India likely to announce G20 Digital Museum with artefacts from member and guest countries

With the G20 summit around the corner, the Centre is planning the G20 Digital Museum which will have at least one key artefact or its digital replica from all member nations and the nine guest countries has been fantasised by India in its power as the chair of the influential grouping, sources said as reported by PTI. As per the sources, the project is likely to be revealed during the Leaders Summit on 9-10 September.

The sources added that digital replicas of the Mona Lisa, the 16th-century masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci which is hung at the Louvre Museum in Paris are likely to be part of the novel Physical Museum. Moreover, ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’, the famed oil painting by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, which is kept at a museum in the Netherlands is also likely to be added. 

A ‘phygital’ museum directs to the idea of having a museum that will have both physical and digital segments

At the recently-concluded G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting in Varanasi, delegates were engrossed by the performance of a special G20 orchestra which ascended a performance titled ‘Sur Vasudha’.

With the main Summit event close by, the Culture Ministry is also operating on several other projects as part of G20 engagements, which include a ‘G20 Digital Museum – Culture Corridor’, and a ‘G20 Anthology of Poems – Under the Same Sky’.

The G20 Summit in Delhi is all set to initiate on September 9. The summit will be held for two days and will be entered by representatives of member nations as well as guest nations. The 18th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit in Delhi will be a culmination of all the G20 procedures and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies

Coming back to the Culture Ministry, a senior official had recently said that the G20 museum was in a “very early phase of the project, and we are trying to source at least one key artefact from all member nations and the nine guest countries.”

“So, we have requested these 28 countries if they can share at least one artefact or antiquity from their side which represents the culture of those countries for the G20. And, if that cannot be shared, then at least a digital replica can be shared, which can be showcased in the ‘digital corridor’ where the cultural richness of the world can be portrayed,” the official had said.

The G20, or Group of 20, is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. India presently holds the rotating presidency of the multinational group.

G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union (EU).

“We are also seeking poems from G20 member nations as part of the G20 Anthology of Poems project,” the official had quoted by PTI. 

At the G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting and other meetings, another official source said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Virasat Bhi, Vikas Bhi’ was “showcased wonderfully” during these meetings. “Heritage is a vital asset for economic growth and diversification,” Modi had said in his video address at the G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting and added that India’s mantra is ‘Virasat Bhi, Vikas Bhi’.

A ministerial Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary — ‘Kashi Culture Pathway’ was issued at the end of the meeting held on August 26.

According to sources, the “Global South” was included in the ‘Kashi Culture Pathway,’ a word that was not referred to in any of the materials that had previously been made public or in any of the sessions that had been held before. India, the chair of the influential organisation, envisioned a project that would likely be launched during the Leaders Summit in September and will comprise at least one primary item or its digital counterpart from each of the member countries and the nine guest countries. G20: India’s digital public infra has impact that goes beyond financial inclusion World Bank says