India News | G20 Leaders Visited 'Culture Corridor', We Got Very Positive Reaction from Them: Culture Ministry Joint Secretary

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) The 'Culture Corridor' at the Bharat Mandapam to mark the G20 Summit embodies the spirit of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' and world leaders gave a "very positive reaction" to this one-of-its-kind project that brings together some rare artefacts from the entire membership of the grouping, a top official said on Tuesday.

The 'phygital' project -- having both physical and digital components -- has been set up in the wide hallway skirting the 'Summit Meeting Room' and the 'Leader's Lounge' at the newly built complex, but it is not open to the public yet.

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The 'Culture Corridor', which includes certified original copies of the US' Charters of Freedom, an original copy of the Magna Carta from the UK, a 'fahua'-lid jar from China, a centuries-old bronze statuette of Apollo from Italy and a digital image of Mona Lisa in an anamorphic form from France, is located on the same floor where the leaders' meetings took place. Leaders' walked through this corridor while moving into and out of the summit room.

The G20 Summit was held at the Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan from September 9-10.

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"We got some very positive feedback and some very positive reaction to the Culture Corridor. We had lot of leaders who visited the corridor. They were particulary impressed by the fact that we were able to put together this in a short span of time," Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Lily Pandeya, told PTI.

As part of the 'Culture Corridor -- G20 Digital Museum', an immersive zone was also created, and Pandeya said there were "a lot of visitors" to the immersive zone, and it was really appreciated.

"And, some of them were really excited. In fact the Australian premier said, 'that is where I live'...it has been very gratifying," she said.

World leaders, including US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron among others attended the summit held under India's presidency of the grouping with the theme -- 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - One Earth. One Family. One Future'.

"The 'Culture Corridor' embodies the spirit of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', and this is a place where we have attempted to celebrate the artistic expressions, and tangible, intangible and natural heritage of this entire membership of G20. We engage with all the countries and asked them top give their submissions," Pandeya said.

As part of this international project, conceptualised about six months ago, India had asked each G20 member and invited countries to make submissions under four categories -- one physical object of cultural significance, one "iconic cultural masterpiece" in digital format, high-resolution digital content depicting the intangible heritage, and natural heritage of each of the countries.

The physical objects have been loaned for the project for four months, and these will be returned later, she said.

As an exhibition themed on 'Mother of Democracy' was also hosted at the Bharat Mandapam to mark the summit, a fifth segment was added to the 'Culture Corridor' project, in which an "ancient artefact related to democratic practices", in physical or digital format, was also sought from countries.

There is a plan to to open the exhibition to the public, but the timeline for that and whether it will be ticketed or not, will only be known in due course of time, she said when asked if the 'Culture Corridor' will be opened to the public.

In the immersive zone, digital components, comprising intangible cultural heritage, natural heritage, iconic cultural masterpieces, and symbols of democracy submitted by the membership, have been displayed.

The exhibit also showcases a 12-foot digital cube which displays the iconic masterpieces through anamorphic content, including Mona Lisa, the 16th century masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci which is hung at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

'Girl With a Pearl Earring", the famed 17th century oil painting by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, which is kept at a museum in the Netherlands, has also been displayed in an anamorphic form.

G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union (EU).

The guest countries are -- Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the UAE.

"India has had its physical and digital submissions. As far as the physical is concerned, we have submitted 'Ashtadhyayi', which is the oldest treatise on grammar...Similarly, we have in symbols of democracy, we have displayed the Rig Veda.. (whose specific section) talks about 'sabhas' and 'samitis', and about how there should be consensual decision-making. So, that is a signifier of the fact that the democratic ethos of India is so old, and it has been such a continuous stream in India," Pandeya added.

The Grand Canyon in the US and the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands are among the submissions from other countries in the natural heritage category.

Traditional archery -- Turkiye; Jeju Haenyeo (women divers) -- Republic of Korea; and Bolshoi Ballet -- Russia are among the submissions from other countries in the intangible cultural heritage category.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)