The National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology was established on 27 January 1989, under the Societies Registration Act by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India for providing facilities for advanced studies and research in the field of art and cultural heritage. The Institute was given the status of a deemed university by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on 28 April 1989. NMIHACM has now positioned itself as the premier institute of its kind in India and is located within the premises of the National Museum in New Delhi. The Institute has been offering study opportunities at the diploma, Masters and Doctoral levels since 1985 on various aspects such as history, conservation and restoration and museology.
Objectives
The main objectives of NMI are set as:
Providing for various courses of study, training and research in different branches of History of art, Museology, Conservation, etc.
Publishing such works of the Institute as may have contributed substantially to the fields of specialization.
Departments
The Institute's functions are broadly divided into three areas and each area is managed by a dedicated department. History of Art: The Department of History of Art offers educational opportunities in Indian, Asian and Western Art. Conservation: The Department of Conservation is the platform of NMIHACM for imparting training on conservation of art and cultural heritage. Museology: The Department of Museology controls the curriculum on studies on Museology.
Projects
NMIHACM undertakes various projects with regard to heritage conservation across the country; some of them are:
Documentation of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Based on inventories in the Ladakh and Western Uttar Pradesh Region.
A school-based project for establishing Museum Corners in schools of Nubra, Thangtse and Khaltsa regions of Ladakh and Meerut in Western Uttar Pradesh.
Yuva Saathi: An action research project involving young volunteers aimed at the young visitors of the National Museum.
Documentation of Nine Masters: Digital documentation of the works of Nicholas Roerich, the Russian painter who lived in India.
Museum Accessibility and Visitor Studies: A survey of the main art museums in India such as the National Museum, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Handicrafts and Textile Museum.
Indian Life and Landscapes by Western Artists: Visitor access studies of the exhibition conducted at Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya, Mumbai, 27 January 2009.
Exhibitions
NMIHACM, through its Department of Museology, has organised several exhibitions, covering various topics under History and conservation.
Nako – Living cultural heritage in the Western Himalayas : Photo exhibition in collaboration with the Department of Museology and Conservation and Austria Embassy on 18 March 2011.
Astitav- a Search for Our Identity : Exhibition on monuments and their degradation on February 2008.
Exhibition of the photo collections of J. Ph. Vogel, Kern Institute, Leiden on March 2008.
Prabhava Photo and Object Exhibition on Indian art and ots foreign influences in 2004.
Ehasas: Senses and Images : Exhibition for the visually impaired in November 2002.
Courses
NMIHACM offers three courses at Masters level; MA in History of Arts, MA in Conservation and MA in Museology. All the three programs are two year full-time Masters courses and offer higher studies in the respective areas of study. A limited number of Government scholarships are available for all the courses. NMIHACM offers doctoral research facilities for PhD in:
Museum Education
Museum Exhibition and Communication
Eco-Museums
Museum Documentation
The Institute organises internal and external lecture series and seminars for the research scholars. NMIHACM also conducts a few short-term courses on India Art and culture, Art Appreciation and Bhartiya Kalanidhi.
Library
NMIHACM has access to a well stocked library maintained at National Museum Institute which is equipped with a fully automated digital library consisting of 68,014 slides, apart from the hard copy collections. Many journals subscribed by the library is also accessible to NMIHACM.
Publications
The Institute regularly releases important publications on History, conservation and Museology, some of the more notable ones are:
Example of an archaeological discovery and restoration of a mural painting
