Ahead of the Commonwealth Games,the National Gallery of Modern Art is part of an international survey focussing on what visitors want from museums A Year after the much-awaited three new wings were added to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA),the premiere art space in the Capital might be looking to re-invent itself further. The institution is part of a survey by Reach Advisors,an American research firm that studies museum audience,intended to attain feedback from visitors . Incidentally,NGMA is one of the 102 museums from across five countries participating in the international survey. The aim,says Susie Wilkening,senior consultant,Reach and project leader of the survey,is to learn more about core motivations that prompt people to visit museums. We want to study that and then look at their childhood experiences in museums,to see if there are any patterns, she says. Core visitors are required to answer a set of 24 questions that includes how often they visit the museum and why,what are the areas where the museum falls short,their earliest memory of visiting a museum and if the economic slowdown has affected their frequency of visits. Each museum will be provided with their results,besides the overall results,so that they can understand where they stand globally, she says. There will also be a webinar a seminar on the web around May when the results will be shared at various museum conferences in the US,besides blog entries on researchadvisors.typepad.com. While the project was initiated in fall 2009,museums from the world over were invited to participate in January 2010. NGMA is the only Indian museum in the list that has,among others,Brookside Museum in New York,Pacific Science Center in Seattle,Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,Missouri. The initiative,say artists is crucial for the museum to attain global eminence,and most of them have suggestions of their own. It should be more child-friendly and introduce all-night openings,which will allow people to visit after work. Placing storyboards with basic details on the artist and the artwork during exhibitions will also initiate more people into art, says artist Anjolie Ela Menon. Fellow artist Mithu Sen feels NGMA should be more open to contemporary artworks. It should be more experimental and less bureaucratic. Contemporary artists should be encouraged. Artist Arpana Caur is of the opinion that the country needs more branches of the NGMA. Iranna agrees. It should organise international contemporary art exhibitions,conduct more workshops and invite schools so that children are initiated into art, he says. Wilkening says that they are noting responses and that the analysis will only come up in a few months. In the meanwhile Rajeev Lochan,director,NGMA,says he would rather await the results before he makes any comment.
