If music lovers have their way, they will gather musical sounds from all over the country and bring them to Kerala, and preserve them for posterity in a music museum.
In what may be the first of its kind in the country, the music museum would have collections of songs, LP records, song books of singers and more.
The museum will be set up by Kerala’s Palakkad-based cultural organisation called Swaralaya which works towards preserving and promoting art forms including dance, music, folk arts and theatre.
CPI (M) leader MA Baby who is involved with the setting up process told The News Minute that the documentation process had started in 2015. However, the team has not decided where and when the museum will be finally set up.
“Artists and music lovers have shown interest in the museum and we are expecting more people across genres and types of music to join us in the process. Since the museum is still in the conceptualisation stage, we are open to suggestions as to what we can include in it,” Baby said.
Asked how the idea came about, Baby said, “We have so many great singers in India. For instance, take veteran singer K J Yesudas. We don’t even know how many songs he has sung. May be even he has lost track. This museum, with the help of Swaralaya and others, will have a collection of all his songs.”
Most people in India are familiar with Carnatic music and Hindustani music, but India is much more than that.
“The museum would include lesser known folk music like Bauls too. Not just that, we are also planning to include musical instruments in the list too,” he said.
This would be a big move that would essentially boost Kerala’s tourism apart from a must visit place for the music lovers, he said.