Indian government keen to encourage new museums and galleries

The government of India is going to institute a major international award in memory of the legendary poet-painter and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. The master’s 150th birth anniversary falls on May 7 this year.

Keeping in mind the grand occasion, the Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, made an announcement, while presenting the budget on February 28. The award will carry a purse of Rs.1 crore. It will be awarded for an individual making exemplary contribution to promotion and harnessing of peace, brotherhood, amity and cultural harmony across the world.

The finance minister is also a member of the high-level committee that has been constituted to celebrate Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary. It oversees and monitors the various initiatives planned to perpetuate his legacy. According to Mr. Mukherjee, the celebration of the literary icon’s achievements will be a joint exercise between India and Bangladesh under the aegis of the India-Bangladesh Celebrations Committee.

Meanwhile, art and cultural circles vigorously thumped their desks in appreciation of the Finance Minister’s announcement to exempt duty on imports of art and antiquities for exhibit and display purpose in India. We’ve already covered the significant development in great detail, in our earlier posts.

Jawahar Sircar, the Union Culture secretary, was mentioned as saying that works brought back from overseas would remain in the country for permanent display. "The Culture Minister, Kumari Selja, and myself welcome the liberalization of the provision for exemption of artworks & antiquities imported for being exhibited in a public museum or for that matter private museums/galleries open for the general public," he was quoted as saying in the Economic Times. "It’s an extremely proactive step, which the government has taken for encouraging private, corporate as well as public institutions to set up museums and galleries (with this duty exemption)."

The culture minister will soon be notifying the specific details of the proposed scheme for facilitating the return of art and antiques as well as other precious art objects back to India from foreign countries.