Art for a caring heart

A virtual tour of CSMVS is available on Google Arts and Culture

Last week, ahead of a talk on the future of museums, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director general, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), had shared that these keepers of history, art and culture should be able to bring people together to work as a responsible community that can remain standing even in the face of another pandemic. Continuing with this effort, the museum is starting a new initiative titled My Caregiver and I, to extend a helping hand to the numerous people looking after their loved ones in these difficult times.

Vaidehi Savnal

Vaidehi Savnal, assistant curator, international relations, and in-charge, education, shares that they will host one-on-one virtual sessions with caregivers and those they look after on every Sunday in June. Renuka Muthuswami, lecturer (education), adds that considering most of us are caregivers in some way or the other, the idea was prompted by the lack of dynamic resources to facilitate meaningful connections with those we care for. "In the past year, we realised that the museum can serve as a healing space. Through our work with different groups, we found that the current situation is especially difficult for people who need long-term care," explains Savnal. They decided to create resources that would enrich the partnership of caregivers and their close ones. "We wanted to empower them with art, history, culture and stories," notes Muthuswami.

Renuka Muthuswami

During the sessions (available in English, Hindi and Marathi), caregivers will be equipped with talk points about the museum to build on while conducting virtual tours for their loved ones. "We'll also give them a gist of museum resources that are available online," says Muthuswami. Each session will be customised based on the participants' needs, age and interests. "For instance, we can ask people with memory difficulties to look at Bes, a funny-looking ancient Egyptian deity. The caregiver can build information around it - one day, casually talk to them about Egypt; another day you can chat about sand and heat, and so on. On the fourth or fifth day, you can introduce them to Bes and discuss funny deities you both know," she elaborates. The goal, she concludes, is to demonstrate that museums can provide new opportunities to bond and heal.

On: Every Sunday in June; 11 am to 12 pm, 4 pm to 5 pm
Email: events@csmvs.in