I wish to tell everyone to come together to create something special.... Whatever help you need from the government, there will be full cooperation for this modern art museum Mamata Banerjee chief patron of KMOMA

“Today is Children’s Day. We salute all children today. KMOMA is a child now. Its foundation is being laid today.... I hope this will be one of the best art museums in the world. The government will extend full support to it...”

Mamata Banerjee extended a firm helping hand to the Kolkata Museum of Modern Art as it took its first baby steps on Thursday afternoon at a star-studded ceremony in its Rajarhat address.

“This will be another cultural feather in Calcutta’s cap. I can assure you that whatever help you need from the government, there will be full cooperation for this modern art museum,” said the chief patron of KMOMA.

Then, the artist in her took over. “Art is where your brush (tuli) expresses your thoughts. The tuli itself will speak. I wish to tell everyone to come together to create something special and please treat KMOMA as your home,” said Mamata, before laying the foundation stone on a 10-acre plot gifted by the state government.

The multi-disciplinary project to celebrate “art sensibility” is a tripartite venture involving the state government, the Centre and the private sector. It is designed by Herzog & de Meuron of Basel, Switzerland, who created the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing, and who Mamata in her speech referred to “the best architects in the world”.

KMOMA will be sprawled over 550,000sq ft with 44 galleries, research facilities, an amphitheatre, an auditorium and much more (see chart).

(From left) Stephen Cox, Firhad Hakim, BM Khaitan, Jogen Chowdhury, Mamata Banerjee, Rakhi Sarkar and Sharmila Tagore at thefoundation-laying ceremony of the Kolkata Museum of Modern Art (KMOMA) on Thursday. Picture by Amit Datta

“Such a project can only happen through the active and sustained partnership of the people and the government. A handful of artists and architects cannot achieve a dream like this. Therefore KMOMA can be realised through your participation, involvement, synergy and passion,” urged Rakhi Sarkar, the managing trustee of KMOMA.

Also on the dais on Thursday were Sharmila Tagore, patron, KMOMA, B.M. Khaitan, chairman, KMOMA, Jogen Chowdhury, trustee, KMOMA, British sculptor Stephen Cox, who lives in Mahabalipuram, and Firhad Hakim, the minister for urban development and municipal affairs.

Mamata — ever her exuberant self — urged Rakhi Sarkar to immediately start work on the building. “Once people get to know something is happening here, then you’ll see more people will come forward to help the project. So many people from all over the country, the world, will give us full cooperation,” she said.

Just before Mamata took the mic, the great grandniece of Abanindranth Tagore had set the tone. Sharmila Tagore described the ceremony as a “wonderful, auspicious moment” marking the birth of a centre that would provide a “holistic experience.”

KMOMA AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Kolkata Museum of Modern Art, a multi-disciplinary project to celebrate “art sensibility”

WHERE: On a 10-acre plot in Rajarhat gifted by the state government next to the Eco Tourism Park

WHOSE: A tripartite venture involving the state government, the Centre and the private sector

DESIGNED BY: Herzog & de Meuron of Basel, Switzerland, the architects who created the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing and the Tate Modern in London. The structure, constructed with unique cast masonry blocks, will be eco-friendly using passive methods of climate control

WALK THROUGH: The G + 9 building will cover 550,000sq ft and be 48.75 metres high. The art centre will be spread across 4,70,000sq ft. There will be 44 galleries, art restoration, education, research facilities, photographic facilities, offices and theatre. Plus, a Culture City containing a plaza, an amphitheatre for 1,500 people, artists’ studio, 500-seat auditorium, art education facilities and 14,330sq ft retail space

Music, mamata and a museum

The KMOMA programme was preceded by Debojyoti Mishra’s euphonious concert to the accompaniment of an orchestra and chorus. Pramita Mallik (Akashbhora…), Kartik Das Baul (Tomay hrid majhare), Rupam Islam (Ekhon aar deri noy) and Anupam Roy (Aalo amar aalo) sang along with the orchestra. Mamata Banerjee hummed along and later expressed her happiness with the musical arrangement.

Pictures by Amit Datta & Rashbehari Das