|
One of the founding aims of Crafts Museum, New Delhi is to provide a protective cocoon around the tradition of craftsmanship in India, which has to face continual depredations in the form of economic crisis, competition from machine made goods etc. The Museum preserves over 20,000 objects of tribal art, crafts and textile, which might have otherwise been lost to posterity. Located in Pragati Maidan, the Crafts Museum was designed by Charles Correa, who had before him Herculean task of designing a building with a subdued personality so that it did tower over the ethic pieces of art. Thus building took the form of low lying house with a courtyard and line of shady champa trees. The specially carved windows and doors were obtained from Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Crafts Museum was completed in 1956. The present collection of the Crafts Museum is the result of a single minded devotion of combing the near and far flung expanses of the country for over thirty years in search of artifacts. Some of the items that comprise the collection are stone and wood carvings, lamps and incense burners, utensils, terracotta, cane and bamboo work and many more. Also present in the Museum along with the handicrafts are the artisans with whom the visitors can free interact and enquire more about the finer nuances of the art. It is believed that some of the finest of the artisans in the country are present in the museum to greet the visitors. The museum also has a small shop from where the visitors can buy the handicrafts which are present in various forms. Barring Monday, when it remains closed, the Crafts Museum is open from 10 am to 5.30 pm everyday. There is no fee charged for admission.
|
