It seems like COVID-19 does have a silver lining after all as Bengluru&rsquos Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) is all set to be launched with a celebratory six-day festival from December 5 to December 11.
The museum situated on Kasturba Road, will be physically launched in 2021, but owing largely to the pandemic and its ensuing consequences, it was decided to pre launch the MAP virtually.
Accenture Labs, through its Tech4Good initiative, has collaborated with MAP to create a first-of-a-kind digital experience which will use technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to create a conversational digital persona to enrich the experience of art enthusiasts.
The digital opening of MAP, home to 20,000 different kinds of artworks ranging from the 10th century to pre-modern world to the present, will attract a lot of young and creative people who can see how art is a part of our lives.
The six-day festival commemorating the opening will celebrate art and culture with a series of online lectures with leading experts and artists. The line-up on opening night includes an introduction by imminent artists such as writer Javed Akhtar, actor Shabana Aazmi, filmmaker and actor Nandita Das, art historian B N Goswamy, singer Kavita Seth, theatre professional Arundhati Nag, and visual artist Jitish Kallat.
The museum is an amalgamation of various kinds of artworks with artists and experts invited to respond to different collections of art and how the differences often highlight the interconnections between them.
The festival will also launch another initiative, Museums Without Borders, which will facilitate dialogue between 50 international museums, discovering the differences and connections between their art.
Though the pandemic has taken over our lives and physical spaces, MAP is determined to not let COVID19 deter art enthusiasts from indulging in the culture of museums.
