So it’s 10 years – a decade of writing a blog - this is the 160th post, 3 in the draft and a few more in my mind!!! Thank you for being a part of the VarnikaDesigns blog’s journey, for being a reader, motivator and inspiration ❤ ….. When I started, I didn’t realise... Continue Reading →
Reflecting on Museums: Do They Still Matter in Today’s World?
Wishing everyone a happy, safe, peaceful and healthy 2025. VarnikaDesigns will be 15 this year! We will be reflecting, introspecting, discussing, debating - keeping following us. Thank you 🙂
Adieu 2024 – Welcome 2025 :)
VarnikaDesigns wishes you a very Happy, Healthy, Safe and Peaceful New Year. May 2025 be kind to you ♥️ We are grateful to all the people and institutions for supporting our new ideas in 2024 ♥️ details in link
Jadughar Journey: Creating Universally Accessible and Inclusive Spaces in Ahmedabad
Have you visited a museum, heritage site and enjoyed your experience? Have you wanted to share your joy with those left behind? This links shares the 2nd adventure of 'Jadughar Journeys' bringing Ahmedabad's famous 'jalis' into our homes. One more attempt at access
Water! We will always need you but we treat you bad :(
One morning in March, 2024, India woke up to a headline that shocked us beyond belief * India's pride, Bengaluru, had no water!!! Born and brought up in Rajasthan and having spent most of my life there and in Gujarat, both desert states of India, water scarcity was something we were aware of being integral to our lives.
Want to make Access Positive Museums, globally? Then, fill in the Phase 2 of our survey. Thank you :)
Want to make Access Positive Museums, globally? Then, fill in the Phase 2 of our survey. Thank you 🙂 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rua2X7pEup47nVF7h_9hLcqmvCw_GvE-8sSVYRPPrlU/edit
Tribute to Santiniketan: UNESCO World Heritage Site
Tribute to Santiniketan: UNESCO World Heritage Site Santiniketan is India's 41st UNESCO World Heritage Site. This post is a personal tribute by VarnikaDesigns to Santiniketan for this honour. It contains photos and videos of some parts of the tangible, intangible and natural heritage of Santiniketan, including Kala Bhavan, links to 8 posts written by me over the years on various aspects of Santiniketan, 2 impromptu songs sung by Dr Syamali Das and the photos of Kala Bhavan at night by Dr Soumik Nandy Majumdar.
Award of Honorary D. Litt. degree to Dr Asok Kumar Das
The Courtauld Institute of Art, an independent college of the University of London has announced the conferment of an Honorary Doctorate degree (Doctor Honoris Causa) to the distinguished art historian Dr Asok K. Das.
International Museum Expo, New Delhi, 18 – 20 May, 2023
I was honoured to be invited by the Ministry of Culture as a speaker on International Museum Day to talk about the oral history documentation project called ‘The Museum Memories Project’ – it was found at the beginning of the Covid global lockdown that to bring the world closer through sharing of personal memories from museums visited by anyone in any corner of the globe. It is a free digital archive and resource platform of histories, heritage, cultures of all people, making them accessible and inclusive to everyone 🙂
Vaishnavism and Raas Leela’s history in Manipur
Today is Janamasthami, celebrated as the birth of the Indian god Krishna, let us take a small journey to the picturesque North Eastern state of Manipur. Why Manipur on Krishna's birthday? This is because Krishna is still celebrated here in every form, through religion, art, architecture and the beautiful Manipuri dance.
