Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore, will soon be inaugurating Wood Museum and Interpretation Centre at its Malleswaram campus.
History, more correctly, pre-history, shows that man’s skill to manipulate wood has journeyed along his evolution. To pay tribute to the one material that has been instrumental in man’s life all along, the Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST), Bangalore, will soon be inaugurating Wood Museum and Interpretation Centre at its Malleswaram campus.
The museum will showcase the story of wood along with man from pre-historic era and also a gallery of various indigenous trees of the country.
“We planned for this project in 2008 but it materialised only now as we didn’t want to depend on the government for finances. For a museum of this scale, it would cost around `2.5 crore, but we have conceptualised it within a few lakh rupees,” said JC Joshi, director, IWST.
The museum is said to host 20 varieties of trees in order of their weight. “The lightest wood is Balsa and the heaviest is Chundra. These are the woods that are used in construction business around the world,” he explained.
‘It is intellectually rich’
From unique products made of wood, the museum will tell the tale of wood to those interested in the subject. “Wood is a versatile product yet very complex. Its characteristics are unique and each type of wood has a story to tell. We want to tell people all this. So, this museum is intellectually rich and yet user-friendly for those who come merely to understand wood,” he said.
A 70-year-old museum dedicated to wood already exists in Dehradun. But this museum aims to showcase more than merely wood.
“We want to show wood as an ecosystem, wood as a product, and wood in daily life. We will also have musical instruments and products like a computer made of wood and some 700- to 800-year-old trees on display at the museum. We will also have some instruments that can be used by the visitors,” he explained.
The museum is expected to be open for public by February 2012.
“It has subtly been responsible for rolling humans from the stone-age till today, and, as we can foresee, cart us in the future too. The museum is unconventionally structured and strongly deviates from being merely a storehouse of artefacts.
“It aims to educate the common man on the science of wood, on the fact that wood is not just a carpenter’s material, to make him realise that it is the usage of wood that would help in tidying the environment and tiding over the climate crisis,” said Pankaj Agarwal, deputy director, IWST.
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