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The museums programme is a key step towards dag’s vision of democratising access to indian art. In 2023 DAG acquired the heritage home of National Treasure artist Jamini Roy in Kolkata, West Bengal to transform it into a landmark single-artist house museum by undertaking an ambitious restoration and museum development project. In addition, through inclusive education, arts engagement, exhibitions, and institutional collaborations, the Museums Programme critically engages with art in relation to history and society. The programme explores how the process of art making is a powerful tool for shaping and understanding the world around us. The programme is built around a core collection that is freely accessible online, bringing historic artworks from DAG’s vast collection directly to you. |
Events and Programmes
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Kolkata A culinary journey exploring Bengal’s food culture with a talk by historian Jayanta Sengupta, followed by a conversation and tasting session with Sujoy Chatterjee, co-founder of Amar Khamar, and his team, drawing on Solvyns’ vivid documentation of eighteenth century Calcutta. Alipore Museum July 02, 2025, 6.30pm - 8.00pm |
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Kolkata A 'Project Natta Company' performance and installation by Jit Natta, reimagining the history of Bengal’s Dhuli community and their ties to Jatra-pala through an alternative fiction. Alipore Museum June 14, 2025, 6.00pm - 7.30pm |
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Kolkata The People of India: Identities in the Making A discussion with historian Maroona Murmu, artist-pedagogue Arpan Mukherjee and scholar Ankan Kazi on the 'ethnographic gaze' in photography, printmaking, and colonial narratives, exploring the representational dynamics of caste and gender in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Alipore Museum June 08, 2025, 6.00pm - 8.00pm |
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Kolkata An evening of music with the ensemble Borno Anonyo, where they present a musical journey using elements from the etchings of F. B. Solvyns, which depict eighteenth century social practices in Bengal. Derozio Auditorium, Presidency University June 04, 2025, 6.30pm - 8.00pm |
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Kolkata A talk by historian Tanika Sarkar unpacking the importance of caste documentation and visualisation in the early colonial period followed by a discussion with art historian and curator Giles Tillotson, on Solvyns’ ambitious project of representing the people and practices of Bengal. The Alipore Museum May 30, 2025, 7.00pm - 8.30pm |
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Kolkata Exploring films on art and artists as a repository of creative practices that go beyond documentation, through a screening of pedagogue-filmmaker Avijit Mukul Kishore’s The Garden of Forgotten Snow, followed by a viewing session with filmmaker and professor of film studies Madhuja Mukherjee. Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) May 18, 2025, 6.30pm - 8.00pm |
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Kolkata Tracing the formation of the West Bengal State Archives in postcolonial India through a documentary film by scholar Parnisha Sarkar, followed by a discussion with archivists Sarmistha De and Bidisha Chakraborty on the bureaucratic structures that shape the archives and the people who breathe life into them. Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre May 17, 2025, 6.00pm - 7.30pm |
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Kolkata A screening of visual artist and film practitioner Khandakar Ohida’s Dream Your Museum at the iconic terrace of the Indian Museum, followed by a discussion with Shubham Roy Choudhury on how personal repositories unsettle and expand the meaning of institutional archives and museums. Indian Museum May 16, 2025, 6.30pm - 7.30pm |
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Kolkata Preview and Walkthrough | People of Bengal: Coloured Etchings by F. Baltazard Solvyns Please join us for an exhibition walkthrough with Giles Tillotson, SVP, DAG, during the opening preview of People of Bengal: Coloured Etchings by F. Baltazard Solvyns, a DAG exhibition. The Alipore Museum, Kolkata April 25, 2025, 5.00pm - 8.00pm |
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Mumbai Places of Imagination Part 2: Tyeb, Husain and their city An iftaar gathering on the terrace of Mohammedi Manzil, to conclude the first Mumbai edition of ‘The City as a Museum’ with perspectives on the social milieu of the artists and the changing city around them. In conversation with Sarover Zaidi, Sarnath Banerjee, Naheed Carrimjee and Avijit Mukul Kishore. Mohammedi Manzil, Mohammed Ali Road March 23, 2025, 7.30pm - 9.00pm |
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Mumbai Places of Imagination Part 1: Tyeb, Husain, and their world of moving pictures A conversation at the painting studio at the Alfred Talkies, Grant Road, on the early years of Tyeb Mehta and M. F. Husain who were working across cinema and visual arts, with his family Himani Mehta Dehlvi and Yusuf Mehta, along with Rafique Baghdadi, Mayank Tewari and Sarover Zaidi. Alfred Talkies, Grant Road March 22, 2025, 11.00am - 1.00pm |
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Mumbai A talk and workshop at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum and its surrounding neighbourhoods by Ruta Waghmare Baptista and Kaiwan Mehta. Starting at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum March 20, 2025, 2.00pm - 6.00pm |
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Mumbai A roundtable discussion on research and its role in artistic practice, drawing into focus the many archives, large and small, institutional and personal, that can shape new directions for art history and contemporary practice with scholars, writers and artists Manik Walavalkar Gaonkar, Shardul Kadam, Nikhil Purohit, and Shriniwas Balkrushna. Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design March 19, 2025, 5.00pm - 6.30pm |
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Mumbai A two-day workshop with artists Snehal Pradhan and Soumava Das, rethinking the practice of drawing through colonial-era art school archives of pedagogical tools, examination instructions and reports from the early twentieth century. The Dean’s Bungalow, Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design March 18, 2025, - 19 March, 11.00am - 4.00pm |
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Mumbai A discussion and walk through the historic campus of the Sir J. J. School and the iconic Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation building in its vicinity, with architects Mustansir Dalvi and Vikas Dilawari to look closer at the architecture of the School and the ways in which its faculty and students shaped the built heritage of the city. Starting at the Claude Batley Gallery, Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design March 17, 2025, 4.00pm - 7.00pm |
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Mumbai A visit to the Elephanta Caves with historian and curator Dr. Giles Tillotson, on the artists who drew inspiration from this journey to the caves and its influence on modern art. Starting from the Gateway of India March 13, 2025, 2.00pm - 6.30pm |
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Mumbai A walkthrough of the extraordinary murals at the Sir J. J. School of Art with artist and Head of the Painting Department, Dr. Douglas John to explore the central role of mural painting in the formation of modern art in the city and beyond. Painting Studio, Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design March 11, 2025, 5.00pm - 6.30pm |
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Kolkata A screening of Rang Mahal, a short film by Prantik Narayan Basu, that draws from the colours, forms and textures of Malti in Balarampur, Purulia to create sensorial landscapes both real and imagined, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker. Alipore Museum, Kolkata March 09, 2025, 6.00pm - 7.30pm |
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Mumbai The Forgotten Chapter: Lesser-known stories of the Bombay School A talk by Dr. Saryu Doshi, founding director of NGMA, Mumbai, on the transformative impact of teaching and learning ‘Indian’ art at the J. J. School and the Modernisms that emerged at a time of flux against the backdrop of the Swadeshi movement. Main Hall, School of Art Building, Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design March 08, 2025, 5.00pm - 6.30pm |
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Mumbai Shifting Visions: Teaching Modern Art at the Bombay School A landmark exhibition that brings together artworks and rare archival objects from the DAG collection and J. J. School archives to step into the world of the students and faculty of the School in its foundational years, and explores the evolving ways of teaching and making art that shaped the idea of a modern artist. Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design, Mumbai March 08, 2025, - 20 April, 2025, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (closed on Sundays and 14 April) |
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Mumbai Opening of ‘The City as a Museum: Mumbai Edition 1’ As part of the first Mumbai edition of ‘The City as a Museum’ festival, DAG in collaboration with the Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design invites you to the inauguration of the exhibition ‘Shifting Visions: Teaching Modern Art at the Bombay School’ by Dr Pheroza Godrej, followed by a walkthrough and high tea. Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design March 07, 2025, 6.00pm - 8.00pm |
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Kolkata A two-day workshop at the gardens of Rabindra Sarobar, experimenting with creative responses to landscape painting using Gopal Ghose’s groundbreaking visual vocabulary of image-making as a guide. Rabindra Sarobar Lake March 01, 2025, - 2 March, 2025, 3.00pm - 5.00pm |
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Kolkata 'রেখায় ক' মিনিট': A few minutes in the realm of lines A participatory reading session drawing from DAG’s rich archival holdings of Gopal Ghosh’s sketchbooks and journals to understand how diverse forms of notations, short pieces of fiction and verse, and critical-philosophical fragments were an essential part of his everyday practice. Alipore Museum February 28, 2025, 6.00pm - 7.00pm |
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Kolkata Modern Art in the Making: The Calcutta Group A discussion with art historian Sanjoy Kumar Mallik on the visual languages of art that were shaped by the political upheavals of the 1940s, with a special focus on Gopal Ghose’s practice and his association with the Calcutta Group. Alipore Museum February 22, 2025, 6.00pm - 7.00pm |
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Kolkata A talk by curator Giles Tillotson exploring the changing approaches to landscape in Indian art over two hundred years, closing with a personal take on Gopal Ghose’s practice as a landscapist through the archives of art historian W. G. Archer, an early friend and supporter of the artist. Alipore Museum February 21, 2025, 6.00pm - 7.30pm |
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Kolkata A participatory session with the theatre group Somporko exploring the behind-the-scenes processes of making a site-specific production on the Bengal Famine of 1943, drawing from the DAG collection. Charulata Building, Charu Market December 22, 2024, OR December 23, 6:00pm - 9.00pm |
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Kolkata Queer-Feminist collective Samuho navigates the interplay between the interior and exterior lives of women at the cusp of nineteenth century reform movements through a performance-installation inspired by Shreepantha’s Keyabat Meye, memoirs of female authors, and the satirical tradition of Prahasan. Barrister Babur Bari, Beliaghata December 08, 2024, 6:30pm - 9.00pm |
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Kolkata Queer-Feminist collective Samuho navigates the interplay between the interior and exterior lives of women at the cusp of nineteenth century reform movements through a performance-installation inspired by Shreepantha’s Keyabat Meye, memoirs of female authors, and the satirical tradition of Prahasan. Barrister Babur Bari, Beliaghata December 07, 2024, 6:30pm - 9.00pm |
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Kolkata Queer-Feminist collective Samuho navigates the interplay between the interior and exterior lives of women at the cusp of nineteenth century reform movements through a performance-installation inspired by Shreepantha’s Keyabat Meye, memoirs of female authors, and the satirical tradition of Prahasan. Barrister Babur Bari, Beliaghata December 06, 2024, 6:30pm - 9.00pm |
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Kolkata An evening at Khelat Ghosh’s Residence exploring the interstitial position of thumri in classical music and the stories of baijis and tawaifs, with vocalist Sanjana Roy Chakraborty, Kathak performer Ashimbandhu Bhattacharya and scholar Shantanu Majee, accompanied by Parimal Chakrabarty on the tabla, and Pradip Palit on the harmonium. Khelat Ghose’s Residence, Pathuriaghata November 24, 2024, 5.30 pm – 8.30 pm |
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Kolkata Mapping a brief history of reforms and dissent in art pedagogy and practice emerging from within and beyond the walls of Calcutta’s colonial art school by tracing the independent initiatives of art institutions, collectives, and publications at the turn of the 20th century, with art historian and archivist Sampurna Chakraborty. Government College of Art and Craft November 23, 2024, 11.00 am – 1.00 pm |
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Kolkata E Ek Ashcharja! Kalikata Kalankini; Athaba Chaaper Naksha Prahasan A production by Birati Samuho Performers Collective that explores the participation and representation of working-class women in 19th century public sphere and print culture, reading between the lines of Battala texts. Sovabazar Natmandir November 23, 2024, 5.00pm – 6.00pm OR 7.30 pm – 8.30 pm |
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Kolkata E Ek Ashcharja! Kalikata Kalankini; Athaba Chaaper Naksha Prahasan A production by Birati Samuho Performers Collective that explores the participation and representation of working-class women in 19th century public sphere and print culture, reading between the lines of Battala texts. Sovabazar Natmandir November 22, 2024, 5.00pm – 6.00pm OR 7.30 pm – 8.30 pm |
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Kolkata Tracing the rehabilitation efforts of refugees from East Pakistan to Calcutta from 1947 onwards through images, texts and memoirs, focusing on creative responses to ideas of home and settlement, with scholars Anwesha Sengupta, Samata Biswas and filmmaker and photographer Debalina Majumder. Tetultalar Chhad, Vidyasagar Colony November 21, 2024, 4.00 pm - 6.30 pm |
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Kolkata A night on the riverfront exploring the history of the ‘other’ Europeans such as artist F. B. Solvyns who were marginal to the colonial apparatus, with historian and archivist Sarmishta De, followed by a concert by gypsy-jazz band The Big Other. The Barge Company Bengal Paddle November 20, 2024, 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm |
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Kolkata The Revolutionary Art of Chittaprosad and Somnath Hore A talk by Sanjoy Kumar Mallik, Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan, on visual articulations around the famine of 1943-44 and the Tebhaga movement of 1946-47 by Somnath Hore and Chittaprosad, against the backdrop of ‘Adhi nai, tebhag chai’, an installation featuring artworks, photographs, State records and oral narratives from the agrarian revolt. Directorate of State Archives, Shakespeare Sarani November 19, 2024, 5.00 pm – 6.00 pm |
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Kolkata An installation on the Tebhaga Movement which investigates the layered narratives of agrarian resistance in various districts of Bengal in the 1940s, confronting State-sanctioned surveillance reports from the colonial archives with visual and oral testimonies of artists and activists from the frontlines. Directorate of State Archives, 43, Shakespeare Sarani Rd, (opp. Kala Mandir Auditorium), Mullick Bazar, Elgin November 16, 2024, - 24 November 2024, 10.00am - 6.00pm |
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Kolkata An interactive session on the Tebhaga Women's Movement with Kavita Panjabi including original recorded oral narratives, songs, and accounts of the Mahila Atmaraksha Samiti & Mahila Samiti activists, in conversation with Mahasweta Ray. Directorate of State Archives, Shakespeare Sarani November 16, 2024, 2.00pm - 4.00pm |
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New Delhi Qutub through the Viewfinder: A two-day workshop A walk-through of the exhibition ‘Histories in the Making: Photographing Indian Monuments’ with curator Sudeshna Guha, followed by a guided walk at the Qutub Minar Complex with the DAG team, to explore, through drawing and reading, the ways in which the perception of a monument is shaped through photographs. DAG, Janpath, New Delhi (Saturday) and Qutub Minar Complex (Sunday) October 05, 2024, - 6 October, 2024, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm |
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Kolkata Archive Case Files: College Edition A workshop on using images and ephemera to expand our understanding of significant historical events and how they are represented and memorialised, through a collection of postcards on Indian soldiers in the First World War from the DAG Archives. Departments of English, History, & Political Science, Loreto College, Kolkata September 17, 2024, - 25 September, 2024, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm |
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Kolkata Histories in the Making: A Workshop Unpacking the themes of the exhibition ‘Histories in the Making: Photographing Indian Monuments’ through a creative workshop that explores ways to interpret and annotate photographs as objects, and study their social lives and histories. Shiv Nadar University, Delhi September 14, 2024, - 15 September, 2024 |
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Kolkata Victoria Memorial Hall and DAG present a pop-up installation of historic artworks from the DAG collection and contemporary textile interpretations by students, unravelling the intertwined stories of fabric, colonialism and freedom. Great Indian Reformers Gallery, Victoria Memorial Hall August 13, 2024, - 18 August, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm |
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Kolkata Intersections: Music - The Story of the Sitar An intimate baithaki exploring the sitar through a film, conversation and concert with sitarist Subhranil Sarkar, accompanied by Pandit Abhijit Banerjee on the tabla at the historic Ramdulal Nibas. Ramdulal Nibas, Beadon Street, Kolkata July 06, 2024, 5:30 pm—8:30 pm |
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Kolkata Intersections: Music - The Sound of Colour Delving into the Ragamala paintings at the Indian Museum Painting Gallery with art historian Soumik Nandy Majumdar and scholar Maitreyee Mukherjee, exploring the intersections between visual arts and music. Exhibition Gallery, Indian Museum, Kolkata June 29, 2024, 3:00 pm—6:00 pm |
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Kolkata Revisiting printed landscapes representing India by European artists of the 18th and 19th centuries with the Dept. of Graphics-Printmaking, Rabindra Bharati University, where Dr. Paula Sengupta, Professor & Head, will lead a studio walkthrough, followed by a participatory reading session with artist-pedagogue Sujay Mukherjee and student Rohan Poddar. Dept. of Printmaking, Chitra Bhavan, Rabindra Bharati University June 14, 2024, 2:00 pm—4:30 pm |
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Kolkata Viewfinder: Drawing Art History A two-day drawing-based investigation of 'perspective', and its art historical associations as a tool for seeing, interpreting, and image-making. Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata May 23, 2024, and 24 May 2024, 4:00 pm—7:00 pm |
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Kolkata Board Game Sunday: Museum as a Space for Play A visit to the Gautam Sen Memorial Board Games Museum, exploring and playing with Souvik Mukherjee’s extensive collection of board games, followed by an adda discussing the museum as a space for play. Gautam Sen Memorial Board Games Museum, Ballygunge May 19, 2024, 4:30 pm—7:30 pm |
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Kolkata Museum as a Classroom: Presented by Indian Museum and DAG A capacity building workshop at the Indian Museum for educators on developing engaging and interactive museum visits for students to explore Indian art and history, for International Museum Day. Indian Museum May 18, 2024, 10:30 am—2:00 pm |
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Kolkata Sculptures through Senses: Museums through movement and sound Explore the museum at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture through a movement-based trail by Vikram Iyengar, a soundscape by Subhagata Singha and a conversation with curator Uma Ray. Birla Academy of Art and Culture May 17, 2024, 6:00 pm—7:30 pm |
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Kolkata Collectors Chawm Ganguly and Apurba K. Panda lead a discussion on early initiatives in making ink in India, followed by a walkthrough of Panda’s collection of ink and rare pens. Itikatha, 9/c New Sonali Park, Kolkata 84 (Near, Baishali Park) March 29, 2024, 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm |
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Kolkata Gab-Sur-Kinaar: Of Making and Playing the Tabla An exploration of the instrument by tabla artists, Asif Khan and Rohen Bose, which is followed by a concert where they will be joined by Alla Rakha Kalawant on the sarangi at the Jorasanko Thakur Dalan. Jorasanko Thakurbari November 26, 2023, 6.00pm—8.00pm |
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Kolkata Tracing the evolution of set design in Bengal through the theatre archive at Natyashodh Sansthan with scholar Trina Nileena Banerjee, with an introductory remark by Director Madhuchchanda Chatterjee. Natyashodh Sansthan, Saltlake November 24, 2023, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm |
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Kolkata Museum as a Classroom: Jorasanko Thakurbari A capacity building workshop for teachers on crafting museum-learning experiences for students at the Rabindra Bharati University Campus with a visit to the historic house museum of the Tagore family. The workshop will focus on tools that can help make school visits to heritage sites more interactive and engaging. Rabindra Bharati University, Jorasanko Campus November 21, 2023, 10:30am-1:00pm |
Collection Online
Explore the best of Indian art online through artwork closeups, stories, videos, and more from our museum collection, and delve into our archives.
Explore more
Collection Online
Explore the best of Indian art online through artwork closeups, stories, videos, and more from our museum collection, and delve into our archives.
Explore moreInstitutional Collaborations
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Institutional Collaborations Birds of India: Company Paintings, c. 1800 to 1835 Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum Gujarat, India 3 Oct 2024 – 10 Nov 2024 Learn More |
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Institutional Collaborations Drishyakala Red Fort Barrack No. 4 in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India New Delhi, India 1 February 2019 – 12 April 2022 Learn More |
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Institutional Collaborations Ghare Baire: The Home, The World and Beyond Currency Building in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Archaeological Survey of India and National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi Kolkata, India 12 January 2020 – 28 November 2021 Learn More |