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 🙂

Happy Women’s Day!

This 2023 Women's Day post is dedicated to the most awesome Priyanka Tolia and her Design Studio Chitku – a design and craft collaborative established in 2009. Wishing you, your team and this little girl the very best wishes for a peaceful life, full of love and safe women's day, every day!

‘Breaking Boundaries’ – Astad Deboo Exhibition Announcement: 10 – 17 December, 2022, Mumbai

You are cordially invited to Breaking Boundaries - A retrospective on the life of Astad Deboo: a journey through his time, work and vision, opening on Dec 10, 2022, Mumbai. The exhibition on the life, vision and work of Astad Deboo has been conceptualised like going on a journey with him - trekking and hitchhiking, heartbroken during his struggles, applauding his successes, in rhythm with his dance moves.

The story of the dazzling ‘Gota’ embroidery: its past, present and future

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.

Tushita’s contemporary reflection on Appliqué

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.

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.

MuMe Matters: Youtube video links to Events #2 and #3

MuMe Matters is an endeavour by The Museum Memories Project. We visualise it as an interactive, invigorating, educational, exploratory and knowledge sharing catalytic space to initiate dialogues and spur conversations amongst professionals. Here, themes of accessibility and inclusion which have hitherto escaped discussions in museums would be highlighted.

Riten Mozumdar: Free India’s first textile designer

Rabindranath Tagore wrote in ‘The Meaning of Art’ in 1921, “What is art? It is the response of man’s creative soul to the call of the real. But the individual mind according to its temperament and training has its own recognition of reality in some of its special aspects…” It rings true when one looks...

1st Birthday of ‘The Museum Memories Project’

https://videopress.com/v/1PmZwtxU?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&posterUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fvarnikadesigns.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F06%2F2-1.png&preloadContent=metadata Yeaaahhh, we are one 🙂  ‘The Museum Memories Project’ - an oral history documentation digital platform - was launched on April 15, 2020. For the first time, museum visitors were invited to delve deep and freely express their memories. They could share their favourite artefacts, spaces and moments in museums that they loved. This...

Palash: the Flame of the Forest flower

'Palash' has many names in many languages. It's a very popular, loved and revered flower which sets forests on fire during late February and March in India. It is also known as the 'flame of the forest' or 'parrot tree' in English, 'tesu' 'dhak' and 'parasu' in some Indian languages. It mainly blossoms in the...