2025 was an exciting year for us 🙂 VarnikaDesigns turned 15! VarnikaDesigns Blog turned 10! The Museum Memories Project turned 5! Immense gratitude to each of you for supporting, motivating and inspiring us.
Happy New Year ♥️
Celebrating 10 Years of VarnikaDesigns: A Blogging Journey
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
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
Textile Book Review: The Shoemaker’s Stitch – Mochi Embroidery in TAPI Collection, India
This post is a review of the book 'The Shoemaker's Stitch: Mochi Embroideries of Gujarat in the TAPI Collection', published last year by Niyogi Books. It is as delicately narrated as the embroidery itself by Shilpa Shah and Rosemary Crill. Each page is like another stitch into the past of the embroidery and the lavish photos do justice to the exquisite embroidery. The festive season of India is upon us, and women are digging into their treasure chests for old textiles that are still wearable or can be upscaled.
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.
Happy 2023 :)
Happy 2023:) Wishing you a very Happy, Safe and Peaceful 2023. Thank you everyone for your support, encouragement and appreciation. VarnikaDesigns managed to get back to doing what we have been attempting since 2010 - to make Indian museums and heritage more accessible and inclusive.
The Art Of Appliqué in India 
Appliqué is derived form the Latin word ‘applicare’ meaning ‘to fold’ or ‘to fasten’. It is the technique of applying colorful fabric pieces on the base fabric. Raw edges of these patches are finished with a definite mode of stitchery work. It developed as a means of mending old cloth or old garments from economical considerations. There are a vivid variety of Indian textiles in woven, embroidered, printed and other techniques. Appliqué is a textile technology that survives till today, not enjoying any royal patronage, but as an essential part to daily existence.
VarnikaDesigns 