VarnikaDesigns has started ‘Jugnu’ - A monthly book club to read, reflect, and share knowledge. Books, books and more books for finding the Jugnu - the glow - in you 🙂
JUGNU: the book club by VarnikaDesigns – let’s find the glow in our lives
Happy New Year ♥️
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.
Insights from LLDC’s Vibrant Winter Festival 2025
VarnikaDesigns collaborated with LLDC to present to the world their amazing Festival. The blog has videos of interviews with individual artisans. We conceptualised, planned and moderated an interactive discussion between upholders of generations old craft communities from Orissa and Kutch and their custodians - long video link in blog.
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
Somaiya Kala Vidya exhibition
I have been a die-hard fan of the amazing Judy Frater since decades, have been following her work in Kutch, Gujarat, through Kala Raksha. When I finally got the chance to visit an exhibition showcasing the work of the graduating students of this university I rushed to it, at Mangalbagh Gallery, Ahmedabad
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.
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 🙂
VarnikaDesigns 