Question of where do artefacts belong needs to be asked: Budapest Museum curator

'This pursuance is justified and the issue is complex; even from the legal point of view', says Kata Anna Aklan

Curating over 20,000 artefacts of Asian art, ranging from the Middle East to Japan, Dr Kata Anna Aklan of Budapest’s Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts says that the moral question of where do artefacts belong, especially when they have been taken from their countries under the British Empire, needs to be asked. The renowned Gandhian scholar and Hungarian Indologist, who was attending the International Museum Expo, told DH’s Amrita Madhukalya that museums cannot ignore the importance of technology. Excerpts:

What are the key markers of a good museum?

A museum should be appealing and educational. It should be educational in a way that people go there to learn or find something that helps them live a better life or educates them about the past or arts. It should also be nice to the eye so that people would want to engage.

India’s current govt has a slew of museums in progress. Some to commemorate freedom fighters, some to conserve the lives of communities. Does having many museums help?

I’m not an expert on ethnography, but about the multiplicity of museums I feel the problem is not with museums, the problem lies with the means through which we tend to look at helping a community. The Indian government is funding several small museums, and it is a good thing. And it will help engage communities, such as the tribal communities on which museums are being made. Having said that, making museums is not the only way to help these communities, but as long as other aspects are not neglected, museums are a good thing. Museums also generate jobs.

At the Int'l Museum Expo, we witnessed technology being utilised to display artefacts or how they are conserved. Do you feel that museums will have to adapt to include that?

There is a trend of tech in museums, but we do not know how long will it last. Someone reminded us at the expo that photography was written off and it survives a century later. The question again is not whether it will last, but how we use it. Today you have to be tech-savvy; and for a wider outreach, it is inevitable. I’m interested in Indian art, and for me, Indian museums are paradise. I have visited Chennai Museum, Pondicherry Central Museum, and Ernakulam Science Museum, among others, and if you have to invite young people, then technology has to be involved.

At the Ferenc Hopp Museum, which has over 20,000 artefacts of Asian arts, how difficult is the process of conservation?

It is extremely important to have experts and labs to conserve the artefacts in any museum. With technology, we have newer methods and materials for conservation. In Hungary, I must say that we are struggling; we have experts but our collection is in need of constant renovation. One has to be careful of the climatic environment in the storage room or at the exhibition hall, which varies from material – wooden objects and metal ones that need different care. Last month, I visited the conservation laboratory of the British Museum in London and was astonished at how developed the process is. One has to be very careful with metal objects which oxidise over time. In the past, people did not have the material or knowledge to conserve well. We have Gandhara sculptures and Stucco objects, which are fragile. The Stucco objects have iron rods embedded which are being taken apart now.

India has time and again spoken about how the Western world needs to give back stolen items; the prime minister said so at the inauguration of the expo. As a museum of Asian arts, how do you navigate the question of ethics?

This question will gain more importance in the days ahead. This pursuance is justified and the issue is complex; even from the legal point of view. In our collection, we have artworks from a Hungarian art collector who worked as a banker for a decade in London and then came to Mumbai years ago, where he joined an art dealership run by another Hungarian, who had been here for decades by then. They ran their business in Colonial times and operated legally – selling to everyone. The dealer opened shops in Delhi, Shimla and London, and every sale was legal. Is it legal today, and do I want to give the artefacts back? If a court rules, we will have to. Any object acquired in our museum after him is now extensively vetted legally.

The British Empire affected not just India, but from all across. One fears that these artefacts belong to their country of origin. We need to find ways that are fruitful and ensure that conservation is not sidelined.