“The Ministry (of textiles, which runs the museum) took note almost a year ago and decided to build a new modern textiles gallery on the ground floor itself, adjacent to other galleries,” says Raghvendra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, adding that the priceless collection would have also gotten affected as the faulty air-conditioning system was beyond repair. Currently, final touches are being given to the space and the new gallery is due to open in less than a month’s time.

The plan is also afoot to make the gallery into a resource centre for students and scholars alike, offering information about the history of Indian textiles. Author and former bureaucrat Sujata Prasad, an advisor with the Ministry, who is part of the committee overseeing the Rs 1-crore project, says, “To enhance visitor experience, focussed exhibitions on specific themes, regions, periods and traditions will complement the permanent gallery.”

While the earlier display misses out on important aspects of the history of the display, the new display is also being designed in a way that the notes tagged alongwith are interesting, crisp and useful.

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The new display will be divided into five zones such as weaving (from various states), embroidery (chikankari, kantha, phulkari), dying (ikat and patola), patterns (bandhani, kalamkari, leheriya) and tana-bana, based on the complexity of the textile. “Instead of bland showcase displays, there will be a novelty in mounting the garment using ladders, hangers and stands,” says Jha, adding that there will also be a tactile map of India, detailing the history of the country’s handwoven and handspun traditions, besides mannequins to display robes and special garments.

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