Many a times my adopted mother tongue intrigues and fascinates me. The power of its words and its multiple interepretations never ceases to surprise. DISRUPTION and BEYOND are two such words or concepts if i may say so. These two words are potent and have been holding sway over the entire nation since  the onset of new year. They  have been egging me to respond to them personally and professionally. In fact they are getting me to  reblog ( if there exists such a term…)

When todays young  and brazen hotheads nurtured in plenty  awaken you about your ticking age or another one fashionaly questions  your biz acumen and your brand visibility on a certain platform…should such provocations disrupt you or should one look beyond?

When the judiciary erupts disrupting legalscapes and when the legal eagles battle it out day in and day out on all sorts of media – social/digital/print;  nukkads, drawing rooms, college canteens, boardrooms, cardrooms, kitty parties and where not…do we overlook and look beyond or do we draw lessons and push for reforms?

When your own gene clone sweetly disrupts and inspires you to push your boundaries further or when the city bursts with cultural extravaganzas – music soirees doling out  ragas after ragas 6 hours x 13 days, when simultaneous visual and performing arts platforms fight it out for public attention, patronage, footfalls and eyeballs,  and then a leading  academic institution gives a clarion  call to the media moghuls, practioners, professionals and academicians, to slug it out verbally  DISRUPTION & BEYOND  in Media and Entertainment… and all this in less than three weeks into the new year  one cant help but feel disrupted in this cacaphonic city…, well, I for one am quite enjoying this ride and choosing not to look beyond.

With a little bit of prodding and persuasion  by a dear friend Darshan,  I made my debut at presenting an academic paper at the just concluded  international conclave at MICA, rightly riding on the potent concepts of DISRUPTION  and BEYOND  in Media & Entertainment. Over 200 delegates from across the world verbally wrestled it out at multiple seminar halls on how the world of media and entertainment was responding to these two concepts. While the content specialistists shared their  take, the broadcasters spoke about their challenges, the researchers their inputs, the academicians their insights,  the activists their viewpoints and the students soaking in and assimilating all. I chose to share my learnings in my domain,  “Museums in India – a  paradigm shift” for curating and developing high tech enabled museums is our calling. With over 6 museums developed  and another 5 in the making it seemed to be the appropriate topic to unleash my thoughts.

While the post renaissance period saw museums being developed across Europe, India responded almost immediatly with  its first museum coming up in Calcutta in the early 18th century. Our land’s  antiquity and its tremendous history combined by its rich legacy made our museums content rich. Within a short span of time over 20 museums erupted across the country eugolising its past dynasties, present riches and legacies. Post independence this trend continued and the country saw over 400+ plus museums mushrooming across. While this being the most promising way of celebrating culture, heritage, legacies and legends the disdain of our people in embracing these spaces disrupted many. While curators across the country are working to ensure footfalls, we at Vama are pooling in our media expertise and tech prowess in making museums content-rich, engaging and entertaining.

Most purists look at museums as spaces for showcasing artifacts,  we are disrupting this mindset and enabling museums to look beyond, to become narratives of change.  Challenges we face are many but then who said paths untreaded are easy… convincing clients, data gathering, content validation, curating and integrating art  with technology, enabling seamless  narratives, meeting deadlines…the list is endless, and yet we as a team are rejuvenated to trailblaze this domain with every new project.

As I presented and shared our insights, interacted and answered questions with an illustrious bunch of academicians and practioners I realised that Yes, our path though uncharted, our vision is clear,  our mission is ensuring more and more eyeballs at spaces we curate. It wont be long before museums become chosen hotspots for entertainment and enrichment.

And this is  the DISRUPTION that we are enabling in our domain.

Chao from a happy disruptor :)!

Vandana Raj