A brief history of the Metcalfe Hall and the current museum exhibit called "Ami Kolkata"
By Nilanjana Guha with photos by Abir Ganguly
Named after Governor General Lord Charles Theophilus Metcalfe for his support of free press in India, Metcalfe Hall housed India’s first National Library back in 1840s. Metcalfe Hall was opened in 1844, build on the principles of the Greek Corinthian Order by the city magistrate C K Robison.
Metcalfe Hall stands at the crossing of Hare Street and Strand Road with 30 Corinthian pillars supporting the extended roof on all 4 sides. Each pillar is 36 feet high, the building constructed over 10 feet of platform with 2 floors, spacious rooms and long french windows overlooking the Ganges on one side.
While the National Library was in Metcalfe Hall it occupied the ground floor while the top floor was taken by the Royal Agri-Horticultural Society. Initially the National Library was called Calcutta Public Library and the collection of 4500+ books was transferred from the library at College of Fort William under the guidance of Lord Metcalfe. In 1923 the library shifted out from here to Esplanade and kept moving between locations before it was finally settled in Belvedere Estate in Alipore.
In 2018, the Archaeological Survey of India decided to restore the Metcalfe Hall to its former glory. The theme of the current museum exhibition is “Ami Kolkata” (I am Calcutta) and focuses on all the cultural aspects of Calcutta, both from the past and present. The use of technology with audio visual effects as you move from one room to another, makes for an immersive experience.
As you enter Metcalfe Hall, you will see elaborate alpona painted on the floor, specific to the Bengali tradition. This leads to an open space used as an temporary exhibition space. One of the rooms is used for hand shadow videography depicting the city called City of Surprises. Another room displays old black and white photos of Calcutta and images of the restoration work of the Metcalfe Hall.
The stairs taking you to the first floor is decorated with movie posters, pictures, vintage ad posters, book covers of the old Calcutta, aptly named as the City of Memories.
The first gallery has a wooden boat which has a interactive touch screen displaying the different stories of Calcutta’s history with photos on the walls and a paperwork artifact hanging from the ceiling. This room is called the City of Stories. Next is the City of Influence, a visual journey with all the famous people who shaped the city.
Next is the City of Confluence which, as the name indicated, celebrates the cultural diversity of the city with a photo gallery of celebrations by the Bengalis, Jews, Armenians, Muslims, Chinese communities in Calcutta.
We move to the next room which is the City of Culture with 2 large installations. One is of a clay Durga idol which is an ode to the artisans. Second one is that of a huge topor which is the male headgear worn by Bengali grooms at weddings along with some other elements of the shola handicraft of Bengal. This gallery also displays the traditional Bengali patachitra style paintings depicting aspects of life.
This leads to the great hall where artefacts like typewriters, desks, large collages of snippets from movie or theatre along with references to writing and dance are displayed.
The last element in the museum is a walk through the corridor filled with the sounds of Calcutta. The honking of cars, the rumbling of the trams, the bells of the rickshaws, hot tea being poured into a cha'er bhar amidst the din of City.
The entire experience is rather sweet, simple and immersive making it a very effective way for the audience to connect, relate and understand the journey of Calcutta.
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