ITP+ Museums and Education: UK Facilitators Touch Down in Mumbai!
Written by Ronan Brindley (Manchester Art Gallery), Edward Lawless (British Museum) and Jan Pitman (Norfolk Museums Service).
Written Wednesday 27 March
Touched down in the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai today for the ITP+ course on Museums and education. The flight was straightforward: nine hours slipping by in a mixture of sleep, half sleep, a bit of chat and couple of meals.
Approaching the airport, you get a sense of the scale of Mumbai, high-rise buildings on the skyline and high-density living right up to the edge of the runway. The airport itself is bizarrely calm with large airy spaces. Visa control was politely delivered and straightforward and our bags were waiting for us. Someone had kindly lifted them off the carousel and grouped them together.
Exiting the terminal, a heavy heat seemed to press down on the shoulders on the way to our climate-controlled bus. Then followed an hour’s (can’t be sure as time was becoming a blur) eye-opening journey into the heart of Mumbai. The traffic flows and the system works but it seems to follow the single rule, if you see a space you fill it. Hesitate and you’ll cause a problem. All around you in Mumbai, the massive disparities of life seen to blend together with purpose.
We gathered, met the rest of the crew and after refreshing headed over to our collaborators and host, CSMVS.
A great curry followed with various discussions including the Tanzanian take on Brexit (wry amusement).
Ronan, Ed and Jan