Tomorrow, a small group of key voices, all invested stakeholders of the city’s heritage, will come together at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) for a common cause. At a day-long symposium called `The City as Archive,` they will discuss, deliberate, and offer direction for an exciting new mega project: the Digital Library, which will make Mumbai’s built heritage accessible to all.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director general, CSMVS, who conceptualised the idea, reveals more, “Mumbai is a space that evolves. This evolution is even more rapid in a megacity or a so-called ‘Maximum City,’ which draws people from across the country to live, work, and do business. As the city grows and transforms, its landscape, architecture, lifestyle, and patterns of movement constantly shift. These ongoing changes need to be documented for posterity. At the same time, memories of the past — both personal and collective — also deserve to be preserved. Our tangible and intangible heritage is a shared treasure. In the digital age, technology provides powerful tools to record, store, and share this heritage with students, researchers, and the wider public.”
The library archive will document built form, from landmarks to dwellings, with a particular focus on its architectural gems and significant structures that stand at risk of being lost. Putting together this one-halt platform is a Herculean task. Professor Mustansir Dalvi, who has been at the helm of affairs, agrees. “The immediate challenge was to connect the content of the library with the city itself. Mumbai exists outside our screens, as do its sites and built heritage. The City, as our symposium is titled, is an archive. We will achieve this by recording the buildings we feature in the catalogues as they stand in Mumbai, as well as the assets and resources related to those sites. The visitor to this library will therefore get access to the holistic appreciation of the buildings they are interested in, as living entities as well as through its historical resources and precedents.”
High on Mukherjee’s priority is the awareness that today’s global museums are increasingly seen not just as display spaces, but as archives — “They are repositories that record human endeavours, both good and bad, without judgment. We also feel a responsibility to give back to our beloved city, Mumbai, as we have lived and grown here for over a century. Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city with a rich, diverse history, reflecting its multicultural heritage. People of India, as well as the world, can learn a lot from it,” he reminds us. The library will offer two sets of metadata – for the buildings, and for its related assets. Both will be linked and available through simple keyword searches, a map of Mumbai’s wards, and filters on the homepage. From time to time, curated projects will be added to the library site. The project begins with a pilot of ‘100 Buildings that Make Mumbai.’
The initiative is a collaborative effort. Mukherjee and the core team, including Cyrus Guzder, chairman, CSMVS, have already reached out to numerous like-minded institutions in Mumbai, and also individuals who have been tirelessly documenting the city. “We have invited them to contribute their collections in digital form to build this archive.”
Dalvi reveals that this digital library will intrigue and benefit not just the academically-inclined but also the hard-core city buff, “The Library is open for all – from the diehard researcher, to the diehard Mumbaikar. Its contents will be made available in an accessible form with ease of operation, minus any great bibliographical expertise. Because of the intrinsic relationship of the buildings as they are today with the various multi-layered and multi-storied resources related to those buildings, the cityphile should experience both enlightenment and delight.” Mukherjee signs off on a positive note, “A project of this scale and vision cannot be finite. We hope to make it live by 2026, and it will grow in phases gradually with the help of our partners.”
Yes, You can, Too!
Mumbaikars can also pitch in for this archive. If anyone from civil society would like to contribute, they can reach us and express interest by sending an email to csmvsmumbai@gmail.com.
– Sabyasachi Mukherjee
A glimpse
A few examples of the site metadata as they are likely to appear in the Digital Library. Sites will be accessible via its presence as an object, and related resources including maps, reports, books, photos, picture postcards, etchings paintings, oral histories, glass slides, videos, and other artefacts
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (right) The original line drawing of the then Prince of Wales Museum by Architect George Wittet in 1910. ALL IMAGES COURTESY/CSMVS
Black and white image of the Town Hall on Mint Street (right) The Taj Mahal Hotel photographed by EO Hoppe
