Now, Museum Walk from Saturday

Bhubaneswar: The popular Ekamra Walks is going to give tourists and even local people an ‘experience’ of a different sort: A guided Museum Walk, beginning this weekend.

The inaugural walk will be held at the newly-opened Odisha Crafts Museum (Kala Bhoomi) for handicrafts and handlooms at Talabania near Gandamunda, along the Pokhariput-Khandagiri Road. The first Museum Walk will be held between 3.30pm and 5pm Saturday.

The Walk is slated to be an important activity to create awareness among people about the history and culture of Odisha. It can motivate tourists and local population to visit rich cultural, archaeological and architectural sites. The Museum Walk experience could also sensitise local people about the rich past and in turn help them preserve and conserve their own culture and inculcate a sense of pride in their heritage. Museum Walk can also be effectively be used to initiate community-based efforts for conservation and preservation of heritage, art and crafts.

The Museum Walk at Kala Bhoomi is an initiative jointly launched by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Odisha Tourism along with Handlooms, Textile and Handicrafts department. Detour would curate the event.

The Odisha Crafts Museum showcases the breathtaking masterpieces of state’s artists. Divided into eight separate sections, the museum has tried to encapsulate the living traditions of a multitude of cultures from all corners of the state. The architectural style of the edifice is a replica of the traditional Odia household, with similar courtyards and corridors connecting the galleries.

The crafts of Odisha are well known all over the country. The age-old practice of sculpting, weaving and painting has generated scores of handicrafts and handlooms that explicitly reflect the diverse culture of the state.

Odisha Crafts Museum is the first-of-its-kind to be established in the state. Though its main purpose is to promote Odisha’s crafts, the museum will also serve as a repository of ageless artefacts from all districts of the state. The entire property of 12.68 acre has been aptly named as Kala Bhoomi. In other words, it is the city’s cultural hub.

By naming the Odisha Crafts Museum as Kala Bhoomi, the authorities seem to have in mind Utkala, the ancient name of Odisha, during which period kala or art had reached its pinnacle of glory (Utkarsh in Odia).

The entire complex, along with the museum, also includes an amphitheatre for cultural performances, a souvenir shop and a workshop for live demonstrations of artworks and a cafeteria.

There would be crafts workshops, a crafts bazaar, cultural performances, traditional food, live music, storytelling sessions and quiz episodes on regular basis at the venue.