Art contest for students at Central Museum today

Nagpur: The Central Museum, Nagpur, will be celebrating International Museum Day on Saturday with an art competition organized for students, informs the curator of the museum, Virag Sontakke. Established in 1863, the Central Museum, Nagpur, is the oldest museum in India.
It has been constantly upgrading its functioning by adopting new technology. “We are the first to launch QR codes on important artefacts on display here,” Sontakke informs. “These codes can be scanned through an app to get extra information about exhibits. This information is available in 14 languages. Audio facility has also been provided so visitors can either read or listen according to their convenience,” informs the curator.
The museum holds valuable collection of rare sculptures, paintings, stuffed birds and animals, arms and ammunitions, textiles, ivory, coins, manuscripts, archaeological findings from excavations, anthropological artifacts, all displayed in its ten galleries. Nagpur heritage gallery and arts and craft gallery are the most recent additions that essay the history of the city through photographs and information about important personalities.
Renovation of the Stone Sculpture Gallery and paleontological section under Natural History gallery at the museum was completed last year. The gallery consists of various stone sculptures ranging from 1st century AD to 18th century. In the paleontological section, the main attraction is the femur and tibia fibula of Jainosaurus septenrionalis dinosaur excavated by a British officer Sir Matley.
The museum has its own curio shop where art objects, replicas of museum exhibits, printed objects photo frames, printed bottles, mugs are kept for sale at nominal prices.