Branch Out & Learn New Things

There’s more to wood than meets the eye.

The security guard at the Institute of Wood Science and Technology (ICWT) is certain that I’m in the wrong place, "Museum illa,” he says. But I try once more; assert that there is a museum here. His tune changes: he agrees. His response is testament to the state of the museum, established in 2013 and looking exactly the same even now, 13 years later.

Housed in the ICWT campus, the museum sits on the second floor of a building in a green, quiet campus — right across the institute library. At 4 pm on a weekday, the empty premises tricks me into feeling like it’s a Sunday-afternoon; I worry the museum is closed, but the door gives way to a large space with panelled wooden flooring and walls of information arranged in curves across the room. The exhibition is a meandering path — a guided, annotated walk that seems to be saying ‘here take this fact,’ before drawing your attention to an expertly carved wooden chair — designed just right for the curious wanderer.

The root cause

The hollowed bark of a gulmohar tree is the first object in sight. It’s bigger than most people and sits as if in greeting. The exhibition begins with a bold, easily-forgotten claim: “Wood is the driver of civilisation.” There’s little convincing required to believe this, but when you get to see centuries-old structures made of wood, what option does one have but to pause?

The museum draws you in for a journey through nature and history. Each vertical panel, arranged to tell the story of the evolution of wood and its products, is packed densely with information. Wood exists because the climate changed millenia ago, plants learned to protect themselves — and then we humans entered the picture.

One section on this path is decorated with identical pieces of strawberry wood placed side-by-side. Pick them up and you can tell —one is heavier, and one lighter. The science beside explains kindly: every little change in atmosphere can impact how a tree grows. This pattern changes cell structures to create material that, when fully formed, have different densities. The museum reminds us to pay attention; and if we do, we may even learn to identify knock-offs from real sandalwood.

Axe and ye shall receive

Sumit, who is currently enrolled in the six-month woodworking diploma at the Advanced Woodworking Training Centre (AWTC), finds the 4.5 metre cross section of a teak tree fascinating. He attends classes here everyday, behind a small partition labelled simply, ‘classroom.’ As I browse through the museum, he sits with his friend here and they both watch reels — the audio changing every few seconds. There are no other sounds.

The hunk of tree Sumit mentions sits along the walkway. Dark brown and shiny, its 362-year age is displayed with the help of a stark white line drawn across the rings of the tree. Its life began in the 1600s, even older than the Taj Mahal. “The tree was there when Chattrapati Shivaji was alive,” he says, then checking to see if I looked at the elaborate exhibit of insects in one corner, laid out by the kind of damage they can do to a tree.

History then moves beyond the natural world to display what happens when humans decide to use wooden products. From identifying the correct sawing pattern to figuring out the right treatment of wood, the exhibition opens up the world of woodwork to reveal the marvels of science and human intervention. The use of wood is more sustainable than other materials like plastic, because it leaves behind virtually no carbon footprint. A single tree is a storehouse of tonnes of carbon — treasure chests for the Earth. The exhibits make a case for afforestation — more trees, more wood to use, less waste generated.

Grain control

An imposing catamaran on display stands tall in one corner. It dangles from a hook, resting — looking ready to carry out two people into the sea. An untreated catamaran lasts fishermen a few months, but one treated correctly will last them years on end — the one here is exactly that, twinkling with polish. The exhibition floor is littered with wooden items: a frameless door, an expertly crafted shelf, a stool so cute it must be bought. But none of these items are for sale, they’re simply on display.

Shiv Prasad, Technical Assistant at the AWTC, says, “Woodwork is not only blue collar work.” There is craft involved, and the museum is the ideal place to enter this world.

For a quiet Bengaluru afternoon, visit the Wood and Interpretation Museum. This anachronistic space holds the power to transport you across time and show you what happens when humans interact with nature mindfully and carefully. The buzzword of the day —sustainability — finds a comfortable home here, in a world so niche that you and I have probably not even heard of it.

The details: The Wood and Interpretation Museum, Institute of Wood Science and Technology, 18th Cross, Malleshwaram. Free & open to the public. Weekdays, 9 am till 5.30 pm.

Drishti Rakhra is the Senior Editor at LURU.