Ngaire Blankenberg

'Museum Doctor': Cultural Consultant, Content Designer, Writer

  • Home

  • Projects

  • Teaching/Speaking

  • Publications

  • TV/Documentary

  • Blog

  • About

  • Gallery

  • Contact

  • More

    0

    Soft Power of India

    January 10, 2019

    Despite a liberal sprinkling of sexism, Hindu nationalism and nostalgic essentialism, the Conference on Soft Power in December in New Delhi was inspiring and thought-provoking.  

    The last speaker, Oscar Pujol Riembau- a linguist directing the Cervantes Institute in Morocco whilst finalizing the first Sanskrit-Catalan dictionary- began speaking by celebrating oxymorons:  'bittersweet', 'clearly confused', 'original copy' and yes, 'soft power'. It was an apt observation of a term that the speakers in this conference were by no means aligned on.

     

    Some, like the highly respected Sadhguru, rejected the possibility of a country attaching itself to something like 'consciousness' - a concept he felt cannot be instrumentalized for national political influence: " You can be a lighthouse attracting people, but you can't direct every ship".  Others, like Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, asserted the impossibility of soft power without the hard power of money or an army. After his talk, I did note that perhaps the UN could consider soft power a bit more seriously as a way to salvage the reputation of multi-lateralism, collaboration and dialogue in an increasingly hostile and polarized world. 

     

    Most however spoke enthusiatically about the possibilities of increasing India's influence in the world ("soft power = mind space" Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President, ICCR, India). Aryuveda, cuisine ("Indian food is a representation of Indian pluralism" remarked Master Chef India judge Vikas Khanna), Bollywood and cinema, textiles, yoga, literature, quantum physics and the science of consciousness and more- were all discussed as tools of Indian soft power.

     

    I spoke about the soft power of museums (you can watch it on this link),  alongside two remarkable women- Deepika Ahlawat- a London-based museum curator, art consultant and writer; and Nalina Gopal, Curator at the wonderful India Heritage Center, Singapore that I had been able to visit the year before.

     

     

    I kicked off the session pointing out how cities and civil society worldwide are working with museums in order to activate their mutual soft power- in markedly different ways than national governments.

     

     

     

    Soft power is premised on trust, and I identified  the 4 'e's'- often over-looked features of museums in India and elsewhere that build trust and subsequently, a new kind of soft power:

    • Entrance: making sure there are no visible and invisible barriers to entry- including price!,

    • Experience: exhibition design as a tool to trigger imagination, demonstrate relevance and catalyze learning,

    • Empowerment- through fair employment, opportunities for diverse staff and representing multiple points of view 

    • Exchange- amongst and between staff, visitors, other professionals and other disciplines.  

    Deepika did not spare any punches -(watch her talk here). She condemned the past and ongoing colonialist framing of India ('cultural terrorism') that continues to privilege the white Western supremacist perspective on Indian stories- even in exhibitions that do not involve the West at all- e.g. between India and China. She pointed out however that this situation is further exacerbated by an Indian legal framework that, despite its good intentions to protect Indian cultural heritage, effectively makes it almost impossible for other countries to borrow art and artifacts for their exhibits from India- perpetuating, ironically the situation of India being presented 'abroad' only through problematic colonial collections.  Nalina Gopal talked engagingly about how her museum tells the stories of the Indian diapora in Singapore.

     

    Jonathan McClory, the creator of The Soft Power 30 index that assesses countries' soft power,  spoke, somewhat apologetically, about India's relatively low score. Global perception of pollution, violence against women, poverty and corruption all contribute to India's score of 41 out of 60 countries. However, he pointed out that Indian culture and digital presence (PM Narendra Modi has one of the most followed twitter accounts in the world) are boosting Indian soft power.

     

    McClory admits, what was also pointed out by one of the attendees- the Western bias in the index. The top 20 are all Western countries with the exception of Japan and South Korea. It's hard to say how much this has to bear on India's score. In any case, the index is but one measure. Kieran Drake, from the British High Commission in India spoke about the Britain is Great campaign- but to an Indian audience fed up of British imperialist cultural attitudes, and against the backdrop of the slow moving public train crash of  Brexit - there was a whif of palpable disinterest if not resentment amongst the audience- despite Britain scoring number 1 in the Soft Power 30. 

     

    I went into the conference a bit skeptical. An Indian colleague had warned me that the organizers and many of the speakers were regarded as following the 'right- wing' populist agenda of the current government- something I am firmly against. And indeed, Indian and Hindu seemed to be used synonymously- with few talks on Islam, Jainism, Sikhism etc. Nevertheless, I found the speakers and participants to be extremely thoughtful, critical, and insightful. Everyone I had the privilege to listen to shifted my perspective a little- a testament to the soft power people right there in the room. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Please reload

    Our Recent Posts

    The 50 year old Entrepreneur: Money and Mentors

    October 2, 2019

    The 50-year old entrepreneur. Part 2.

    September 10, 2019

    The 50-year old entrepreneur. Part 1.

    September 10, 2019

    Please reload

    Archive

    October 2019

    September 2019

    August 2019

    March 2019

    January 2019

    November 2018

    June 2018

    May 2018

    March 2018

    February 2018

    Please reload

    Tags

    Agriculture

    Art

    Commercial

    Concept development

    Creativity

    Curating

    Designer

    Diversity

    ECSITE

    Ethnographic Collection

    Exhibition

    Facilitator

    Feedback

    Global

    Green Revolution

    ICOM

    Jargon

    NGO

    Philippines

    Private sector

    Text

    Trust

    UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

    Visioning

    Workshop

    angel investor

    app

    art

    audiences

    canadian museum of history

    canadian museums

    collections

    contemporary art

    cultural genocide

    culture

    curator

    decolonization

    digital museum planning

    diversity

    dusseldorf

    edtech

    empowerment

    entrepreneur

    entrepreneurship

    eurocentric

    europe

    funding

    future

    germany

    income

    interdisciplinary

    inuit art centre

    kunstammlung nordrhein westfalen

    learning

    mentors

    mind museum

    modernism

    money

    museum definition

    museum education

    museum global

    museum learning

    museum ludwig

    museums

    museums art germany diversity empowerment zaknrw k

    national gallery of canada

    privilege

    professionalism

    quantum revolution

    race

    reconciliation

    science centers

    science communication

    science engagement

    scientific lexicon

    seed funding

    shuvinai ashoona

    singapore science centre

    social enterprise

    softpower

    startup

    the Power Plant

    traditional knowledge keepers

    transformation

    truth

    truth and reconciliation commission of canada

    venture capital

    visitor centre

    whiteness

    zaknrw

    Please reload

     

    Contact

    ngaire.blankenberg@gmail.com

    +34 655 670 835

    skype: ngaire.jane.blankenberg

    ©2018 by Ngaire Blankenberg. Proudly created with Wix.com