Youth take the lead at Indian Music Experience Museum
December 28 2021, Bengaluru: The Indian Music Experience Museum, Bangalore (IME) in partnership with the British Council has launched Yuva In Culture – an initiative to leverage the museum as a space of the youth, for the youth and by the youth. The aim of Yuva in Culture is to encourage youth to engage with the museum through three specific programs namely, India’s first-ever Youth Advisory Board, Young Creators Safe Space program and Future Museum Professionals Initiative. These programs aspire to provide a platform for young artists to share, collaborate, critique and amplify their work in a nurturing environment.
Manasi Prasad, Museum Director, Indian Music Experience said, “Yuva in Culture is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the Indian museum and arts landscape. For the first time, we are putting young people in the driver’s seat; they are not just beneficiaries of our programs, but are actually guiding the direction of the museum. Such initiatives will rejuvenate museums, and change the wrong perception that museums are only for older people. Young people must deeply engage with the arts in order to preserve our traditions and push the boundaries of what museums can do for society.”
Commenting on the launch of Yuva in Culture, Jonathan Kennedy, Director Arts India, British Council said, “The British Council is delighted to be partnering with the Indian Music Experience as part of the Our Shared Cultural Heritage (OSCH) programme. IME is one of 12 OSCH partners from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the UK who are carrying out ground-breaking work in the field of youth engagement and youth empowerment in the museum sector. The three strands of IME’s programme, Yuva in Culture, will provide authentic and meaningful opportunities for young people of different ages, backgrounds and interests to explore heritage and culture, and to become influencers, collaborators and leaders in the museum sector. We welcome the openness of the IME to make their museum a site for change and we look forward to going on this exciting journey with them”.
About the programs – The Youth Advisory Board is a first of its kind model in the Indian museums landscape. It was driven by the desire to bring youth leadership into the museum. 17 young adults of the age group 14 to 18 years from various institutions were selected into the board after a rigorous selection process. The Youth Advisory Board was formed with a vision to reflect the creativity and concerns of the youth in the museum’s offerings and programming. Young Creators Safe Space program aspires to encourage upcoming young artists in the age group of 18 to 22 years from the performing, literary and visual art disciplines to use the museum as a safe and non-judgemental space for experimental art with an emphasis on responding to issues in society. Prominent artists such as Bruce Lee Mani of popular Bangalore-based band Thermal and a Quarter; dancer and founder of STEM Dance Kampni, Madhu Natraj, author Samhita Arni, visual artist, and creative arts therapist Pallavi Chander, and playwright and director Nisha Abdullah will guide the participants through the program and help them find their voice. The Future Museum Professional Internship program is targeted at training youth in the age group of 22 to 25 years who aspire for careers in cutting-edge technology and interactive design in museums. It offers to train 6 interns in the area of curation, design and development for a virtual exhibition. IME has partnered with Rirev, a Bangalore based organisation to train the interns and oversee the project.
The first of many to come, Yuva in Culture is IME’s way of ensuring young adults are not just welcomed but also encouraged to claim cultural spaces with their thoughts, ideas and concerns.
