Mumbai: CSMVS concludes four-day academic programme with exhibition on ancient civilisations

Students use pots and vases for a project to explore lives and presence of people during the past civilisations. Pics/Aditi Alurkar

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) concluded its annual four-day University Academic Programme on Thursday, September 24. The programme was aimed to make the study of history, archaeology, and related subjects more interactive by allowing students to study actual museum objects.

This year, 35 students pursuing master's and PhD courses took part in the programme. The museum created an exhibition titled ‘Networks of the Past', which aimed to help students look beyond the separate categories in which ancient civilisations are often studied.

The exhibition covered periods ranging from the early Harappan civilisation to the Egyptian and Gupta periods. It featured 450 archaeological objects from six international and eight Indian museums, highlighting ancient India's interactions with Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia, and China, exploring the links between different civilisations and the stories their people left behind.

Relations between civilisations

The four-day programme focused on the natural world, power relations between civilisations, and the movement and exchange of people, ideas and objects in the past. As part of their final assignments, students worked with replicas of objects and tried to tell their stories from a museum curator's perspective, going beyond their academic studies.

One group of students used pots and vases for a project titled ‘Reflections of a Dusty Mirror'. They used the artefacts to explore the lives and presence of common people. "When we look at famous artefacts at a museum we often associate them with the rich emperors and empresses. We are trying to look at the design and artwork that depicts the lives of the commoners or perhaps the makers of these objects," said Shreeja Guha Malik, a participating student.
Another group focused on the lives of women, looking beyond the traditional statues and representations of their appearance. Panel discussions and mentoring sessions were also part of the four-day programme.

Authorities Speak

Dr Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director general, CSMVS
‘The programme enables both faculty and students to explore the multiple layers of history embedded within a historical object. We believe that museums have an important role to play in higher education by creating a space where learning is object-based, participatory and interdisciplinary. Through this programme, we hope to strengthen the dialogue between museums and universities and encourage a deeper engagement with history and material culture'

Vaidehi Savnal, assistant director (exhibitions, education and public programmes)
‘When we are teaching about the ancient world, there isn't that much written material that dates back to the time. We largely rely on archaeological material, which is why it is important for students of history to interact with these objects. It served as a reminder that these civilisations existed in an interconnected manner and brought experts from these different countries. We run this programme along with the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, and with the Global Humanities Initiative.'