THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF INDIAN
BROADCASTING
Broadcasting has undeniably become the world's most dominant
medium... and the most important medium invented in the
20th century. It is significant, at the end of the century
to look back at the various histories of radio and television
in India -- be it technology, design, or programming-- and
consider what television's place has been in our nation's
culture, and what its place might be in our future.
Broadcasting is in fact a vibrant medium of cultural expression...
a medium that has changed as the world around it has changed.
Broadcasting has been more than just a great entertainer.
It has also educated and informed us, it has sparked our
imaginations and challenged our world view. At its best,
radio and television has also brought us closer together
- whether it was an entire nation hearing the Independence
day speech of Pandit Nehru, or watching Kapil Dev lift the
world cup in 1983 or millions of people around the world
watching the attack on the world trade centre on September
11, or simply a family watching a favourite sitcom together
Broadcasting has become part of our shared experience, part
of our common culture. Far from just passively listening
to the radio and watching television, many people experience
it as a dynamic part of their lives --a part that allows
them to express themselves and to find others with similar
interests. In order to understand our culture and the people
in it, we must try to understand Broadcasting.
This can be accomplished by setting up a Museum dedicated
to Indian Broadcasting.
The radio and television industry, in a brief time, has
moved from a single off-air antenna feeding one or two channels
to a few television sets, to a satellite delivered entertainment
medium providing a huge variety of channels to millions
of television viewers. It is a dramatic story should be
illustrated clearly in the Museum of Indian Broadcasting.
The Museum, using radio and television programs from the
collection, should organize major exhibitions, screenings
and listening series that focus on topics of social, historical,
popular, or artistic interest. Seminars should feature in-person
discussions with writers, producers, directors, actors,
and others involved with landmark programming. In addition,
the Museum's comprehensive education program should welcome
special interest groups and students from the elementary
to the university level and encourages them to become critical
thinkers by interpreting and analyzing radio and television
programs. The visitor must be able to discover the richness
and diversity of the Museum collection. The Museum's themes
transcend should time.
Its Heritage Pavilion and Broadcasting Today Galleries using
hardware as an exhibit will depict the evolution of radio
and television from its roots as an antenna for the community
to its role today as diverse communications systems, shaping
and redefining the world.
The Museum's Programming Pavilion will celebrate the expanded
programming choices brought to people by radio, satellite
and cable television in the arts, sciences, public affairs,
family and community living. It will captivate people of
all ages with state-of-the-art applications of computer
simulation and video graphics. The Museum's collection should
include more than 100,000 programs chosen for their artistic,
cultural, and historical significance. The collection covers
news, drama, public affairs programs, documentaries, the
performing arts, children's programming, sports, comedy,
and advertising. Access to information on the Museum's vast
collection is literally at a visitor's fingertips in the
Library. Using a computer, a visitor can search the database
for the television or radio program and watch or listen
to the program at a monitor with headphones. Daily Screenings
and Radio Presentations: From noon until closing time, the
Museum should present a wide variety of programs from the
collection in two screening rooms and two main theatres.
FutureCom Pavilion will provide glimpses
of lifestyles of tomorrow as broadcasting impacts on people
at home, work, school, and play.
The Collections
The Technology Collection - The history of an industry can
be traced through the development of the technology of that
industry. The radio and television industry is clearly delineated
by tracing the equipment from the very rudimentary devices
in use in the late 1940s and 50s to the sophisticated fibre
optic networks in use at the turn of the 21st Century.
The Memorabilia Collection - The Museum should also have
many items that commemorate people, companies or events
including a wide variety of items including posters, logos,
costumes, sets etc produced by the industry itself.
The Photo Collection - The photographic collection should
cover individuals who have been involved in the industry
throughout the past decades along with images of live events
and productions stills.
The Archival Collection - The history of the radio and television
industry can be captured in the documents generated by the
people, organizations and companies that make up the industry.
In recognition of this, The Archival collections should
reflect an individual's or an organization's involvement
in the history of the industry, in the issues of the day,
in the development of technology and in areas that speak
to the radio and television story. The Archival collection
should have a variety of materials from individuals, corporations
and organizations central to the Broadcasting industry.
Items that should be included are records, memoranda, manuals,
kits, technical standards, correspondence, drawings, original
articles and other personal and corporate papers that go
back to the beginnings of radio and television in India.
THE MUSEUM SEMINARS
Throughout the year, performers, critics, writers, directors,
producers, and journalists should be invited to the Museum
to discuss topics ranging from the collaborative process
behind programming to significant events in the media industry.
The seminars should include television and radio clips from
the Museum's collection, and time for the audience members
to ask questions.
THE MUSEUM LIBRARY
The Museum Library should consist of material other than
books and magazines that are typically found in a library.
As the repository for items and documents related to the
radio and television industry The Library must have many
interesting and unique objects in its collections donated
over the years by industry pioneers.
THE MUSEUM STORE - "COMMERCIAL
BREAK"
The Museum store should be able to provide the visitor an
opportunity to acquire a part of Radio and Television industry
memorabilia or books or videos.
The Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the
Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the Indian TV programming
community along with Indian Film Archives and Indian Television
Academy are ideally placed to take on this responsibility
and should set up the Museum in the Broadcasting House on
Parliament Street in New Delhi.
To give feedback or write directly
to Bhuvan lall click
here...
