World Water Day: Do You Know About The Living Waters Museum?

Here are some interesting facts: India has 4 per cent of the world's water resources, making it a water-rich nation. The growth and culture of the nation has been centered on its rivers. Closely related to this, the virtual gallery, Living Waters Museum, motivates young people to visualise water heritage and reimagine fair, inclusive, and sustainable water futures.

About The Living Waters Museum

Its aim lies in celebrating our water wisdom, encouraging young people to view water from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, and co-create a digital archive that will serve as a repository for future learning. The museum uses visual storytelling on water and its relationship with nature, livelihoods, heritage, and social activities.

The interactive and live environment presents our water legacy across time and space with youth, especially those from unprivileged communities, illiterate people, physically disabled lot, and senior citizens. Breaking away from the constraints of physical boundaries, the content is curated across linguistic, cultural, and geographic borders with an approach of collective ownership. Different forms of art, like music, songs, video, photography, prose, and poetry have been used to reflect the local waterscapes and the related concerns. The entire notion of museum has been reinvented as a catalyst for social and behavior change, and in the process, open up potential for eco-tourism and water-related sustainable livelihoods.

Exhibits by the Museum

Various exhibitions have been associated with the online museum. These presentations can be viewed from different lens covering stories like "Punyache Paani" (Stories of Pune's Waters), "Confluence" (Water Stories of Mumbai), "Steps of Hope" (Stepwells of Ahmedabad), "Women, Water & Work", and "Water Varta." The displays are designated with individualised websites that explore the different aspects of these stories and offer a beautiful narrative to the virtual space.

In 2023, a digital exhibition called "The Living Waters of Kolkata" debuted, following the footsteps of projects based on the similar grounds. The project was led in a similar fashion as the metropolitan waterscapes of Mumbai and Pune.

Another exhibition named "Jal Jarokha," (window on water) was launched in collaboration with Jodhpur's Mehrangarh Museum Trust. It had artists, designers, and researchers explore the water heritage dating back to the era of royalty in the Mehrangarh Fort as well as common water practices around the city.

In honour of World Water Day 2025, Living Waters Museum joined The Global Network of Water Museums' international hybrid seminar. The special seminar, held on March 21, featured musical performances and a series of talks from some of the founding members of the network.