Unusual tour: Ahmedabad museums go to visitors in virtual avatar

AHMEDABAD: An LD Museum curator takes a group through intriguing objects — dating back from 4th century to 15th century CE — explaining the materials, sculpting techniques, history, and religious significance. It is, however, not a usual tour. Only the curator is present on the premises and all the ‘visitors,’ in this case Class VI students, are touring the museum from the comfort of their homes!
Radhika Lalbhai, the managing trustee of LD Museum, said that when visitors cannot come to the museum, the museum must reach out to them. Sujata Parsai, who recently took charge as the museum’s director, said that the Covid era has prompted all to think out of the box.
“Earlier, we had guided tours for children and college students,” Parsai said. “Over the past couple of months, we have started virtual tours which are tailor-made for students based on their curriculum.” Parsai went on to say: “We also got active on social media platforms, introducing interactive puzzles, colouring activities, the object of the month with detailed description of the artefact.”
It’s the beginning of change for city-based museums and exhibition spaces. Lilavati Lalbhai Library (LLL) — the first exhibition space for architectural projects in Ahmedabad — in June organized its maiden online exhibition of an eminent artist from the city, Amit Ambalal. His recent works, ‘Wild and Wonderful in Ahmedabad,’ were featured. The ‘gates’ opened at 5pm, a virtual lamp was lit, and a tour of the exhibition followed with commentary by the artist.
Jay Thakkar, the executive director of DICRC at Cept University and head of LLL, said that the current situation has opened up new vistas. “The exhibitions are not bound by space now. We can collaborate with institutions from across the globe for temporary exhibitions and digital walk-throughs,” he said. “We have a few upcoming virtual projects at LLL.”
But several experts believe that the digital cannot wholly replace the real. Dr Narottam Sahoo, advisor to GUJCOST, said that their exhibits are hands-on. “We have integrated several elements of our vast exhibition in our online events, but it would take some time to get acclimatized to the hybrid model,” he said.