda Saturday drew around 70 visitors. Senior citizens, working people, students, school children and even small kids were part of this interesting walk, which was the first of its kind in Odisha.
The Museum Walk at Kala Bhoomi is an initiative jointly launched by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Odisha Tourism, Handlooms and Textile and Handicrafts department. Detour Odisha would curate the event.
The galleries host terracotta, traditional paintings, wood and stone carvings and model temples, bell metal, brass and natural material crafts, dokhra and silver filigree, Pipili applique work, tribal crafts, pre-weaving technique gallery and handloom gallery. There is also a workshop, an amphitheatre and a cafeteria.
The air over the courtyard near the beautiful water body was filled with beats of the tabla and strains of the flute played live. There was also a performance of Sambalpuri dance at the amphitheatre, which was enjoyed by all the walkers.
Saneeya Singh from the museum guided the visitors while archaeologist and co-founder of Viraasat-e-Hind Foundation, Jitu Mishra, explained about the display and aspects of tribal life and sociology.
The museum walk was organised to give tourists and local people an ‘experience’ of a different sort. Taranisen Patnaik said the walk is an important activity to create awareness among people about the history and culture of Odisha. It can motivate tourists and locals to visit cultural, archaeological and architectural sites.
The Museum Walk could also sensitise local people about their past and in turn help them conserve their own culture and have a sense of pride in their heritage. Museum Walk can also be effectively used to initiate community-based efforts for the conservation of heritage, arts and crafts.
The crafts of Odisha are a household name in every nook and corner of the country. The age-old ways of sculpting, weaving and painting have generated a variety of handicrafts and handlooms that explicitly reflect the state’s diverse culture.
The walk was aimed at bringing alive the image of Odisha through its tales of lineage and share it with people from distant lands. The Odisha Crafts Museum showcases the masterpieces of the state’s artistes.
PNN