Mumbai, May 15 : The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Monday looked more like an art gallery than a usual airport, to commemorate the upcoming World International Museum Day on May 18.
The commemoration includes a week-long passenger engagement activities at its swanky Terminal 2, which hosts India's largest public art programme -- "Jaya He", a multi-themed and multi-layered wall and corridor exhibits of arts and artifacts for the incoming and outgoing passengers.
This is the first time that such an initiative has been undertaken by any international airport within its premises for the International Council of Museums (ICOM) celebrations, an official said here.
Spurred by ICOM's theme "Museums and Contested Histories: Saying the Unspeakable in Museums", the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) has implemented several exquisite activities for the travellers, including workshops, tours and folk/ traditional musical performances, among others.
This will inform them about the country's unheard legacies, narratives, historical background and facilitate cultural exchanges among the travellers arriving in or transiting the city.
The week-long celebrations include short "museum safaris" for travellers and passengers to tour the various artifacts and installations across the four levels at the airport.
"This gives travellers a chance to glimpse the country's rich cultural heritage, through the 7,000 art works created by hundreds of artists and artisans from across the country," the official said.
As they go about enjoying the visual treat of the art works on display, the passengers would be treated to complimentary special regional cuisines from Kerala and Kashmir at select locations.
Under the patronage of the Jaya He art initiative, the Jaya He Museum Store at Terminal 2 will provide a platform to Indian artists, craftspersons and designers to showcase their creativity and proficiency in different fields on May 18.
Several renowned and award-winning artists will congregate here on Thursday, including Trilok Soni, Rabindra Behera, Ismail Khatri, Kalyan Joshi, Kapil Jangid, Kamini Kaushal, D. Vaikuntam, Sukhnandi Vyam and Rajesh Vankad, for their expertise on Pichwai, Pattachitra, Ajrakh Printing, Phad paintings, sandalwood carvings, Madhubani on Papermache, Cherial Scroll Paintings, wood carvings, Warli arts, etc.
The Jaya He Museum at MIAL was conceptualised as an extension of the uniquely Indian aesthetics of the modern Terminal 2, where latest technologies fuse seamlessly with traditional knowledge.
The many-layered narrative is a multi-disciplinary exhibition of the various facets of Indian arts, crafts and techniques of artisans from different regions of India targeting the 40-million passengers using the airport annually.
