Mere spectacle or means of conservation? Reflections from Pune Tribal Museum

Museums play an important role in the representation of local culture and economic life. It also acts

as a great stimulus for tourism development of the region. Tribal museums across India have been

playing important role in preservation of tribal culture. Many tribes of India do not have any

written history. The memories are passed from one generation to other through oral traditions such

as songs, folk tales, and dance forms. All these tangible and intangible aspects of tribal culture are

essential for tribal identity. If the tribal community loses it, they may vanish or become mere

commodities. Therefore, it is important to preserve and promote tribal culture through tribal

museums. Tribal museums can very well communicate the knowledge, practices, products and

their natural and social environment. The paper tries to understand the context and idea behind

the establishment of tribal museum through the case study of Pune Tribal Museum that was

established to present an authentic display of the tribal culture of the state of Maharashtra. The

study also aimed to assess the contribution of Pune tribal museum in promotion of tourism. The

study tries to present a comparative analysis of the meaning and understanding of tribal museum

for tribal and non-tribal youth population visiting the museum. The study primarily aims to

employ qualitative and interpretative methodology in drawing inferences and conclusion regarding

the meaning, context and evaluation of tribal museum. It has come out from the study that the

tribal youth visiting the museum were primarily motivated by the questions of identity and pride,

while the non-tribal youth visitor had varied motivations. It can be concluded that the distinction

between modern and postmodern has become very fluid in the contemporary museum. It has

become very difficult to ascertain when one enters modern and exit the postmodern.