As the museum consultant for JAINpedia, my main responsibilities are to ensure that an ongoing programme of related events is put together for the project. With this in mind, I have been busy working with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) over the last few months to create an exciting series of activities for the Jainpedia display between 2010 and 2012.

Here is a description of some of the events we are planning or thinking about in conjunction with the Learning and Asia Departments at the V&A.

Exhibition Launch

There will be a private high-level launch of the JAINpedia display in the Nehru Gallery, to be held in the Hochhauser Auditorium in the Sackler Centre on a weekday or weekend evening. It will consist of lectures by eminent Jain academics and researchers such as Nalini Balbir. Nuns or monks will be invited to open the launch event with traditional recitations, hymns, prayers and blessings.

Details are yet to be finalised but there is the possibility of inviting a classical Indian musician to perform a traditional raga sometime during the programme. A slide show of JAINpedia manuscripts could be projected onto the platform screen during the musical performance. Light refreshments could be served before or after the event.

Intercultural Tours

There will be free guided tours of Jain, Hindu and Buddhist objects found in the various V&A galleries. Tours can be booked by any interested visitor, with members of the Jain community particularly welcome.

Curator talk in the Nehru Gallery and Indian Study Room

There will be a guided tour of the JAINpedia display and other South Asian collections found in the Nehru and Indian Sculpture Galleries and in the Indian Study Room. Small groups will be given an introduction to the museum’s flat art, textiles, contemporary painting, photographs and other related South Asian objects.

Jain Digital Treasure Hunt

Visitors who wish to take part in the treasure hunt come to the Sackler Digital Studio, where they are provided with a digital camera and a themed treasure hunt sheet. The sheet contains a list of 10 items or themes related to Jainism. Each person or group has to find all the 10 listed items scattered throughout the JAINpedia display and take a picture of each one. One theme could be fruit and vegetables, symbolising the Jain commitment to vegetarianism. After the group has collected images for all 10 themes, they come back to the digital studio where they upload their images into a prepared template, which can be printed out and taken away.

Inside Outing

Members of the public can attend a talk given by a curator on Jain manuscripts and the South Asian collections inside the V&A. The second part of the event sees the visitors being taken to the Oshwal Centre temple in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. A coach will be provided and a tour of the temple will form the focus of this part of the event. Light refreshments could be provided at the temple.

Rangoli

This event will happen at Diwali 2010.  A rangoli is a pattern created on the ground using coloured chalks, lentils, pulses and other biodegradable substances. A rangoli will be made in a V&A gallery by traditional artists from the Jain community. Rangolis relating to Mahavira or the Hindu gods Ganesh or Laksmi could be created.

Diwali Storytelling

This may happen either at the same time as the creation of the rangoli or as a separate event.  Professional storytellers will recount tales relating to Mahavira and why the Jain community celebrates Diwali. In this event intended for families, around three stories will be told on one day.

Volunteer Day

To support these events, we will be holding a volunteer day at the V&A on 9th January 2010. There are no spaces left now but please contact Usha Shah at ioj_usha@hotmail.com to be put on a waiting list if anyone drops out.

Jainpedia volunteers will be taken around the galleries on a tour of the South Asian collections and will be introduced to the Jainpedia display, logistics and events. Volunteers will be given a chance to ask questions and to learn more about possible career paths in the museum sector from Rajiv Anand, MA, Jainpedia Museum Consultant.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 4:02 pm and is filed under art, education, exhibition, Jainpedia, museum, outreach, training, volunteer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.