Museum Bhavan is a collection of museums made by Dayanita Singh. Permanently installed in Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, the museums can, however, travel to other venues. The Bhavan will be open to the public on the first and second full moon of each year. At other times, it may be viewed by appointment only, or through a large window that lets people look in without entering.
The Bhavan will have an archivist-in-residence programme and will organize seminars on nano museums every two years. It will have its own travelling museum shop and book-cart. Each museum will also have its own trustees and ambassadors. There will be an ongoing catalogue, compiled by the Museum Editor, Aveek Sen, from found and commissioned texts. Museum Bhavan will also have a publications programme with Steidl.
The museums hold within them old and new images made by Dayanita Singh. These images are endlessly displayed, sequenced, edited and archived in the museums by the artist herself. The design and architecture of the museums are integral to the images shown and kept within them. Each large, wooden, handmade structure can be placed and opened in different ways. It holds around a hundred framed images, of which some are on view whilst others wait for their turn in the reserve collection stored inside the structures. All the museums also have smaller structures within them, which can be displayed inside the museum or seperately on a wall.
The museums sometimes form small chambers, with their own tables and benches, for reflection and conversation; they can also be joined to one another to form a labyrinth. As Singh keeps adding images to the museums, the museums themselves could give birth to other museums. For example, the Museum of Embraces comes out of the Museum of Chance, and the Museum of Vitrines is contained within the Museum of Furniture.
Dayanita Singh
Director Museum Bhavan