Visva-Bharati Museum to Highlight Tagore, Liberation War, and India-Bangladesh Ties

After Sheikh Hasina's election victory, the Bangladeshi government approved the construction of the Bangladesh Bhavana museum in Santiniketan.

Despite being officially opened in 2018 on the Visva-Bharati campus, Bangladesh Bhavana's museum is still temporary.

Bangladesh Bhavana is a 44,261-square-foot building that was built with funding from Dhaka. In addition to the nation's history, culture, and artwork, it has a library, an auditorium, a museum, and a center for study on the Liberation War of 1971.

The museum is divided into four major sections: Bangladeshi history; Tagores and Bangladesh (with a focus on Rabindranath in particular); Liberation War (with a focus on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman); and Modern Bangladesh (with a focus on Sheikh Mujibur and Mahatma Gandhi).

Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly opened Bangladesh Bhavana on May 25, 2018. However, Covid pushed the temporary museum to shut in 2020, which further delayed its completion.

"In November, the Bangladeshi government gave us final authority to finish the outstanding work at the museum. The election in the neighboring nation, however, most likely put a stop to it, according to Bangladesh Bhavana main coordinator Manabendra Mukhopadhyay.

"We were informed in a recent communication that the pending task would be speeded up shortly," Mukhopadhyay said, after Sheikh Hasina's victory.

A delegation headed by the director of the Bangladesh National Museum, Md Kamruzzaman, is expected to visit Santiniketan on January 22 or 23 to finalize the arrangements for the museum's forthcoming events, according to a university official.

The museum's designer and curator, Tarik Sujat, said from Dhaka: "We intend to add a few more panels and archaeological artifacts to the museum." During our visit to Santiniketan, architect Ehsan Ali and I will collaborate to complete the assignment.

"The museum will grow—we'll utilize the space left over from the inauguration," he said.

According to a senior university official, the museum required renovations in addition to appropriate curation, since it had been shuttered for more than three years.

He said that while Bidyut Chakraborty was vice-chancellor, the structure's upkeep was ignored, which led to the ACs malfunctioning and part of the canopy collapsing.

In addition to providing funds for Bangladesh Bhavana's construction, Dhaka set aside a sum of Rs 10 crore for the institution's ongoing upkeep.

According to a top Bangladesh Bhavana official, "We are trying to complete the renovation from the interest generated by the corpus."

The museum contains a digital display devoted to the Liberation War and the essential role of Mujibur Rahman and his commitment to independent Bangladesh.

Visva-Bharati would suggest include a panel that emphasizes the role that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi played at the time as well as India's assistance to Bangladesh's freedom.

The museum now contains improvised panels that cover topics such as the 1951 Liberation War, the history of Rabindranath Tagore's Kuthibari in Shelaidaha, the 1952 Bhasha Andolon (Language Movement), Sheikh Mujibar, and Mahatma Gandhi, according to a Visva-Bharati official.

"A few archeological artifacts from Bangladesh and examples of the nation's handicrafts are also present."

"Most of the panels consist of printed photographs, but once the museum is finished, we will ask for the original photographs," he said. The Bangladeshi delegation and I will have a thorough conversation about this.

The 33,000 square foot, six-story 1971 Genocide Torture Archive and Museum in Khulna was just opened by the Hasina administration. The facility was officially opened by Sheikh Hasina just before the general election on January 7.

The head of the trust that oversees the Genocide Museum and its creator, Muntassir Mamoon, expressed his happiness at the news that the Bangladesh Bhavana museum in Santiniketan was finally under development.

The Bangabandhu Chair professor at Chittagong University is held by academic Mamoon. "I anticipate that it will showcase archaeological artefacts and evidence spanning Bangladesh’s ancient history to the Liberation War," Mamoon remarked.

Both nations' researchers will find this useful. It is noteworthy that Visva-Bharati has educated a large number of Bangladeshi students.