P Biakkim in National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology, Janpath, New Delhi apan Ph. D (Museology) ngah hi.A Thesis "CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE IN MUSEUM EDUCATION – STRATEGIES AND PHILOSOPHIES (With Special Reference to Manipur State Museum).
CURRICULUM VITAE
1. Name : P. BIAKKIM
2. Father’s Name : (L) Thualdong Hangzo
3. Mother’s Name : Ninggou
4. Husband’s Name : P. Langbiaklian
5. Present Address : Nongthymmai, Shillong, Meghalaya.
6. Permanent Address : Siloam Veng, Bungmual, Manipur.
7. Hobbies : Travelling, listening music & interacting with people.
8. Contact No. : 8575017907 (Shillong) / 9717015311 (Delhi till 14.06.12)
9. E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Academic Information
1. June 1992 : Passed Class-X from Don Bosco High School, Lamka in 2nd Div.
2. June 1994 : Passed Class-XII (Sc) from Brighter Academy, Imphal in 1st Div.
3. November 1996 : Passed B.Sc (Anthropology) from D. M. College of Science, Imphal in 1st Class.
4. November 2003 : Passed MA (Museology) from National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology, Janpath, New Delhi in 1st Class.
5. December 2003 : Qualified NET in the subject of Museology & Conservation and awarded JRF under University Grants Commission.
6. June 12, 2012 : Awarded Ph. D (Museology) from National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology, Janpath, New Delhi.
Doctoral Thesis : CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE IN MUSEUM EDUCATION – STRATEGIES AND PHILOSOPHIES (With Special Reference to Manipur State Museum)
Supervisor/Guide : Prof. (Dr.) Charu Smita Gupta
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Summary of the Thesis entitled as
“Cultural Perspectives in Museum Education - Strategies and Philosophies”
(With special reference to Manipur State Museum)
North East India comprises of seven states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura with a tribal population of more than 10,408,899 according to the 2001 census. Out of this, Manipur has a tribal population of around 821,928 (2001 census). Manipur has altogether 29 tribes. They are - Anal, Aimol, Angami, Chin, Chothe, Gangte, Hmar, Kabui, Kacha Naga, Koirao, Kom, Koireng, Lamgang, Mao, Maram, Maring, Lushai, Monsang, Moyon, Paite, Purum, Ralte, Sema, Sukte, Tangkhul, Thadou, Vaiphei and Zou. Manipur, with a distinct cultural entity and traditions with a combination of hills and plains makes the state exquisitely beautiful. About two-third of the populations are dispersed in the hill areas. It is also rightly called by the foreigners as a living museum of many races.
Manipur has altogether 28 museums including those of Government, private, Departmental ones in the state. Out of them, Manipur State Museum stands first and foremost in respect of collection, size and museum activities. It is specialized in the collection and display of ethnological objects.
Manipur State Museum was inaugurated on the 23rd of September 1969 by the late Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi. It is located near Pologround in the heart of Imphal town. It has seven galleries - Ethnological gallery, Art gallery, Children’s gallery, Jalan gallery, Natural history gallery, Hiyang Hiren gallery and Archeological gallery. Through these galleries, attempts have been made to express Manipur’s multi-ethnic identities. the objectives of the State Museum includes to systematically explore the historical places and archeological sites, inside and outside Manipur, to disseminate the information and knowledge of the findings to the people, to undertake research and findings to the people, to undertake research and documentation of the different art forms and artistes. Another objective is to preserve and promote the dying arts and to extend financial assistance to persons working in the field. Since its inception, the Museum has grown steadily to project the assets of the Manipur civilisation. A number of rare and conventional articles of value have been collected painstakingly, and efforts have been made to display them properly with relevant information.
But much to the woo of the visiting public, three galleries - Art gallery, Children’s gallery and Jalan gallery have not been opened due to lack of attendants. Almost all the lighting systems inside the gallery had failed facing a hard time for the visitor to view the objects. Many other shortcomings need to be taken care of in terms of display, educational activities and the environment as a whole.
There are many ethnographic museums set up in different regions of the country, but they focus marginally on the comprehensive vastness of the ethnographic tribal cultures which can be resourcefully used for the purpose of non- formal education. Today when the traditional structures of non-formal education in the tribal areas are disintegrating or have totally crumpled, it is very important that such structures are resurrected in the museum spaces. This will add a new dimension to the ethnographic museum. Among the North Eastern and Central region traditional learning spaces for the youth known as Ghotul in Central India, Haam and Morung in Manipur had been prevalent as centre for informal learning. All types of trainings in the field of social, moral, religion and cultures were imparted in these centres of informal learning. With the influence of the formal education, the tribals of Manipur are dissociating themselves from these cultural institutions, which inculcated in them the values of brotherhood, tolerance, respect, learning of several crafts, spirit of working as a team with commitment to a cause without looking into monetary gains.
Haam and Morung in Manipur are also thus disintegrating. This is mainly because tribals going for the formal education do not want themselves to be familiarised with these characteristic institutions. Therefore it is important that museums particularly in the tribal region recreate such institutions as part of their regular activities. Learning in these institutions created within the museums may be linked with formal education. The emphasis on the informal learning in these structures should be on wisdom of traditional knowledge systems. Spirit of the traditional bachelor’s dormitory is misinterpreted by the other cultures particularly the non tribals. Therefore significance of these dormitories in the character building of the youth should be reascertained by reconstructing these structures with the knowledge and support of the well informed elders of the said tribe before they are lost in oblivion.
The topic of my thesis entitled “Cultural Perspectives in Museum Education - Strategies and Philosophies” (with special reference to Manipur State Museum) focuses on the whole aspects of a museum’s role in cultural education, problems of cultural education in our country and the attempt to reconstruct the traditional educational system by merging them through the ethnological museums of a state and encouraging the young tribals to learn and experience from their own cultural milieu to present it to the world with pride. I have chosen Manipur State as the region to present my concept because many tribes in Manipur have Bachelor’s Dormitory which had been a very effective tool for imparting cultural education amongst the tribal youths of Manipur. I have attempted to conduct a critical analysis on the overall functioning and effectiveness of the museum, and have suggested few points for improvement. They are highlighted as under:
• To encourage the importance of cultural education to younger generations and creating a sense of respect towards other culture;
• To widen the focus of the museum by presenting the communities/ethnic minorities not previously represented in the museum;
• To reconstruct rare/languishing traditions of the ethnic minorities through audiovisuals and rejuvenating the dormitory culture.
The thesis is divided into five chapters with maps, figures and lists of illustrations of different tribal objects.
Chapter 1
The first chapter starts with the general introduction on statement of problems and museum’s educational role. ethnology or Anthropology, the study of peoples, their ways of life and illustrations in costumes and artefacts of every kind, as well as observations of their physical characteristics, customs, recordings of music, films and photographic records of dances, ceremonies, techniques of making things and other aspects of culture has been the responsibilities of these museums. But this sometimes is not fully accomplished. The formal education through schools, colleges and universities has done a great job in educating the masses in various fields of intellectual and technological advancement. But the wider area of education is the informal education which can be imparted through museums. This chapter concentrates on the role of education and function in human life. The advantage of informal education over the formal education is also highlighted.
Chapter II
The second chapter emphasizes on the study of the importance of culture and education in ethnological perspectives. Culture which is a complex whole includes the knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, custom and all other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society. The material and non-material cultures are highlighted. It is through the medium of education that culture is learned and inherited. Education helps the individual in developing a behaviour pattern which makes him acceptable in a cultural milieu with the experiences gained by him. Due to various reasons like change of environment, discovery and invention, diffusion there has been changes in life patterns and traditions among the tribal people. I have also highlighted my practical experience and interview conducted in this chapter. The details regarding these changes and the significance of cultural education are discussed in this chapter.
Chapter III
The third chapter focuses on Manipur State Museum, the general background, functional attributes and further constructive assessment on them.
Chapter IV
Again, the artistic textiles in Manipur are woven by women in loin loom as a domestic activity. Since most of the women are moving towards education the traditional textile weaving is languishing. The Jhum cultivation may not be appropriate according to the modern norms of farming but traditionally there were many socio-cultural aspects associated with this shifting cultivation in the tribal areas of Manipur. The tribals were moving from one area from one area to another and the processes of the selection of the land, burning of forest, cultivation etc all involved interactions of the youth and the spirit of sharing labour without expectation of monetary gain. Similarly Haam, the youth dormitory of Paite tribe was a cultural institution where men learn various activities like woodwork, bamboo work, basketry and all aspects of traditional and moral living. I have given three major traditional aspects of Manipur tribal culture - shifting cultivation, traditional textiles and Haam-bachelor’s dormitory of the Paite tribe for more familiarization and insights to the tribal culture.
Chapter V
The last chapter focuses on the reconceptualisation of our ethnographic museum where the traditions of various cultures can be taught, acquainting the visitors with specific moral values through community discussions and teachings and introducing language class, etc. This chapter is divided into two concepts. The first concept lays emphasis on the reconstruction of educational dormitories inside the museum - galleries, curriculum and the overall inner environment. The museum is divided into12 galleries like Orientation gallery, Pre-history gallery, People and land gallery, Habitation gallery, Agricultural gallery, food-quest gallery, Weapons and arms gallery, Art and Craft gallery, Musical Instruments gallery, Dress, Accessories and Ornaments gallery, and Religion gallery. The last gallery which is but, not the least, is the Bachelor’s dormitory where learning can be done through discussion of various topics on culture related and tribal traditions. The second concepts focus on the reconstructing bachelor’s dormitories by utilising the open spaces of the museum for various aspects of tribal culture. Construction of traditional huts which will concentrate on different aspects of tribal culture; each hut will be based on a particular aspect of tribal culture.
Conclusion
After thorough research on the various aspects of tribal culture and its educational point of view among the people, I came to the conclusion that the tribal art and craft had been totally diminished in this modern world. The people are totally moving away and ignoring their traditions beliefs and customs. So, it is high time to inculcate the spirit of education of these treasured traditions and cultures of the people to the coming generations. This can be implemented through setting up ethnology museum in the region where tribals are highly populated like, in the state of Manipur by adopting new techniques and concepts.
P BIAKKIM HANGZO
Ph.D (Museology)
12.06.2012
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