Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Inaugurates ‘State Museum Conclave on Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum’

New Delhi: Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, inaugurated the three-day ‘State Museum Conclave on the upcoming Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum’ on August 1, 2024.

The conclave, running from August 1st to 3rd, invites States to share detailed insights into their artefact collections to contribute to the comprehensive understanding required for the ‘Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum’. The Union Minister emphasized that the conclave, attended by Resident Commissioners, Museum Directors, Superintendents, Curators, Professors, and Researchers from across India, represents the third phase in a series of capacity-building initiatives led by the GLAM Division of the Ministry of Culture.

These initiatives began with inter-ministerial consultations on June 14, 2024, followed by a collaborative workshop with museum professionals from June 25th to 29th, conducted in partnership with France Museums. Minister Shekhawat highlighted that these workshops, guided by prominent Indian and international museum professionals, aim to equip state-level personnel with essential skills in collection management, archiving, and museum administration.

Minister Shekhawat expressed optimism that the three-day conclave will strengthen India’s museum ecosystem, offering hands-on training and opportunities for experience sharing with potential collaborators for the ‘Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum’ (YYBM) project. He noted that the spirit of cooperative federalism and a whole-of-government approach will be instrumental in shaping the development of the YYBM museum, in line with Bharat’s vision of ‘Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi’.

To further support state-level museum development initiatives, the Ministry of Culture will present an overview of available funding schemes, including the recently updated Museum Grant Scheme and the Scheme for Promotion of Culture of Science, during the conclave.

Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum

The Yuga Yugeen Bharat Museum, set to be the largest museum in the world, will be located at North and South Block as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment project near Raisina Hill, New Delhi. Spanning 1,54,000 square meters, the museum was first unveiled by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during the inauguration of the first International Museum Expo on May 18, 2023, and reiterated during the inauguration of Bharat Mandapam in July 2023.

Developed through Adaptive Reuse and in collaboration with France, the museum draws on France’s expertise in similar projects, such as the Louvre. This collaboration stems from a long-standing friendship between the two countries and a Letter of Intent signed in 2020 emphasizing Museum & Heritage Cooperation.