Published Paper Details:

Traditional museums around the world are forced to undergo transformation and become more inclusive and representative of their communities in light of postcolonial criticism and New Museum theory. New Museum theory, also called Critical museum theory or New Museology was a result of the debate around the growing demands for the inclusion of indigenous people in the representation of their cultural heritage. As a result, new roles and directions for museums and heritage institutions have emerged which put forward a different museological approach focused not only on artefacts but also on people. Under this new approach, the concept of a museum as a dynamic cultural centre replaces the concept of the museum as a repository of collections. This paper presents the theoretical underpinnings of New Museology and its development in international context. It also examines the development of New Museology in India and provides an overview of its implication in Indian museum practices, using Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh as an example.