Robert Bruce Aubrey at the ceremony to donate Konyak artefacts to the state museum authorities. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

March 4: The city’s cultural treasure trove — the Assam State Museum — will have a special gallery on the art and culture of the Northeast.

“This gallery will serve as a one-stop destination for historians and anthropologists who desire to enrich their knowledge on the heritage of the region,” said U.C. Bora, joint secretary, department of culture, Assam.

He said, “The state government is taking a keen interest in the development of the museum. We have collected over 526 artefacts from all over the region in the past six months.”

The museum authorities are now cataloguing and documenting all the collected items. “Tags, relating the historical background of the objects, will be kept by the side of the objects, which will specify the significance and cultural importance of the object,” said Bora.

Recently, a British national, Robert Bruce Aubry, donated 40 tribal objects d’art belonging to the Konyak tribe to the museum. Accepting these artefact, Bora said, “It is just the beginning. We hope to have more such exchanges of thoughts and ideas in near future.”

Aubry donated the artefact worth Rs 2 lakh through the Bokakhat Educational and Cultural Centre. He is the president of the Aubry Trust of Medway, UK and Assam, which financially supports the centre at Bokakhat.

The artefact which he had donated included wooden male and female figures, log drum, bracelet, basket, bamboo opium pipe, waistband, necklace, neck band, pendant and male and female figures made of bronze.

The Assam State Museum was set up in 1940 by a group of workers of the Kamrup Anusandhan Samiti or the Assam Research Society.

Set up in 1920, the Kamrup Anusandhan Samiti is the only institute to undertake researches in the history and culture of this part of the country, particularly Assam.

Lauding the efforts of Aubry in collecting and donating the objects to the museum authorities, Nishipada Deb Choudhury, secretary of the Samiti said, “It is a valuable addition to our existing collection. It would also help our research scholars in their work.”

The museum at present has different sections, like epigraphy, sculpture, geology, art and craft, Gandhi corner, old costumes, musical instruments, literature section, painting and sculpture section, arms and accoutrement section.

“All these sections by and large represent the rich cultural heritage of Assam. We try to give a fairly comprehensive idea about the history, culture and the natural resources of the state to the visitors,” said R.C. Das, director of the museum.