Public Access to Our Arts and Heritage Spaces

Establishment of The Constitution Academy & The Rights and Freedoms Museum

The Academy is a site for preserving memories of a desire for freedom and rights—that way, it is a museum. It gathers the memories of the self-becoming of a nation. It speaks the tales of the freedom struggle; it sings the songs of the sacrifices; it enacts the drama of the rise of a nation. It lights the mind, sounds the ears, and colours the dreams by spectacularly recreating the constitutional journey. It accounts for the lives, many of which were sacrificed at the altar of the nation, which were lived in pursuit of the bliss of freedom and the privilege of rights.

The Academy also describes the joys of freedom, it is the tale of our coexistence in freedom in the last 75 years. We endured many storms together, held each other in despair, gathered the debris of fallen dreams, and beheld the horizon for the rays of hope. The Academy tells the tale of that coexistence in the language of lights and sounds. We have a past to remember, a present to sustain, and a future to build. The Academy is the repository of the essentials of being in-the-nation and being for-the-nation. It is the sanctum of nation-building energies. The Academy is the beginning of a larger experience. It will sooner or later enhance the experience of the seeker from “seeing” to “feeling”, from “perceiving” to “experiencing”. Not that all museums of memories wither, but that they endure the weather of time better when life is felt through the actual presence of the past in the form of relics. And that presence rejuvenates the self and lightens the journey ahead. As the Constitution, the Academy also leaves the visitor with hope and a hope to return to it.

The Constitution Academy and the Rights and Freedoms Museum is an effort to showcase the Constitution of India as the living, breathing and growing document it truly is. Seventy-five years since its adoption, the Constitution inspires Indians, including intellectuals, legal practitioners, historians, artists, activists and most importantly, those considered “common citizens”. Our imagination for this museum is to showcase the making and the makers of the Constitution of India, which includes not only the Constituent Assembly members who gave this invaluable document to us but also the citizens who sought remedies for their constitutional rights, the lawmakers who initiated essential amendments as well as lawyers and justices responsible for landmark judgements that make them the architects of India that we know of today.

While the museum will house an abundance of historical data associated with the making of the Constitution, it will not just be an archive of documents showcasing what happened before 26th November 1949. For the uninitiated, this museum will be a go-to destination for understanding the Constitution, with various sections dedicated to each part of the document and its significance. Every Constituent Assembly member will be featured in the museum alongside spirited debates and deliberations that refined and created a robust manuscript ahead of its time. Through many formats-textual, audiovisual, experiential-we hope to ignite visitors’ interest in the Constitution, its evolution and its various sections. We aspire to spark explorations and deliberations on the rights and freedoms made available to us.

The art featured in the museum, which is expected to become the major attraction, shall include art that was part of the handcrafted document and art that the Constitution inspired. The Academy will also house an archive of expert interviews that delves into various aspects of the Constitution, particularly the evolution of fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens of India. This shall be a dynamic archive that will continue to grow with the Constitution. A Children’s Corner, with its interactive installations, quizzing stations, graphic pamphlets and novels shall introduce these complex concepts in a fun, experiential and accessible manner. The Constitution Academy is not merely an endeavour to document Constitutional heritage but one that also contributes to it. On this 75th Constitution Day, we will honour the legacy of those who crafted this remarkable charter and ensure it remains a vibrant guide for future generations.