SOUVIK CHAKRABORT Y
INDIAN MUSIC
EXPERIENCE,
BANGALORE:
Manasi Prasad, Museum
Director gave us an
overview on its inception,
vision and more.
IME Bengaluru is the first experiential Indian music museum
in India, how big is this feeling of being India's first?
Being the first such experiential music museum in India is
not only a big achievement, as we are in many ways setting
the benchmark for future such initiatives. We are the first
to present the entire gamut of India’s musical diversity and
history in an entertaining manner. We are now a member
of the GRAMMY Museum Affiliate Program – a network of
exclusive music museums and universities around the world.
What was the idea behind setting up IME, what was
that sparkling thought that materialized IME?
Our Founder MR Jaishankar, Chairman of the Brigade
Group, visited the Experience Music Project in Seattle,
and was greatly inspired. He came back with the thought
of setting up something similar in Bangalore. The idea
was that - while there are many great music schools and
performing arts festivals, there is no centre for the young
generation to experience our rich musical heritage.
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From our Director to renowned veena artiste Dr.
Suma Sudhindra, our architecture design firm-
Architecture Paradigm, and our exhibit designer –
Gallagher and associates this museum is a collective
effort of various creative minds put together.
Since this museum solely involves an experience
in music, it forays and sets free newer horizons for
exercising interesting interactive experiences for
visitors. What was the inspiration behind the interactive
part or the 'experience' involved in the museum?
The main artefact in the museum, apart from instruments,
are intangible – they cannot be seen and felt like a painting or
sculpture. So it was very clear from the very beginning that
if we want this museum to be an ‘experience’. So we have an
immense scope for interactivity in the museum – from Ipads to
giant touchscreens the users can interact and mix or make their
music. We also have a small recording studio, we have mini-
theatres that play immersive films,so that music feels ‘alive’.