How is the 'experience' India different
from that of the Experience Music Project
in Seattle, US, which is usually considered
the best-in-class interactive museum?
In my opinion, our content is a lot more
expansive in nature. We have two very
unique theatrical experiences – the
introductory film which is an immersive
180 degree wraparound screen. We also
have a Samay Chakra theatre, which is
designed like a mini planetarium, showing
the relation between music and time.
What all does a visitor get access
to at IME Bengaluru?
There are three parts to the museum –
the Sound Garden, the Learning Centre
and the Exhibit Galleries. Sound Garden
and Exhibits are always open to visitors.
Learning Centre conducts regular music
classes and also seminars and workshops.
In addition we have a gift store and a café.
What was the striving force behind the
extraordinary sound garden at the IME?
The sound garden was co-created by
SVARAM of Pondicherry and Foley
Designs in Bangalore. The idea of the
sound garden is to introduce the principles
of sound such as frequency, resonance,
vibration, timbre etc through interactive
musical sculptures. It is an unique
experience because over here we say
‘please touch the instruments’ as opposed
to most museums saying ‘don’t touch’.
A learning centre is pretty amazing a concept
that was woven into the entire immersive
experience of music. What all does the
centre involve, is there a higher thought
behind this initiative. Can we expect a choir
group or a band group from the trained
musicians at IME, in the near future?
The idea behind the learning centre is to
produce versatile musicians – who can not
only perform, but can also speak, write and
compose in Hindustani and Carnatic music
in keyboard, guitar, veena, mridangam
etc. Hindreds of students are imbibing the
nuances of music from music experts.
The feat achieved by IME is pretty
monumental what were the stumbling
blocks for the founders. How difficult had
it been to set the setting stone up. What
were the challenges and risks involved
in the entire process of finding IME?
The biggest challenge was getting an
experienced crew for setting up an
experiential museum in the country. Next
was a dilemma, what to option and what not
to, since the Indian music is criss- crossed
with possibilities. We are grateful to Brigade
Group, Prestige, SBI as well as the state
and central governments for helping us
face the challenges with their support.
How did you approach the world renowned
designers Gallagher and Associates for
this project. What was the idea behind
IME's look and experience, how was it to
work with a stellar group of engineers who
also worked on the Grammy Museum?
We travelled to the US to study museum
designs, and realized the need for an
international exhibit designer to achieve
what we desired. We were very impressed
by how several genres of American music
had seamlessly been blended together
at the GRAMMY Museum in LA by the
Gallagher and Associates. We received
several proposals for exhibit designs too,
but theirs was the most complete and
exciting. The designers sat on several
content meetings with us to get an idea
of our vision. They then converted these
content ideas to exciting exhibits.
Tell us a bit about your journey so far, how
is the response so far from the visitors,
music enthusiasts, media and foreign
tourists et al? Can we soon expect to see
IME branching out to different cities?
We had a thrilling soft launch in May
when we opened for only two and a half
days and about 2000 people turned up. We
had a heartening response once we re-
launched from November 1st. We have lots
of school groups coming too and they are
really amazed by the experience. We even
have enthusiastic international tourist
groups. One tourist said, ‘finally there
is one place where we can make sense
of all that India has to offer, and it is a
springboard for my journey into India’.
Like the shehnai of Ustad Bismillah
Khan and the silver paan box of Bhimsen
Joshi what all are the selling points of
IME Bengaluru that really has attracted
the visitors since your inception?
In terms of artefacts, we have recently
got the Tambura and Sari belonging
to Bharat Ratna MS Subbulakshmi.
Most of the musical instruments we
have, are donated by famous musicians
such as Sudha Ragunathan, Bickram
Ghosh, Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma
and others. We recently acquired an
antique Erard Grand Piano and Daler
Mehndi’s grand concert attire! Apart
from this, our photo opportunity with
a Bollywood poster, a rare gramophone
and phonograph….the list is endless!
What next, what is your roadmap
with IME and beyond that?
We are in the process of developing a mobile
museum exhibit to travel to different schools
and cities. We are expanding the activities
of the Learning Centre to launch a Diploma
program. We will be hosting a grand music
festival, an annual music conference soon
besides venturing out to music healing.
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