Necessary Facts:
The Ami Kolkata or I am Calcutta Museum is open every day 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, except Monday and national holidays
There is no entry fee and photography with the camera is allowed inside
Today museums are not just a display of artifacts. It comes in with audiovisual effects creating a movie theatre-like atmosphere. The visitor gets a real-life feel of the artifacts as he moves from one gallery to the other. Recently opened I am Calcutta or Ami Kolkata (আমি কলকাতা) Museum in the Metcalfe Hall is an entire city based museum and comes in with all modern features, complete with audiovisual effects. Although the museum is new Metcalfe Hall housing the museum dates back to 1844.
It was named after Charles Metcalfe, who was the Governor-General of India from 1835 to 1836.
The architect of the building was C K Robison and is an exact replica of the Tower of Winds in Athens, Greece.
Metcalfe Hall stands at the crossing of Hare Street and Strand Road. The building stands on a 10 feet high elevated platform.
A total of 30 Corinthian Pillars support the extended roof on all sides. The entrance is from both the east and west sides via a flight of stairs. Each of the entrances is through six pillars.
Next on the ground floor is an open space with a beautiful overhead decoration and space is used for a hand shadowgraphy video depicting the amazing city. This gallery is known as the City of Surprises.
Next, a flight of stairs leads to the first floor. The stairs are lined with old cinema photos bringing back sweet old memories and are called the City of Memories.
The first room on the first floor houses a wooden boat with a pair of ores. The boat is fitted with a digital touch screen display depicting different stories of Kolkata and is known as the City of Stories. Vintage photos of the city are displayed on the wall and the overhead paperwork depicts the waves.
The next room displays a short documentary on the city and focuses on some of its well-known citizens, including Rabindranath Tagore, Amartya Sen, Satyan Bose and also includes Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay, the creator of India’s first test-tube baby. This gallery is known as the City of Influence.
Next is the City of Confluence focusing on the multi-cultural diversity of Kolkata. This is basically a photo gallery showing photos of Kolkata Chinese, Jews, Armenians, Anglo Indianas, and other communities.
The arches are also fitted with photos and an unplastered wall adds to the antique look of the gallery.
Next is the gallery of the City of Culture. This is the largest of the gallery and houses two large installations.
The first one is a semi-finished clay Durga idol and the second is a topor, a male headgear for the bridegroom in a Bengali Hindu wedding.
The first room in the City of Culture gallery houses several paintings drawn in patachitra style depicting the life of Kolkata.
They cover a wide range of topics from fish market to mishti and from coffee house to street food. The larger room focuses on topics like drama, poetry, art, theatre, and movie.
Apart from a big pictorial display, there are artifacts like typewriters, a writing desk, and even a bioscope machine. There are even small touch screen displays for each section.
Finally, the grand tour of Kolkata’s very own museum ends with a walk through the sound corridor. The sound corridor is an audiovisual display focusing on the sounds of Kolkata.
It includes the bel of tram and rickshaw the sound of boiling and pouring tea and every possible sound the city can witness.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!
Stay tuned and visit more such places with me through my blogs!
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