The Ideals of Indian Art

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This book is the result of the conference on "Issues in Indian Museum Education: National Perspectives, International Trends' held in 2007 organized by the department of Muscology, National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology (NMI) in collaboration with United States Educational Foundation in India. Since then a lot of development and progress has taken place in the field of museum education in India and elsewhere. However, for the purpose of referencing and documentation it remains important to publish the deliberations by museum education experts during the said conference at NMI.

This book brings to limelight the initiatives taken in the field of Museum Education in India by the Indian Scholars and also examines the American Museum Education practices. The bookis divided into two parts covering the case studies from various Indian museums and the experiences from the museums from United States of America.

The book addresses issues pertaining to museum education and education policy; museum education and schools; museum education and outreach; museum education and communication; museum education and social change; museum education and varied target audience.

This book reportsan important cross cultural dialogue amongst museum professionals in India and the United States. It is anendeavour to bring forth the discussions and deliberations to students, teachers, scholars, educationists, museologists, and anyone who is interested in understanding the Indian Museum Education system and international perspectives on museum education.

Dr. Manvi Seth is Professor and Head in the Department of Museology, National Museum Institute. Since August 2002 she has been teaching in the Department of Museology. Prior to this, she worked as the Curator, Decorative Arts, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, City Palace, Jaipur from 2000-2002.

At the National Museum Institute she teaches, supervises PhD programmes, conducts research projects, organizes national and international seminars and conferences and conducts capacity building programmes for the in-service professionals in the museum sector. She has been awarded two prestigious grants jointly with Dr. Sandra Dudley, School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, from the British Academy and UGC-UKIERI.

She has conceptualized and coordinated research projects in the areas of Visitor Studies, Museum Education and Documentation (Intangible Cultural Heritage. She has coordinated international and national seminars and conferences. In 2012 she organized an International Seminar on 'Museums and Changing Cultural Landscape' in Ladakh. In 2015 she was the Convener of the annual conference 2015 of CIDOC, "Documenting Diversity Collections, Catalogues and Context". Among the various exhibitions she has curated, the prominent one is 'First Frames - In the Footsteps of Early Explorers' a photographic exhibition aimed to bring to the people of Ladakh some of the earliest photographs of Ladakh and Tibet.

Prof. (Dr.) Seth is the recipient of prestigious Nehru Trust UK Visiting Fellowship. She has successfully completed the Leadership Training Programme organized by Ministry of Culture, Government of India in collaboration with the British Museum. She is Chair, Intangible Cultural Heritage Working Group, CIDOC. She is a member of International Expert Review Board for Distance Learning of the Commonwealth Association of Museums (CAM)

Carol Ann Reed is a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar recipient in museum education and outreach who worked in India in 2007. Among the components of her study in India is a broad assessment of the museum education capacity of the Sub-Continent. With the support of the United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) and in partnership with the National Museum, she is the co-manager, concept developer of 'Issues in Indian Museum Education: National Perspectives, International Trends. Prior to her Fulbright year, she was a Senior Cultural Heritage Specialist, Knowledge Manager and Project Manager to the World Bank where she directed several educational outreach programs including Culture and Development at the Millennium plus Culture, Community and Development: Along the Silk Road. She served for many years as program coordinator in international museum education for the Smithsonian Institution and was a member of the design faculty of the University of Alberta in Canada. Additionally, Carol is a studio artist. She exhibited twenty-five of her paintings in a solo exhibition at The American Center, New Delhi, December 2007.

Reflecting on the documentation of the conference entitled Issues in Indian Museum Education: National Perspectives, International Trends, held November 12-13, 2007, I am delighted to see that the conference has led to the creation of relationships and resources that will continue to serve museum educators and students in this growing specialty in the coming years.

The conference grew out of Indo-U.S. collaboration under the Fulbright Program, the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government that is designed to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." Dr. Manvi Seth of the National Museum Institute, Delhi, and Carol Ann Reed, Fulbright Senior Scholar in Museum Studies and Visual Arts affiliated to Sanskriti Kendra, Delhi, developed the proposal that brought together so many eminent and budding museum educators, including Fulbright alumni Dr. Premlata Puri and Dr. Shobita Punja. The National Museum Institute and the U.S. Educational Foundation in India (since 2008 renamed the U.S-India Educational Foundation) partnered for the first time on this event. Through videoconferencing, museum management experts from the Smithsonian Institution and the World Bank also participated.

On 12th-13th November 2007, museum professionals assembled in National Museum Institute to participate in a conference on "Issues in Indian Museum Education: National Perspectives, International Trends'. The conference which brought together individuals from various museums and cultural institutions which aimed at bringing to light the initiatives taken in the field of Museum Education in India by the Indian Scholars and also to examine the American Museum Education practices. This conference was collaborative effort between the National Museum Institute and United States Educational Foundation in India.

In the History of Indian Museums spanning over almost two hundred years, museum education has been an important part of the museums. Inspite of some good land breaking examples of museum education in Indian Museums, there has been no effort to deliberate upon the subject in an academic exchange manner through a seminar. Thus effort of this conference has been to create useful reference material with the Indian Museum Education Case studies along with some examples from the American museums for the students and scholars alike. The deliberations of the conference were around the status of museum education in India and the future course of museum education work.

**Contents and Sample Pages**