Arjun Ram Meghwal, inaugurates international travelling Exhibition “Vaccines Injecting Hope” at National Science Centre, Delhi today

An international travelling exhibition “Vaccines Injecting Hope” was inaugurated today by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Culture & Parliamentary Affairs, at National Science Centre, Delhi in the  presence of Mr. Alex Ellis, High Commissioner, British High Commission in India, Mr. Scott McDonald, Global CEO, British Council, Sir Ian Blatchford, Executive Director, Science Museum Group, London, Mr. A. D. Choudhury, Director General, NCSM, Ms. Mugdha Sinha, Joint Secretary (Museums), Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and distinguished scientists, researchers and guests.

This exhibition has been made possible with support from Wellcome, UK; ICMR, India and other research and scientific organisations in India. NCSM and Science Museum Group, London have joined hands to tell the story of the global effort to develop vaccines.

The exhibition has sections on ‘The Arrival of New Virus’, ‘Designing a New Vaccine’, ‘Trials, Results and Approvals’, ‘Scaling Up and Mass Production’, ‘Vaccine Rollout’, ‘Living with COVID’ and tells the story of the global effort to find new ways to develop vaccines at pandemic speed and look at vaccinations more broadly with a historical and contemporary view. The exhibition set out the scientific principles underlying a vaccine’s creation and efficacy while capturing the behind-the-scenes work that accompanies their rapid development, production, transport, and delivery. The exhibition showcases ‘Through The Lens’, an artwork commissioned by British Council and created through collaboration between Indian sculptor based in Delhi, Sushank Kumar, and a playwright in London, Nigel Townsend. The artwork seeks to explore our relationship with Vaccination historically and in the light of the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

Starting from November 15, 2022, the exhibition will tour five venues across India namely Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata till September 2025 and is expected to reach out to more than 2 million people.

This exhibition curated by NCSM and the Science Museum Group of UK, tells us the story of the creation of a modern day vaccine and its many facets, with its human side.

Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research said that, “This exhibition is extremely important because just knowing the science is not enough, science has to reach the people and for science to reach the people. He added that the mix of art and science, is a beautiful way to get that done.

British High Commissioner to India,H.E. Mr. Alexander Alex Ellis said that “The best single thing which the United Kingdom and India have done together is the Covidshield vaccine , which has saved more lives and done better for the world than any other collaboration.

Addressing the audience, he said that Knowledge is the start of everything that requires hard work and wisdom. He also said that the extraordinary response to COVID saved a lot of lives by going through things at tremendous speed which is also required together with speed.

The Science Museum Group is the world’s leading group of science museums, welcoming over five million visitors each year to five sites: the Science Museum in London; the National Railway Museum in York; the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester; the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford; and Locomotion in Shildon. Theyhighlight the stories of innovations and people that shaped our world and are transforming the future, constantly reinterpreting our diverse collection.

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), a premiere institution in the field of science communication, is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.  Primarily engaged in popularizing Science and Technology through a network of science centres, Mobile Science Exhibitions (MSE) units that visit rural schools and organise plethora of activities for public and students in particular, NCSM has now become a trend setter in the field of science communication both at national and international level. Presently NCSM, with its Headquarters in Kolkata, administers and manages 26 science museums/centres spread across the country and is the world’s largest network of science centres and museums that functions under a single administrative umbrella with an annual reach to about 15 million people. Innovation Hubs set up by NCSM, provide expert guidance and professional lab equipment facilities to young students to nurture creativity, innovation and engagement in science. 42hubs are functional in science centres/institutions across the country reaching about 10,000 students annually through each hubs.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies that is nurturing the biomedical research and innovation in India.

NCSM has signed a MoU with British Council India to support the exhibition with the commissioning of an Art Installation for the exhibition “Vaccines: Injecting Hope”.