Muse, shop

The newly-minted museum souvenir shop while trying to follow global trends offers a mixed bag of goodies made by traditional artisans from all over India

Muse, shop

The newly-minted museum souvenir shop while trying to follow global trends offers a mixed bag of goodies made by traditional artisans from all over India

On a rain-soaked morning we headed to The Museum Shop at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS). Designed by architect Rahul Mehrotra, the airy souvenir store lifted our spirits from the initial glimpse of its glass structure adorned with horse and fish-shaped leather puppets. Inside, we felt warm and comfortable under the mellow lights and after snatching a peek at the sprawling green expanse, we escaped into a world of coffee table books and curios sourced from all over India.

A wooden toy train made in Karnataka;u00a0Pics/ Sayed Sameer Abediu00a0u00a0

Barely two weeks old, the shop marks the first phase of a Rs 23-crore museum modernisation programme. Earlier, the information kiosk within the museum served as a gift shop. Soon, you will be able to choose from chilling inside its cafe or watching 25-minute audio-visuals about life in Mumbai, from its multi-screen auditorium.

Since it's located outdoors (at the spot where the Children's Creativity Centre was located), you need not pay to visit and plans are afoot to get it running beyond museum timings. "While conducting Paramparik Karigar and Dastkar exhibitions, we felt a need to make the museum more visitor-friendly. Keeping in mind global trends and the need to promote traditional art, we started this shop as a permanent platform for artisans. Our mission is to show that ancient art forms made by contemporary artisans can be trendy as well," explained Bilwa Kulkarni, Education Officer, CSMVS.

What to expect
The shop is restricted to the ground floor but the first floor will soon be cleared of boxes and converted into a jewellery section. Book lovers can pore through coffee table books on Kerala and Benares, old MARG editions, museum catalogues and books on nature by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) next door. Their DVD section clubs Shilpa Shetty's yoga DVD with Sufi melodies and documentaries on the environmentu00a0 (commissioned and produced by the museum). The selection seems haphazard but might appeal to foreigners who constitute a large chunk of the clientele.

The collection of artefacts includes papier-mache boxes and Pashmina shawls from Kashmir as well as hand-woven dhurries from Andhra Pradesh. There are eye-catching Pattachitra paper paintings that depict the Dashavtaras (ten forms of Vishnu) and scenes from the Ramayana. Also on offer are Rajasthani miniature paper paintings and sepia-tinted maps and prints of Bombay from the 18th century. There is traditional jewellery from Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajasthan as well.u00a0

They have T-shirts (only in small sizes) as well as jute bags by the NGO Earthbags, which showcase the landmarks of the city. Stationery aficionados can splurge on miniature painting kits, coin notepads, stamping kits, animal-shaped clips and staplers. You can also jazz up your home with leather puppets from Andhra Pradesh available in shapes of a horse, fish, tree of life or Lord Ganesha / Hanuman.

Check out Anvesha Creations' Dokra figurines, which depict women in various poses reading books. "It's the outcome of the literacy project which reached the villages in Orissa and Bihar. The tribal women artisans reflected the change in their daily life through their art," said Kamini Sawhney, Business Development Consultant at The Museum Shop. We love the concept and the reasonable price tags (on most items) but look forward to a wider range of rare finds.
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Open: 10.30 am to 7 pm
At: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Fort.
Call: 22844484 / 22844519
Cost: Rs 10 onwards for stationery, Rs 99 onwards for T-shirts, Rs 120 onwards for bags, Rs 100 onwards for postcards, Rs 120 onwards for jewellery and Rs 620 onwards for puppets