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.
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
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.
Amidst all the glitter, glamour and glitz of yesteryear the shimmer and shine of Gota stands out! It has captured in its weave the fantasy of the times. Travelling from the markets of the Western Indian cities of Surat, Ajmer where they were manufactured, Gota came to be the ubiquitous accessory of every royal garment. Let us know of the history of the exquisite Gota embroidery based on original fieldwork.
The core idea behind my creating and designing these hand embroidered artworks is to highlight the beauty and importance of hand embroideries, which seem to be diminishing- thanks to the adoption of fast fashion labels across the globe. With this humble attempt, I wish to elevate hand embroidery to a more artistic and tasteful level.
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.
The Rajasthan State government run Central Museum in Jaipur is still popularly known as the Albert Hall. It was designed by architect Sir Swinton Jacob inspired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, in the Indo – Sarcenic style and opened as a Museum in 1887. It was built to commemorate the visit of Albert,... Continue Reading →
Adieu, Karni With heart wrenching pain, I write this tribute for one of India's greatest and youngest museum directors, Karni Singh Jasol 💔 s I write this, Karni was spearheading one of the most exciting projects transforming Mehrangarh into one of the super best museums in the world, and we were waiting with bated breath for its unveiling. He had already co curated some of the world’s most amazing exhibitions in the US, based on the Mehrangarh museum’s collection, he was on a spree to take Jodhpur to the world and winning.
Part 5: Rajmata’s legacy Rajmata started the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya, in memory of her departed husband in 1984... A true warrior, lover of freedom, Rajmata Gayatri Devi has empowered generations of women, men, society, state and a country like India. The links to all the 5 parts are given at the end of this post. Please comment on the blog posts. Thank you for reading 🙂
Part 4: Rajmata other love: the City Palace Museum, Jaipur I am lucky that I knew Rajmata slightly personally. She had heard of my father in London where he was pursuing his Phd at SOAS and on his return to his job as Deputy Keeper at the Indian Museum, Kolkata, she had tried to contact him. My father’s evil boss had thrown away Rajmata’s letters of invitation so when my father received a call from someone calling himself Maharaj Prithviraj from Jaipur inquiring why the letters were not replied to, Baba thought it was a prank by his evil boss. Then Maharaj Prithviraj met with him and that started a lifelong bond between them.
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