Bihar Museum offered collaborations by Germany’s Goethe Institute to work on art projects

Bihar Museum, the internationally acclaimed museum in the state capital, has been offered collaborations by the Goethe Institute, Germany in many art projects to be planned in the state in the coming days, officials said.

The Indo-German collaborations may be expected in the realms of the conservation of artworks and antiquities, curator training, research work on Indo- German cultural relations, the Indo- German exhibition of artworks and the presentations of Indian and German music. Besides, events like feature film festivals and science film festivals may also be planned in collaborations.

“In a bid to discuss these things Astrid Wege, the director of the Kolkata based Goethe Institute which is popularly known as the Max Mueller Bhavan, was in Patna this Tuesday. In fact, the Goethe Institute intends to provide technical support to the Bihar Museum in a wide variety of activities. For instance, we can plan in collaboration the training of curators,” Deepak Anand, director, Bihar Museum, said.

Besides, exhibitions of antiquities and artworks can also be planned in collaboration. “The artists and the lovers of art and antiquities from both the countries will have an opportunity to exchange ideas, views and expressions at this exhibition,” he said.

The Museum director said that Indo-German cultural exchange has been rooted in the cultural agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and India which became effective in September 1969.

“The agreement intended to promote cooperation in the realm of culture and education between India and Germany. In 2019 also, in a bid to intensify the existing cultural cooperation between India and Germany, a Memorandum of Understanding on Museum Cooperation was signed between the two countries during the 5th Indo-German inter-governmental Consultation,” he said.

As a part of this agreement many museums in our country have been working in collaboration with German museums on many projects, he said.

“In our state, the Bihar Museum has been the first such institution which has been offered collaborations by the Goethe Institute of Germany. We will definitely love to work together and will plan many activities in the coming days,” he said.

The Goethe Institute is also interested in supporting Bihar Museum in holding film festivals. “They especially want the science film festival. People may find it interesting. It will definitely expose Patnaites to international culture and life,” he said.

Others present on the occasion included Archana Rani, director of the German language centre, Max Mueller Bhavan.