Image: Lisa Nandy speaks at Waves (Photo: DCMS)
New cultural agreement hopes to boost UK-Indian museum partnerships, facilitate creative exports, and strengthen heritage conservation practices
The government says a new cultural agreement between the UK and India is hoped to enable more partnerships between the two countries’ museums and cultural institutions.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who is of Indian heritage, arrived last Thursday for a three-day visit to Mumbai and New Delhi.
While there she signed a new bilateral Cultural Cooperation Agreement with India’s Minister for Culture and Tourism, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
She was joined on the trip by a delegation of senior leaders from VisitBritain and the Science Museum.
The agreement will “open the door” for increased UK creative exports to India and enable more partnerships between UK and Indian museums and cultural institutions, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.
Nandy said: “In the arts and creative industries, Britain and India lead the world and I look forward to this agreement opening up fresh opportunities for collaboration, innovation and economic growth for our artists, cultural institutions and creative businesses.
“Growing up as a mixed race child with proud Indian heritage, I saw first hand how the UK’s culture – from food, fashion and film to music, sport and literature – is enriched by the unique contribution of the Indian diaspora.”
Implementation will involve the British Council in India and the Indian Ministry of Culture, with participation from major UK cultural institutions including Arts Council England, the British Library, the British Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum Group and the V&A Museum.
DCMS said the agreement has the potential “for British museums to launch new partnerships on exhibitions or public programmes that engage the Indian diaspora in the UK.”
The UK will work with India to support best practice and expertise on heritage conservation, museum management and digitisation of collections – including making knowledge contained in South Asian manuscripts more widely accessible, and the protection of cultural property, with both nations committing to combat illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts.
Sir Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group, said the commitment from the British and Indian Governments toward deeper cultural cooperation “will further strengthen our relationships with Indian cultural and scientific organisations, helping the Science Museum Group to share ever more fascinating stories of scientific discovery with audiences in both the UK and India.”
Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said the agreement will increase its ability to loan more objects from its collection, and “build strategic relationships with the booming Indian arts scene across design, fashion, photography, and performance.”
Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, said the agreement “recognises, at the highest level, the importance of cultural collaboration between our two countries and we look forward to strengthening these partnerships further.”
Director of the Natural History Museum Doug Gurr said the museum is “thrilled that our connection continues at the Visual Poetries Photography Festival in Gujarat this summer, with our Competition Manager joining their jury and our Wildlife Photography of the Year Highlights on display throughout.”
