Google Art Project takes Delhi museums online

Google has announced the launch of Google Art Project in India. This initiative aims to free artwork from the confines of the museum walls and bring it to the common man via the Internet.

Starting today, the Google Art Project will allow users across the world to view the artwork collections of the two museums in New Delhi - National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi and National Museum, Delhi from the comfort of their homes. To start with, Google is showcasing 94 artworks from the National Gallery of Modern Art and 142 artworks from the National Museum. The artworks to be showcased online were picked by the respective institutes, Pravin Srivastava, the Director General of the National Museum, Delhi clarified.

Google disclosed that plans to add other institutions in India were already underway.

Google Art Project not only lets you watch high-resolution images of the museum collection, but also go on a virtual tour of the museum, using the same technology that powers Street View for Google Maps.

Professor Rajeev Lochan, Director of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Delhi dismissed suggestions that the initiative was competition for the museums, saying it would add to the experience of real-life visitors, since it would let them better plan their visits.

Hon'ble Minister of Culture, Smt. Kumari Selja urged both the institutions to ensure that "at least 10,000 artworks from each museum are made part of the initiative as soon as possible".

Google Art Project started off as a "20 percent" project (Google employees are allowed to spend 20 percent of their weekly time on any project of their choice) but has grown into a full-fledged initiative that is showcasing works from 151 cultural institutions in 40 countries with 32,000 artworks by 6,000 artists.

The project collections includes works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in London, the Palace of Versailles in France, the White House in Washington DC, and the collection of the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar.


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