Mumbai | For the first time, a globally curated gallery will open to Indian audiences in Mumbai, giving them an insight into how the ancient world was interconnected through trade, writing, religion, art, and ideas, 5000 years ago.

Conceptualised by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai—a museum of ideas—this new gallery, titled Networks of the Past: A Study Gallery of India and the Ancient World, was inaugurated today.

In a landmark initiative, and through 300 carefully chosen archaeological objects that tell riveting stories from the ancient cultures of India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Persia, and China, alongside treasures from the regions of undivided India – the oldest Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation the gallery will invite, motivate universities and schools from all over India to teach history with objects.

Four years in the making, this pioneering initiative is supported by Getty’s Sharing Collections Programme and is a result of an international collaborations between CSMVS and its longstanding partner The British Museum, London; joined by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum Rietberg, Zurich; and for the first time, the Benaki Museum, Athens; the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait; and the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens.

The project is endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and features important antiquities from the rich collections of the Archaeological Survey of India, the National Museum, New Delhi; Allahabad Museum, Prayagraj; the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra; the Indian Museum, Kolkata; the Bihar Museum, Patna; the Government Museum, Mathura and the State Museum, Lucknow.