Signs from the past

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a month’s time, the capital city will have a new tourist attraction in the form of a signature museum. Touted to be the country’s first, the hi-tech signature museum will come up at the Archives Department headquarters at Nalanda.Signatures of around 92 eminent personalities, ranging from former international leaders to Indian Prime Ministers and Presidents will be featured in the museum.
The museum could not be opened in July, as planned originally, due to the delay in preparing the exhibits, said Archives Director P Biju. “Exhibits are metallic plates and the signatures have to be etched on them. The process is time-consuming. Hence, the delay. At present, lighting works of the museum are being done,” he said.

“The works are almost over and we hope to open the museum in early November,” he added.
Each exhibit will also bear the person’s portrait and name. The museum will have a huge collection of signatures besides the exhibits. “Due to space constraints, we will exhibit them with the help of a touch screen kiosk and LED display screen,” Biju said.The director said the collection includes representation from different areas like cinema, culture, arts and politics. The department had a good collection of signatures of eminent personalities in the state. Others were sourced from different organisations and individuals.

The kiosk will also give a brief description of the life and contributions of the individual.
Some of the personalities included in the first phase are Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal  Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore and Indira Gandhi. Signatures of all former Presidents, Prime
Ministers and state’s Chief Ministers will be exhibited. World leaders who found a place in the list include former American presidents Abraham Lincoln and Michael Obama.    

Representations from Kerala’s cultural sector include Vallathol Narayana Menon, novelist N P  Mohammed, poet O N V Kurup, writer M T Vasudevan Nair and film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan,   
The museum is being set up at Archives Department’s headquarters at Nalanda near Nanthancode. Keralam Museum, a government agency, is executing the project. The Archives Department has charted out a development plan for the museum in a phased manner. The focus will be to make the collection as diverse as possible. Personal letters handed over by some eminent persons, including V R Krishna Iyer, helped the department to expand the signature collection.The museum will adhere to international standards and Keltron has been assigned with providing a state of the art lighting system.