A four-month long digital interactive exhibition showcasing the life and achievements of Mahatma Gandhi will be held in Australia’s Victoria state in April to build a cultural understanding about India among the residents, state Premier Daniel Andrews said today.
More than 1,000 archival photographs, over 130 minutes of footage, 60 minutes of film clips and 20 voice recordings of Gandhi’s speeches would be shown in the exhibition, which will run between April and July at the Victoria’s Immigration Museum.
Andrews, who is currently on his first official visit to India, announced this after touring the Mahatma Gandhi Exhibition in Delhi.
“Mahatma Gandhi was an inspirational leader and I am thrilled that Victorians will be able to enjoy this incredible exhibition at the Immigration Museum,” he said.
Stressing that Victoria is home to Australia’s largest Indian population, the premier said, “This exhibition is an important way to acknowledge their cultural heritage and build the cultural understanding of India among the wider Victorian community.”
“Showing the Mahatma Gandhi Exhibition in Victoria will help celebrate Indian culture in our state, and will bring visitors from interstate and overseas alike to our great city,” Andrews was quoted as saying in an official statement.
The exhibition is currently on display at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in Delhi, where it was launched in October 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The exhibition celebrates the success of the Indian diaspora internationally. It recognises that Gandhi was a member of the diaspora who migrated from India to England and then to South Africa before returning to India.
It is curated from over 1,000 archival photographs, 130 minutes of footage, 60 minutes of film clips and 20 voice recordings of Gandhi’s speeches, the statement said.
The period of Gandhi’s life in which he migrated from India to England and then South Africa as well as the change he helped bring about in India on his return are featured, with his identity as a successful member of the Indian diaspora central to the exhibition, it added.
The exhibition is a part of the state government’s efforts to generate awareness of the special bonds it shares with India.
The announcement came following the release of the new Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future, which aims to boost tourism and double exports in next ten years.
