Museum Security

Proceedings of Seminar on Museum Security Date: 21-22 February, 2013 Edior: Achal Pandya Language Editing: Sh. Raghu Menon Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts C. V. Mess, Janpath, New Delhi-110001. www.ignca.nic.in Phone: 011-23388077 1 Content 1. Security of an Ethnographic Museum: A Case Study of the Naga Heritage Museum and Cultural Centre Aantika Parashar 4-8 2. Integrated Museum Security Systems Professor (Dr) Abduraheem K. and Dr. Sheeba Khan 9-17 3. The Third Highest Grossing Criminal Trade Worldwide Bhawna Vyas & Dr. Indu Joshi 18-29 4. Documentation of Museum Objects: A Tool for Museum Security Dr. V. Varija and Dr. V. Ramabrahmam and Mr. B. Ravinandan Rao 30-34 5. Security Measures in Shree Swaminarayan Museum Dr. Indubala Nahakpam 35-46 6. The Security and Safety of Museums with reference to K.N. Dikshit 47-54 7. Challenges and Advanced Methods in the Museum Security K. Mrutyunjaya Rao 55-60 8. Security Practices in the Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhopal Manoj K. Sharma 61-66 9. Museum Security across Times and Places R. V. Ramana 67-71 10. Museum Security S. S. Jawahar, I.A.S. & K. Sekar 72-83 11. Museum Security Professor Syed Asif Akhtar Naqvi 84-89 12. Importance of Security System in Museums Shruti Das 90-102 2 13. Security of Museums from Seismic Damage A.S. Bisht 103-108 14. How Safe is Our Display? Professor (Dr.) Charu Smita Gupta 109-122 15. Dimensions of Theft in Museums Prof R.C. Agrawal 123-127 16. Managing Indoor Climate: A Challenge for Preserving Rituals Objects and Artifacts in Buddhist Monasteries in Ladakh Dr Sonam Wangchok 128-132 17. My Experiences in the Security of Museum Collections as an Eye Opener to Young Museologists and Conservators Dr. V. Jeyaraj 133-138 18. Security of Cultural Heritage: A Fundamental Concept of Museology A. K. Chatterjee, M. Sc, Ph. D. 139-143 19. The Need and Call Ms. Mrinmoy Das 144-149 20. Security problems in the Museums of Odisha with special reference to Odisha State Museum Dr. P. K. Singh 150-156 21. Preventive approach for Museum Security: a paramount issue R. K. Trivedi 157-167 22. Museum Security and Ticketing System: Problems, Suggestions and Solutions for Indian Museums Sanjib Kumar Singh, and Joyee Roy Ghosh, 168-178 3 Security of an Ethnographic Museum: A Case Study of the Naga Heritage Museum and Cultural Centre Abantika Parashar Naga Heritage Museum and Cultural Centre Kohima Abstract: The Naga Heritage Museum and Cultural Centre is an upcoming ethnographic museum in Kohima, Nagaland. The museum focuses on collection and conservation of the rich heritage of the Angami, Konyak and Ao Naga people, who were once known for their head-hunting tradition. Its collection comprises of huge wooden panels, metal and wooden sculptures, everyday utilitarian objects, textiles, weapons, ornaments, ritual objects, etc. As the construction of the museum building is underway, the collection is presently housed in two different buildings. Presently one caretaker, a local person, is present for taking care of the collection, who does not have any training for handling cultural objects. This has caused serious threats to the collection as apart from not taking proper care of the objects, he is also using some objects for his personal use. As a result, objects are deteriorating day by day and some of them are totally damaged. Besides, the museum does not have any security measures yet. As a result some priceless objects have got stolen. But of late, superstitious belief regarding a coffin has turned out to be guarding force for the entire collection. The coffin, which was used for burying a young boy once, is believed to be haunted and hence people are now afraid of approaching the collection. Thus, without having the least amount of security measures and being surrounded by walls made of bamboo, cane and masonry, objects are much more secure now. To what extent such beliefs are acceptable is a different matter, but this unique security code of this unique museum is indeed interesting. While speaking of security of museum objects, one can look into the subject matter from two different perspectives. One is security of the physical features of the objects and the other is prevention from external threats like vandalism, thefts, natural disasters, etc. This paper is all about my personal experience of ensuring both types of security in an ethnographic museum of Nagaland. 4 The Naga Heritage Museum and Cultural Centre, an upcoming ethnographic museum in Kohima, Nagaland, focuses on the collection and conservation of the rich heritage of the Angami, Konyak and Ao Naga people, who were once known for their head-hunting tradition. Its collection is comprised of huge wooden panels, metal and wooden sculptures, everyday objects, textiles, weapons, ornaments, ritualistic objects etc. Being new to the field, it was a golden opportunity for me to work with a lot of freedom for the documentation of the collection. As a student of museology, I somehow managed the documentation part, but the biggest challenge was to prevent the deterioration of the objects by all possible means. There, the situation was different; means were limited and most importantly, the Centre lacked man- power who have knowledge on the subject. As a result, I had to plan and implement some preventive conservation measures as per the existing situation. The Centre is a museum built out of the personal collection of a middle-aged Naga gentleman, Mr. Francis Belho. He is based in Kohima and throughout his life he has been trying his best to collect artifacts associated with the rich, yet dying tradition, of the Naga tribes. At present he has in his possession many valuable objects related mainly to the lives of the Angami and Konyak people. Angamis and Konyaks are among the most famous tribes of Nagaland, which were once known because of their head hunting tradition. These tribes have their own unique beliefs, rituals, customs, etc, which are now vanishing fast due to globalization and rapid development. Mr. Belho, being a representative of the Angami tribe, assumes it to be his moral duty to preserve both the tangible and intangible heritage of his State. As a result, he is collecting objects by all possible means. Today, he is the proud owner of a collection which consists of wooden panels and sculptures, valuable jewellery and textiles, utensils, ritualistic objects, weapons, bronze artifacts, etc. The museum is now under construction and hence the objects are distributed in its two storages. One of the storages is located on the foot of a hill and surrounded by a rocky yet small spring. This storage is constructed of cane, bamboo and brick and contains thousands of priceless wooden as well as earthen artifacts (Storage-1). The other one, located on the top floor of a concrete building, is full of some very old as well as rare miniature artifacts (Storage-2). While speaking of the security of the museum objects (which are in the storage at present), it can be divided into two categories; their physical deterioration and the external threats to them. 5 Deterioration of the objects : Although the collection of the museum is very rich, it is suffering from serious conservational problems, especially the wooden objects. Almost 60% of the wooden collection has been attacked by termites and some of them are completely damaged. In the same way, the textiles, jewellery and metal collections are also suffering from serious problems. As the climatic condition of this region is very cold and damp, the condition is worsening day by day. The main cause behind this is the lack of knowledge required for safeguarding such objects. The objects are not stored properly and even mishandled and there are also no arrangements for their security against external threats. Storage-1 is a house which has eight rooms. Each room has one or two shelves for hanging the objects. Most the objects are dumped one over the other, and as the floor is not even, they are tied together to some poles. For tying the objects, jute ropes have been used. Except one room, the remaining seven have got earthen flooring and not even a floor covering is provided. The roofing is made of tin and thick plastic sheets. Storage-2 is located on the top floor of a building. Most of the collection stored here, being miniature in nature, is kept inside big boxes. The condition of Storage-1 is worse when compared to Storage-2. The size of the objects and the condition of the storage rooms are the two main reasons responsible for this. Storage-1 has some wooden panels which measure several metres in length and breadth. Keeping such objects inside closed boxes is not possible. Besides being very big in size, they are very heavy and transferring them from one place to another is also challenging. The climate of Kohima is naturally very damp and rainfall is very heavy during summers; besides, the storage is surrounded by a lot of evergreen trees and a spring. All these factors have contributed in creating an atmosphere, which is not at all healthy for organic objects like wood and cane. There are leakages in the roof and water enters the storage during rains. In the same way, objects are in direct touch with the damp earthen flooring. All these have caused serious damages to the objects like bio-deterioration, flaking, staining, discolouring etc., along with breakage and cracks. Mishandling: Mishandling is a serious problem that the collection is going through at present. The main reason behind this is the lack of trained persons.

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