Kishor Kumar Basa

Biography

(i) Teaching: I was teaching Archaeology in the Post-Graduate, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar from January, 1980 to June, 2004. (ii) Research: D. from the Institute of Archaeology (UCL) University of London (1991) on the theme 'Early Westerly Trade of Southeast Asian with special reference to Glass Beads'. Commonwealth Post Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge (1999-2000) on the theme 'Social Theory and Indian Archaeology'. Indo-French Cultural Exchange Programme, Paris (1997) on the theme 'Indian Writings on Early History and Archaeology of South East Asia'. Visiting Associate of U.G.C. (1994-1996) at the Deccan College, Pune on the topic 'Tribal Mortuary Practices of Orissa: An Ethno­-archaeological Study'. Three students have been awarded Ph.D. under my academic supervision and seven students have registered for Ph.D. I have participated in the Archaeological Survey work conducted by our Department in various parts of Orissa for about 18 years and have supervised M. Phil and M.A. students in their dissertation work.   Papers Presented at International Conferences: South Asian Archaeology Conference, 1988 at Paris. South Asian Archaeology Conference, 1989 at Paris. South Asian Archaeology Conference, 1990 at Brussels. Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 1990 at Yogyakarta, Indonesia. e. South Asian Archaeology Conference, 1991 at Berlin World Archaeology Congress, 1994 at Delhi. International Conference on Rethinking Orissa: History, Culture and Society, 1996 at Bhubaneswar. International Rock Art Congress, 2004, at Agra. (vi) Organization of Exhibition Workshop and Conference: (a) Played a key role in Organizing Mayur-1998, a workshop cum exhibition on 'Indigenous Cultures of Orissa' at Baripada (the headquarter of the tribal dominated district of Mayurbhanj) in collabor~tion with Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal. (b) Helped in the organizing of a Demonstration-cum-workshop 00 Dance traditions of Orissa at SCS College, Puri and a Workshop on Linguistic variations in Orissa at Banki College, Banki (Orissa) during 2000-2001 as part of the Campus Diversity Initiative Project of the Ford Foundation. (c) Acted as a liaison person and organizer from the Utkal University side to organise an Inter State Exhibition on 'Krishna: The God of the People' by the Indian Museum, Kolkata in Sept., 2001. (d) During my Headship in the Department of Anthropology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar (2001-2003), two conferences were organized by the Department (i) The first was an International Conference on Mahima Dharma held in February, 2002 and the Second was on Tribal Health and Nutrition held in March, 2003. (e) Three National seminars were organized at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal during 2004-05, titled 'Indian Diaspora and Museum', 'Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India' and 'Megalithic Traditions in Ethnography and Archaeology in India'. (vii) Exposure to Museums: (a)          I had been associated with the Collection and Documentation of Archaeological Specimen, for the archaeological section of the Museum of the Department of Anthropology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar since 1980. (b)      I was the Head of the Archaeological Section of the Museum of the Deptt. of Anthropology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar from 1998 to 2004. . (c)       During my research, I had worked on Glass bead collection in various Museums of the World such as British Museum, Cambridge University Museum, National Museum of Thailand at Bangkok, national Museum of Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur, Indian Museum, Kolkata, Pondicherry museum, Deccan College Museum, Pune, Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi, State Museum at Behela, Kolkata. Moreover, I had visited and interacted with the personnel of various museums in Paris, Berlin, Rome, Florence, Dhaka and Jakarta in relation to documentation, display and research. I had edited a monograph on 'Understanding Heritage: Role of Museums'. . I delivered an invited lecture in the Anthropological and Behavioral Sciences Section of the Indian Science Congress at Hyderabad in Jan., 2006 on the theme 'Museums in the Changing World'.   (viii) Major activities of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya during my tenure as Director (June 2004-June, 2006): The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal is the biggest Anthropological museum in India and one of the biggest in Asia. Open air exhibitions are an integral part of this museum which includes Tribal Habitat, Coastal Village, Desert Village, Mythological Trail, Sacred Groves, implying a linkage between ecological diversity and cultural heritage of India. We are one of the few museums in the world which has rock shelters with prehistoric paintings within our campus. Besides, we have an indoor museum (Veeth; Sankul) with six galleries exhibiting various folk and tribal cultures of India. We conduct activities throughout the country by documenting various aspects of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, sending travelling exhibitions, organizing workshops and seminars with the participation of different communities. Thus, the idea is to bring the museum closer to community by emphasizing that it is people who are the real curators of our cultural heritage and the role of a museum is to act as a facilitator in such process. Assuming the cultural diversity of India as a point of strength, attempt is being made to use culture as an input in development as well as a means of fostering national integration. Keeping these objectives in view, several initiatives have been taken during my Directorship, some of which are mentioned below: (ix) Inauguration of the Indoor Museum Building During my tenure, the Indoor Museum building (Veethi Sankul) of about 10000 sq. mt. was opened to the public on 22nd March, 2005 with six galleries on the themes of Human Evolution and variation, Human Odyssey etc.. emphasizing various aspects of folk and tribal culture such as settlement, subsistence, arts, crafts, rituals and festivals etc. (x) Travelling Exhibitions  Two travelling exhibitions were prepared during my tenure so far - Rock Art of India and Anugunj (an exhibition on myths of origin of communities). Besides these two, another exhibition Sacred Groves of India has been travelling in various parts of the country emphasizing the traditional modes of conservation of bio-diversity. (xi) Documentation Photographic and Videographic documentations have been made with regard to festivals and various arts and crafts in different parts of India, for example, Dhanu Yatra of Orissa, tribal music from Chhattisgarh, Mahamastakabhisheka of Lord Bahubali at Sharavanbelgola (Karnataka) etc. (xii) Balrang (First National Festival of School Children) For the first time by any museum in India, a National Festival of School Children was organized by our Museum on 12th-13th Jan., 2006 museum in collaboration with Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, where one school each from 14 states participated in folk dance competition. About 5000 children were present during this programme and about 15,000 visitors visited the museum in those two days. Moreover, about 20 local schools of Bhopal displayed exhibitions emphasizing various regional cultures of India. During this mega event, exhibition by the Traffic Police, adolescent education programme as well as programme by the physically challenged children have been organized organized in collaboration with Govt. of M.P. Moreover, a stamp on Pongal was released by the Chief Post Master General, M.P. Circle, Bhopal. (xii) Introduction of an Annual Journal The first volume of Annual Journal Humankind was started from the year 2005, with papers on museology, anthropology and archaeology. (xiii) Training programme Training programme has been started from 2005 onwards as an annual event to train museum personnel from various parts of the country on Museum and Heritage Management, in collaboration with National Museum, New Delhi. (xiv) Annual IGRMS Lecture An Annual lGRMS Lecture has been initiated since 2005. The first such lecture was delivered by Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan on the topic "Comprehending India on and through its own terms". (xv) National Seminar and workshop For the first time by any museum in India, a National Workshop was organized on Indian Diaspora and Museum. Besides, two other National Seminars were organized i.e. Specialized Museums in India, Megalithic Traditions in Ethnography and Archaeology of India. Moreover, seminars have been organized to document the Intangible Cultural Heritage of India of various states such as Manipur, Assam, Karnataka keeping in view the emphasis put by UNESCO and Govt. of India in this regard. (xvi) International Rock Art Congress: The IGRMS was one of the collaborators in organizing t~e International Rock Art Congress in Agra in November, 2004. (xvii) Publications A new series on Intangible Cultural Heritage of India has been initiated, myself being the General Editor. Two volumes in this series have already been published (1) B.K. Tripathy- Tribal Myths and Legends of Orissa; (2) K.K. Misra-­Indigenous Knowledge, Natural Resource Management and Development: the Konda Reddy Experience. Besides four other books on different themes have been published during my tenure. A new publication policy has been introduced whereby books are jointly published by IGRMS and renowned publishers the latter being in charge of marketing. (xviii) Museum Research Project: A Research project on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the villages around the World Heritage Site of Bhimbetka has been continuing. (xix) Forum of Museums of Bhopal With our initiative, a Forum of Museums of Bhopal has been formed for interaction and collaborative programmes among the museums based in Bhopal. The International Museums Day (18th May) was celebrated jointly with activities in various museums spanning for three days.   (xx) Special efforts were made for the visit of physically challenged children, orphan children from SOS Village, slum children of Bhopal and tribal children from remote areas adjoining to Bhimbetka. (xxi) Heritage Window In order to create awareness among school children on cultural diversity and national integration, Heritage windows have been opened in a few schools in Bhopal and Bhimbetka area. (xxii) Logo of IGRMS: A dynamic prehistoric anthropomorphic figure from one of the rock shelters in our museum premises has been adopted as the logo of our museum since October, 2004.

Research Interest

Archaeological Theory and Historiography   Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology,