Art is supposed to immortalize humans if you go by the lines of Willaim Shakespeare. And to an extent that is true given the fact that a piece of art speaks volumes about the artist. However, meeting the artist in person and engaging in a conversation can open more windows than learning through theory and research. There will be questions that the paintings cannot answer. To clear that haze, the artist’s mind must be added to the equation.
M.F Hussain was one of the renowned artists from India, whose brilliant works are a matter of pride for us. His death in 2011 disheartened a lot of his fans and admirers, for when the artist passes onto the other side, it transcends the art to a realm of nostalgia and memory.
Artificial Intelligence: The technological stone of resurrection
The admirers of M.F Hussain can now be on cloud nine, thanks to artificial intelligence. Smart technology has brought back the great artist, or rather a clear shadow of the great artist, letting the fans engage in conversation. One more point added to artificial intelligence scaling unexpected boundaries.
The innovative step was taken by the Museum of Art and Photography(MAP), based in Banglore. The unique and first-of-its-kind experience is the result of collaboration between India’s first major private art museum and Accenture labs.
With the help of artificial intelligence, the museum succeeded in creating a “conversational digital persona” of the great painter, almost immortalizing the genius personality through technology. Shakespeare might be in for a curveball here. The three-dimensional hologram of Hussain, which has the mannerisms and behavioral attributes of the painter, can converse with the audience and answer their questions and queries. This is facilitated by an array of technologies like speech synthesis, facial recognition, and language processing which is based on deep learning networks. 
The visitors can expect answers to a wide range of questions about the artist’s life and work and perhaps a few quirky comebacks to make the day more interesting. The ‘digital twin’ apparently has a funny nerve!
MAP had plans of opening the museum to visitors, which was put on hold by the strike of the pandemic. That is what lead them to modernize the museum experience by opening a digital platform. The digital opening of the museum took place in November complete with guided tours, live streaming performances, so on and so forth. This throws light on the intersection point of technology, art, and innovation.
This level of technological innovation, particularly in the museum domain is unprecedented in India. It is expected that this might give a new life and better prospects of growth to the museum landscape since innovation never fails to intrigue people.
