SUBMITTED BY KAJAL SHARMA

MUSEOLOGY CLASS KS379122@GMAIL.COM

ASSIGNMENT.
Case Study of Chandigarh Architecture Museum to
analyze museology and museography .
INTRODUCTION: Museology and Museography are two
prominent terms in museal field. While in some countries these
two terms are used interchangeably to describe academic
principles and working of museums, however these two terms is
distinctive and studied as two different concepts in museul world.
Etymologically speaking museology is the ‘study of museum’
which focuses on study of history and background of museums,
their role in society, specific system of research, conservation
education and organization and the classification of different
kinds of museums ( According to ICOM Training unit 1971).
Basically Museology covers everything related to museum, and
doesn’t reject any form of museum from oldest (Quiccheberg) to
most recent (cyber museums). Museology is a domain which
concern itself with all functions of museums from Documentation,
Collection, Display to research and communication through
various means. Museography (derived from Latin word
museographia) as a term first appeared in Casper F. Neickel book
“Museographia” published at Leipzig in 1727. The museography
covers methods and practices in operations of a museum. Simply we
can say Museography is a practical approach to museal field while
Museology is theoretical approach to it.
Through this assignment which is a case study on Chandigarh
Architectural Museum, it is being examined how these two different
concepts are used in one museum.

The Chandigarh Architectural Museum also known as City

museum resides within the Sector-10 museum complex. A
museum depicts and exhibits the story of first planned city –
Chandigarh, which was planned by Le Corbusier.
History of Museum: Museum houses in a building which is designed by
Architect Shivdatt Sharma, who was trained directly under Corbusier
and Pierre Jeanneret. The basic design of building is based on the
Pavilion d’exposition Maison de I’Homme created by Corbusier as an
Exhibition Pavilion on Zurich, Switzerland .After Corbusier death,
Sharma was entrusted with the task of designing the building for
the City Museum and overseeing its creation in 1970’s by M.N
Sharma hen chief architect of Chandigarh. The Architecture
museum building had to be conceptualized and designed in a way
that was congruous with the adjacent Art Museum.

COLLECTION: The Museum displays original letters and

correspondence between administrators and the architects who
created Chandigarh’s blueprint. Original drawings and plans for
the city are displayed along with photographs of the developing
city in various stages. A framed excerpt from a letter written by
Mathew Nowicki just two weeks before his death is particularly
poignant. Nowicki, along with Albert Mayer was originally chosen
to plan and build the new city. He died tragically in a plane crash
over Cairo on a trip back to the US from Chandigarh and
subsequently Corbusier was commissioned to create Chandigarh.
Then there is the furniture — the architecture museum has a fine
collection of original pieces and recent reproductions that
represent many of the designs created for Chandigarh.

Source of Collection: The museum has taken it collection of

documents, drawings from the Architecture Department of
Chandigarh Administration, and archives of Government Museum
and Art Gallery.

DISPLAY: The museum has displayed its collection

chronologically to depict the development of architecture of city
from its inception to present. The museum's significant, innovative
features include interesting display systems such as translites,
models, drawings, documents or their reproductions on acrylic
panels. The museum also used Audio- video Documentation to make
its reach to wider audience.

In first level museum through its panels that showcase the trauma of
partition of 1947, which eventually led the birth of city Chandigarh.
Second level exhibits models and blueprints of the important
buildings designed by Le Corbusier for Chandigarh. The level - 3 is
reserved for the theme 'Chandigarh: Today and tomorrow'. This
section broadly displays the city's growth after the first phase of
construction. Level - 4, which is the uppermost floor, serves as
terrace and there is a snack bar designed to offer light refreshments
against the backdrop of Shivalik Hills. The special labels have been
put up throughout museum to give historical context and factual
information to its audience
Communication: Museum on regular terms organizes many
activities to interact with public like: Guided tours, heritage walks,
seminars etc. Museum is headed by Deepika Gandhi; the museum is
managed by staff efficiently with fully guarded security management
to safeguard heritage and stories that this museum inherit in itself.

CONCLUSIN: on the basis of these functions of museum, the

differentiation between museology a museography can be examined.
The museology covers in it all theoretical aspects like history of
museum, its objectives, its collection from which sources it is
collected, collection documentation etc. however in museography we
cover practical aspects of museology where we study how exhibits
should be displayed, in what ways exhibits labels to be created to
make audience intricate in an exhibit, at how much distance display
be kept that it can gain people attention. Museography also covers in
itself all elements of museum display like space4s, walls, showcase,
panels colors, models etc that it can be studied, now a day’s
museums also used many technological tools to exhibit museum
information to people which also come under museography