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{{Short description|Museum in West Begal, India}}
{{orphan|date=July 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox museum
| name = Museum of Santal Culture <br/>ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱞ ᱟᱹᱨᱤᱪᱟᱹᱞᱤ ᱫᱚᱦᱚ ᱡᱚᱜᱟᱣ ᱵᱟᱠᱷᱚᱞ
| established = {{Start date and age|2007}}
| location = Bishnubati, [[Birbhum]], [[West Bengal]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|23.703|N|87.648|E|display=title,inline}}
| type = [[Community museum]]
| collection_size = 150
| founder = Boro Baski
| curator = Bimal Baski
| owner = Bishnubati Adibasi Marshal Sangha (BAMS)
}}

The '''Museum of Santal Culture''' ({{langx|sat|ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱞ ᱟᱹᱨᱤᱪᱟᱹᱞᱤ ᱫᱚᱦᱚ ᱡᱚᱜᱟᱣ ᱵᱟᱠᱷᱚᱞ}}) is a private [[community museum]] located in the village of Bishnubati, [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dorfentwicklung Indien: Santal Museum |url=https://www.dorfentwicklung-indien.de/en/santal-culture/santal-museum/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=www.dorfentwicklung-indien.de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Visiting the Museum of Santal Culture, West Bengal |url=https://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=19063 |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=indiantribalheritage.org}}</ref> The community-led museum documents the history of the [[Santal people|Santal community]] largely prevalent in the region, which includes their past, their memories, and traditional ways of being. The museum was co-founded by educator Dr. Boro Baski<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-02-22 |title=Meet Boro Baski: The Educator Who Set Up a School for Indigenous Children in West Bengal |url=https://www.thenewleam.com/2020/02/meet-boro-baski-the-educator-who-set-up-a-school-for-indigenous-children-in-west-bengal/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=The New Leam |language=en-US}}</ref> alongside other members of the village of Bishnubati, a Santali village of "less than 700 hundred people" in the [[Birbhum district]] of West Bengal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-04-10 |title=In West Bengal's Birbhum, a unique community museum that archives Santal history and culture |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengals-birbhum-unique-community-museum-archives-santal-history-culture-7862489/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

== Background ==
Founded in 2007 with help from the [[Indian Museum]], the Museum of Santal Culture is a museum that is completely run by the members of the Santal community for its people. According to one of the co-founders of the museum, Dr. Boro Baski, "the Santali name of the museum is ''Santal Arichalidoho-jogao Bakhol'', which translates as ''the house for taking care of Santal culture and heritage''."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Baski |first=Boro |date=2021-02-19 |title=The Museum of Santal Culture in Bishnubati |url=https://articulate.org.in/the-museum-of-santal-culture-in-bishnubati/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=Articulate |language=en-US}}</ref> The architecture of the one-level house is similar to a traditional Santali residence with traditional [[mural]]s on the walls. It is dedicated solely to exhibit the diverse materials which depict the Santali past. Most of the collections were donated by the local residents, some rare items bought, and others sourced from other Santali regions in the [[Bankura district]] and parts of [[Santhal Pargana division|Santal Pargana]] in [[Jharkhand]].<ref name=":0" />
[[File:The Museum of Santal Culture, Bishnubati - Sneharshi Dasgupta.JPG|thumb|The Museum of Santal Culture in Bishnubati, West Bengal]]
Other museums which document the Santali history, heritage, and culture include, the Jhargram Tribal Museum in [[Jhargram]], Bidisa Anthropology Museum in [[Paschim Medinipur district|Western Medinipur]], the Museum of [[Sidho Kanho Birsha University]] in [[Purulia]] and Johar Human Resources Development Centre in [[Jharkhand]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Baski |first=Boro |date=2016-07-12 |title=Lost in translation {{!}} D+C - Development + Cooperation |url=https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/missionaries-have-contributed-disrupting-adivasi-traditions-helped-save-heritage-well |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=www.dandc.eu |language=en}}</ref> The Museum of Santal Culture differs from these museums in its approach towards the process of preserving and presenting the Santali worldview. The museum was a result of the contributions of various individuals and families of the Bishnubati village, but it was also born out of an organic need to voice the Santali past for the younger generation to know who they are and where they come from.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Dasgupta |first=Sneharshi |date=2022 |title=Preserving the Santali Self: History, Memory, and Culture |url=https://www.travellersuniversity.org/post/preserving-the-santali-self-history-memory-and-culture |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=www.travellersuniversity.org}}</ref> Initially, many members of the community were sceptical about the initiative and questioned the need to highlight their culture. However, the museum is now completely run on the generosity of the local individuals of the community. Raising awareness regarding the museum was a task that took some time and effort.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Baski |first=Boro |date=2016-07-10 |title=Saving our heritage {{!}} D+C - Development + Cooperation |url=https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/protection-adivasi-culture-and-traditions-helps-members-indias-tribal-communities-cope |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=www.dandc.eu |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

=== Historical and socio-cultural context ===
[[File:Curator Bimal Baski at the Museum of Santal Culture, Bishnubati.jpg|thumb|Curator Mr Bimal Baski]]
[[File:The second storey of the Museum of Santal Culture, Bishnubati.jpg|thumb|Inside the museum (second-storey)]]
[[File:The inside roof architecture of the Museum of Santal Culture, Bishnubati.jpg|thumb|The traditional roof inside the museum]]
Alongside the Rolf Schoembs Vidyashram (RSV), a school run by individuals of the Santali community for their children in the neighbouring Ghoshaldanga village under the initiative of the Ghosaldanga Adibasi Seva Sangha (GASS),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ghosaldanga Adibasi Seva Sangha – Did it make a difference? (Lecture) {{!}} Martin Kämpchen |url=http://www.martin-kaempchen.de/?page_id=246 |access-date=2023-06-27 |language=en}}</ref> the museum acts as a space for the students of the school and their parents to learn about their cultural legacy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marandi |first=Rosemary |title=The Indian school where Indigenous children are 'never outsiders' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/2/10/the-indian-school-where-indigenous-children-are-never-outsiders |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dasgupta |first=Sneharshi |date=2022-12-12 |title=The Ghosaldanga Model of Indigenous Development |url=https://www.travellersuniversity.org/post/the-ghosaldanga-model-of-indigenous-development |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=TravellersUniversity |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-30 |title=In their own language: a school in West Bengal's Birbhum for Santal children |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/in-their-own-language-a-school-in-west-bengals-birbhum-for-santal-children-7843955/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> According to Baski, historically, there has been no history written by the Santalis for themselves and most of the memories of the past are passed orally because there has been no written script of the Santali language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baski |first=Boro |date=2021-05-04 |title=The pros and cons of the Ol-chiki script {{!}} D+C - Development + Cooperation |url=https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/why-special-alphabet-minoritys-language-controversial-india |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=www.dandc.eu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Baski |first=Boro |date=2021-05-04 |title=An Indian Adivasi community is divided by scripts {{!}} D+C - Development + Cooperation |url=https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/santal-development-hindered-too-many-options-write-santali |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=www.dandc.eu |language=en}}</ref> Therefore, he asserts that the "written history of tribal people tends to be the work of the dominant groups in society."<ref name=":4" /> Very little awareness about the Santals exists amongst the diverse other communities which live in the larger Birbhum district.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Furthermore, the Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century did not appreciate the Santali culture and traditions and ever since there have been negative conceptions about the Santals and their past, even within the community itself.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />

== Collections ==
The museum houses 150 materials pertaining to the Santal culture presented in six distinct categories{{Dash}}hunting materials, musical instruments, dresses and ornaments, household materials, old photographs of Santals, and Santal sculptures made of stone.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Boro Baski |url=http://archive.org/details/Catalogue-Museum-of-Santal-Culture-Bishnubati |title=Museum of Santal Culture: A Catalogue on Santal Cultural Items |date=2017-11-20}}</ref> Some of the rare materials include a ''banam'' (a [[lute]]), one of the ancient musical instruments of the Santals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=eBook {{!}} Free catalogue: Banam: One of the ancient musical instruments of the Santals – West Bengal – Tribal Cultural Heritage in India |url=https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=30075 |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=indiantribalheritage.org}}</ref>
[[File:Sculptures exhibited at the Museum of Santal Culture, Bishnubati.jpg|thumb|Sculptures exhibited at the Museum of Santal Culture]]

== See also ==
* [[Santal people]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
<references group="" responsive="1"></references>

== Further reading ==

# Hembrom, Ruby. (n.d.). "Bodding and the Santal people: entwined in timelessness." Published: Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. Accessed [https://www.khm.uio.no/english/collections/santal/about/documents/bodding-and-the-santal-people-entwined-in-timelessness.pdf here].
# Hembrom, Ruby. (n.d.). "My Life. My telling. In my voice." Accessed [https://www.khm.uio.no/english/collections/santal/about/documents/ruby-hembrom-my-life-my-telling.pdf here].
# Kämpchen, Martin. (2006). "Santals reach out to the World." ''India International Centre Quarterly'', ''32''(4), 100–109. {{JSTOR|23005898}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Museum of Santal Culture}}
* [https://advaya.co/people/boro-baski Dr Boro Baski]
* [https://www.midnapore.in/museum/bidisa_museum1.html Bidisa Anthropology Museum, Paschim Medinipur]
* [https://dumka.jcsaweb.org/social-apostolate/johar/ Johar Human Resources Development Centre, Dumka, Jharkhand]

[[Category:Museums in West Bengal]]
[[Category:2007 establishments in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Museums established in 2007]]
[[Category:Santhal]]

Museum of Santal Culture - Revision history

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