Colombo National Museum launches dynamic people-centric activities

Colombo National Museum's gardens now in demand for wedding photography (Pic courtesy Studio Cloudy)

A yoga session in progress in the compounds A painting workshop for children 

• Activities are curated to be culturally-relevant and in tune with the five-year business plan
• In addition to tourism-promotion products, the museum gardens are now available for numerous photography opportunities

By Randima Attygalle

In line with the five-year (2023-2027) business plan for the Department of National Museums, the Colombo National Museum now offers its visitors and the public, a range of services and activities. Among them are tourism-promotion products, collaborations with internationally reputed travel bloggers, garden-rentals for wedding photography, guided tours on culturally and historically significant themes, auditorium facilities and youth-group activities.

While enabling the public to interact closely with the museum and enjoy many facilities in a prime Colombo location at a very reasonable cost, these thoughtfully designed activities help generate an income for the Department of National Museums. “Although museums are positioned as non-profitable educational institutes, that doesn’t restrict them from generating an income and thereby ease the state expenditure,” says the Department of National Museums Director General Sanuja Kasthuriarachchi. These newly launched services help the Department cover 35-40% of recurrent expenditure including staff salaries and utility bills, she says.

The entry ticket to all museums across the country coming under the Department of National Museums, including the Colombo National Museum, is priced at a very nominal fee as a means of encouraging a greater footfall. To attract ‘non-museum goers’ to the premises, several innovative programs are now in place including youth group activities, tours for children with special needs and guided tours. The well-equipped auditoriums of the Colombo and Polonnaruwa Museums are available for conferences, book launches are other events. “Once the Museum Arcade of the Colombo Museum is fully refurbished, we hope to promote it as a centre for arts, crafts and other cultural activities,” says Kasthuriarachchi who goes on to note that all current activities and proposed ones are aligned with the promotion of Lankan culture. In tune with this, several tourism-promotional activities such as collaborations with internationally-reputed travel bloggers are also in place.

The lush gardens of the Colombo Museum are now much sought-after for numerous photography opportunities. The scenic grounds accentuated by the colonial grandeur of the imposing museum buildings offer an ideal setting for wedding photography and other festive occasions including birthday and anniversary photo-shoots. The Dutch Museum in Fort with its signature courtyard, is also to follow suit shortly. 

Colombo National Museum is also open to school leavers and university undergraduates for internship opportunities. This opportunity helps them gain hands-on experience about museum exhibitions, collection management and artefacts conservation. Urging more people to join hands with the country’s museum network, National Museum Departments’ DG avers: “all the timely and forward-thinking initiatives we have launched are sustainable only if museums become people-centric. We invite all kinds of collaborators including artists, musicians, scholars and researchers to rally around our museums and make them more engaging and proactive learning centres.”