Mumbai's iconic Air India building to display the airline's artworks in one-of-a-kind museum

The Air India building overlooking Marine Drive in Mumbai is iconic for its architecture and location. [caption id=“attachment_2279708” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Air India Building. Image credit: Wikimedia/Indianhilbilly[/caption] And now it’s set to house a one-of-a-kind museum exhibiting artworks accumulated by the India’s oldest surviving airlines over six decades. The proposed museum will cover 9,000-sq ft on the first floor of the building and will showcase the paintings, sculpture and artifacts from Air India’s  institutional collection, according to a Mumbai Mirror report. A spokesperson was quoted as saying, “It will be the first of its kind in India. It will be modelled on Washington’s Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.” The national carrier had to let go of a large part of the building due to financial troubles but still retain a few floors of the Nariman Point tower. However, the management is keen to retain the artwork collection and keep it open for public viewing, continues the report. The collection includes works by masters such as MF Husain, Tyeb Mehta, SH Raza and KH Ara. The museum will occupy the space that was once Air India’s booking office and will display objects collected from various office cabins, foyers and hallways. It is expected to be operational by October or November, the spokesperson told Mumbai Mirror. The airline has already set up a committee to oversee the museum’s establishment which is headed by company secretary Aditi Khandekar. The panel comprises retired staff from the airline’s publicity department who were tasked with the upkeep of the artefacts, continues the Mumbai Mirror report.