GUWAHATI, July 20 ? The Assam State Museum is in the midst of an acquisition programme to collect antiquities and cultural objects of Northeast India. The programme launched last year, has till now yielded about 562 objects of significant value. The Directorate of Museums had planned this programme with a grant it had received from the 11th Finance Commission. To utilise the fund for acquisition of objects, the museum made appeals through some newspapers, in response to which people from different parts of Assam and the rest of the Northeast have come forward to contribute various articles. The museum so far has been able to acquire wooden, iron, bronze and brass metal, ethnographical, and cultural items. Among them, bronze sculptures made by Konyak Nagas occupy an important place. Museum sources say, a comparable collection of such artefacts exists in few other museums.
Cultural and ethnographical objects have also been acquired from different parts of Assam, and from some major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Tripura. The newly acquired objects also include a good number of indigenous textiles of Assam and the rest of the Northeast. Primarily of paat, muga, and cotton, these textiles reveal lesser-known styles and designs, which were once very popular. Efforts to acquire objects of cultural value have also enabled the museum authorities to gather some traditional Assamese ornaments like gaam Kharu, muthi kharu, karadhani, jokh madoli, thuria, and jangfai. This is for the first time that the museum has come in possession of ornaments of such a diverse range.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, RC Das, Director of the State Museum said that the acquisition programme was undertaken after a gap of 15 years. ?We have tried to gather as many objects as we can, and people to a great extent have responded in a positive manner. But at times we have also encountered people who although possessing rare and valuable pieces of objects, prefer to not to hand those over to the museum,? he said. The recently acquired ethno-cultural objects would be displayed in an exhibition that the museum is planning.