ABSTRACT
The Swiss architectural firm of Herzog and de Meuron, whose credentials include the spectacular 'Bird's Nest' from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the gigantic Tate Modern in London—the largest museum of modern art on earth—secured the commission for the building following an international competition. In contrast to the ambitious plans for Kolkota Museum of Modern Art, however, are a plethora of home-grown repositories in India that seem to occupy the other end of the spectrum of museums. The museum in the colony was, in fact, a museum of the colony, addressing not just Indian visitors but also imperial authorities, such as Orientalist scholars, scientists of diverse descriptions, administrators, and agents of commerce. Consider, for instance, the Hanuman Museum in Lucknow: India's only museum dedicated to the widely-worshipped monkey-god and ally of the epic hero Rama.
