Date:30/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/30/stories/2006053018690200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Nobel Exhibition inaugurated

Staff Reporter

The three-month exhibition is on at the museum

NOBEL EXHIBITS: A view of the Nobel Exhibition which was inaugurated in Bangalore on Monday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Bangalore: "The Nobel Prizes have focussed international attention on the sciences, literature and peace. To many, they have come to epitomise the value of creative and intellectual activity.

The exhibition is the celebration of this feature," said Michael Sohlman, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation and Chairman of the board of the Nobel Museum.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the three-month Nobel Exhibition here at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum on Monday. Ericsson, the Nobel Museum and the Nobel Foundation have brought the "Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize" to India.

The exhibition, "Cultures of Creativity", was launched in 2001 to commemorate 100 years of the Nobel Prize. Since its launch, the exhibition has visited Oslo, Tokyo, Seoul, Houston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur, Florence and London.

"The international character of the Nobel Prize is reflected by the case of India. The first Nobel Prize to a non-Westerner was awarded to Rabindranath Tagore in 1913. In 1930, C.V. Raman won the Prize for Physics. Since the Second World War, Hargobind Khorana (1968), Mother Teresa (1979), Subramanyam Chandrashekhar (1983) and Amartya Sen (1998) have won the Nobel Prize," Mr. Sohlman said.

He also said that Bangalore is the only place in India that the exhibition would visit during its international tour.

A nation-wide school programme to create awareness about the Nobel Prize has also been organised. Students can participate in a quiz and identify caricatures of Nobel laureates. The quiz is open to students from classes five to 12.

Mats Granryd, Managing Director, Ericsson, said the company was closely associated with the Nobel Museum, as a global partner for the travelling exhibition.

Svante Lindqvist, Director of the Nobel Museum, said, "We wanted to bring the exhibition to India for quite sometime. I hope the exhibition inspires children and adults and helps them learn about the lives and works of Alfred Nobel and the laureates," he said.

K. Vasudeva Bhatta of Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum was present.