Museums In India Come Together To Do Their Bit For The Environment

ReReeti Foundation has collaborated with seven museums to strategise and work towards sustainable and green practices in the museum sector

Sonam Chhomo

Updated on: 12 January 2023 5:33 am

As museums are great learning centers for children as well as adults, such climate change perspectiv

Climate change is a real threat. From melting of glaciers to farmers experiencing worse droughts every year, it is in no time that each one of us will face the impact of climate change. Various environmental organizations are already gearing towards sustainable solutions but such matters are still underrepresented in the Global South. It is more so underrepresented in the heritage and museum sector.

On this account, ReReeti Foundation, in collaboration with seven Indian museums from all over India, is spearheading a sustainable transformation of the museum sector in the form of Indian Museums Against Climate Change (IMACC), the local hub of Culture Declares Emergency.

ReReeti Foundation is a social enterprise which seeks to build a closer relationship between public audience and cultural institutions and museums. For this initiative to bring the reality of climate change to the fore of the general public, they will strategize and work towards sustainable and green practices in the museum sector. As museums are great learning centers for children as well as adults, such climate change perspectives can be easily disseminated to the larger public.

The seven Indian museums are Museum of Christian Art Goa, Museum of Art & Photography Bangalore, Indian Music Experience Museum Bangalore, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art Delhi, DakshinaChitra Craft Museum Chennai, and Kerala Museum & Arna Jharna. The network aims to begin a nationwide conversation around these topics, providing resources, ideas, and a common platform for museums to begin to tackle the climate and ecological crisis.

The museums in IMACC, the Indian local hub of Culture Declares Emergency, are spread across different states such as Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR, Rajasthan and Goa. By joining as IMACC, they have joined a growing global movement of people in Arts and Culture who envision that cultural institutions can lead in protecting the planet and our future.

IMACC began its initiation by implementing a three-step approach towards reducing their climate induced impact. They are roughly as follows, exploring climate change through histories and history collections, training museum professionals in methods of fighting climate change, and hosting quarterly meetings of museums to discuss the progress and required changes.