New events will be updated here.
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PAST EVENTS

VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL
in collaboration with
Das Gupta & Co. Private Limited
cordially invites you to celebrate the
Centenary of the Indian National Anthem
JANA GANA MANA
with a seminar highlighting the birth and significance of
the national anthem and other related aspects.

Speakers
Justice Chittotosh Mukherjee
Professor Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Professor Sugato Bose
Professor Alokeranjan Dasgupta

Tuesday, 27 December 2011
5.30 pm
at Victoria Memorial Hall
This will be followed by rendering of different versions of Jana Gana Mana
and the National Anthem by the Kolkata Police Band.

ALL ARE WELCOME


Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
presents a talk
by Sri Buddhadeb Dasgupta
on Adhunikota Ebong Rablndranath
followed by a screening of his award-winning documentary film
Jorasanko Thakurbari
(2001, 50 minutes)
as part of the events to commemorate the 150'" birth anniversary of
Rabindranath Tagore
Friday, 17 June 2011, 6.15 pm
in the Portrait Gallery of Victoria Memorial Hall
The film received the Award for Best Direction at the
49th National Film Awards in 2002.
The filmmaker will introduce the film and interact with the
audience after the screening.

All are welcome


To celebrate
INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS DAY

Victoria Memorial Hall
announces free entry to the galleries on 18 May 2011
and cordially invites you to the following events

Wednesday, 18 May 2011, 6.00 p.m.

Professor Ashok Das, presently Tagore National Fellow, Indian Museum,
will speak on "International Museums Day" followed by a power-point presentation on "Museum of Letters and Manuscripts" (Paris) by
Smt Kanchana Mukhopadhyay, President, Alliance Francaise du Bengale and Co-Convenor, INTACH, West Bengal Chapter

Monday, 23 May 2011, 6.00 p.m.
Panel discussion on "Museums and Memory"
Participants
Professors Shahid Amin, Ashok Das,
Tapati Guha Thakurta and Swapan Chakravorty

All are welcome

Victoria Memorial Hall
and
Inner Wheel District 329
present a symposium to celebrate
World Heritage Day
Monday, 18 April 2011, at 5.30 p.m.
H.E.The Governor of West Bengal,
Shri M.K. Narayanan
has kindly consented to grace the occasion.

Smt. Shanu Lahiri, Smt. Kasturi Gupta Menon and Shri G.M. Kapur
will be present and speak on the occasion.

The symposium will be followed by a Son-et-lumiere show on Calcutta

Entry by invitation only

 Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta
and
The Marg Foundation, Mumbai
present the inauguration of
Hoppé's Santiniketan,
an exhibition of photographs from 1829 by
Emil Otto Hoppé.
Also, Supriyo Thakur will release
'Something Old, Something New: Rabindranath Tagore 150th Birth Anniversary Volume',
a book of essays edited by Pratapaditya Pal.
Today (on 16 April 2011) at Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta
(in the western Quadrangle) at 6.30 p.m.

 

The exhibition shall remain open till
30th May 2011, except on holydays.

 Victoria Memorial Hall is hosting an exhibition of photographs on
Mother Teresa
by
Sunil K. Dutta.
It will continue till
30th May 2011 (except on Mondays and national holidays), 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
in the Central Hall of Victoria Memorial.		  

 
The postponed exhibition of "twenty 20 Paintings" on
Mother Teresa
by
M.F. Husain and Sunita Kumar
is now being previewed
from
Monday, 28 February 2011, 6.00 p.m. at
Victoria Memorial Hall

The exhibition was inaugurated by
H.E. The Governor of West Bengal
Shri M.K. Narayanan

Chief Guest in the inaugural function was
Sister Nirmala, Missionaries of Charity

The exhibition is open to the public
from 1 to 31 March 2011,
daily 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
(except Mondays and national holidays)
in the Portrait Gallery of Victoria Memorial Hall

  


Victoria Memorial Hall celebrated
International Women's Day
with a panel discussion on
"Empowerment of Women in India in the 19th and 20th Centuries"
on Tuesday, 08 March, 2011 at 5.00 P.M. in the Portrait Gallery of Victoria Memorial.
The panellists were:
Professor Bharati Ray, former Member of Parliament and
presently Vice-President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
Dr. Krishna Bose, former Member of Parliament and
presently Chairperson, Netaji Research Bureau.
Professor Miratun Nahar, Retired Associate Professor of Philosophy, Victoria College and former Member, State Women's Commission, West Bengal.
The session was moderated by Professor Suparna Gooptu,
Department of History, Calcutta University

Programmes organized by Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
between AUG 2010 and DEC 2010 : A Report

Victoria Memorial hosted the Annual General Conference of the Indian Association for the Study of Conservation of Cultural Property (IASC), New Delhi from February 3rd to 5th 2011 in Kolkata. The IASC is the oldest association of conservators in India. Every year the Association is being invited by organizations of repute for the purpose of holding the Annual Conference. This enables the members of the Association as well as conservators working elsewhere to carry on discussions on topics relating to conservation and research on conservation of cultural property. In view of Memorial's rich collection of modern paintings and manuscripts and Kolkata's interest in contemporary history, the theme of this year's conference was "Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Paintings with special emphasis on Conservation of Manuscripts".


"Writer's Cramp"
a special lecture by
Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi

His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal
Shri M.K. Narayanan
presided

Thursday, 13 January 2011, 6.15 p.m.

Organised by
Victoria Memorial Hall
Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2011 and
Centre for Advance Study in English
Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Victoria Memorial Hall organised a lecture on 4t January 2011 at 5.15 p.m. at the Portrait Gallery, by Professor Tapan Raychaudhuri on "The British Presence and Social Change in 19th Century Bengal: Causal Links" to mark the 106th Foundation Day of Victoria Memorial Hall. He also took part in a conversation with Professor Suranjan Das and Dr Rudrangshu Mukherjee.

A documentary by noted filmmaker Goutam Ghose on Raja Rammohun Roy - "In Search of the Raja" (2009, 40 min.), was screened on the occasion.

 Victoria Memorial Hall
celebrated
World Heritage Week
19 to 25 November 2010
with the following events
Friday
19 November 2010 onwards
at Portrait Gallery		 Photographic exhibition
Heritage Houses in the Chitpore Road Neighbourhood
In collaboration with Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata
The exhibition will remain on display till 12 December 2010,
daily 10.00 A.M. to 5.00 P.M. (except Mondays)
Monday
22 November 2010
5.00 P.M.
at Portrait Gallery		 Lecture on Aesthetics in Indian Heritage Sculptures
In collaboration with Government College of Art & Craft
Speaker: Prof. Pradip Kr. Bhattacharya,
Government College of Art & Craft
Chairman: Shri Shankar Ghosh, Noted Sculptor
Tuesday
23 November 2010
10.00 to 5.00 P.M.
at Portrait Gallery		 Symposium
Reinventing Crafts for the 21st Century
In collaboration with Crafts Council of West Bengal
Participation by invitation only
Wednesday
24 November 2010
5.00 P.M.
at Portrait Gallery		 Lecture on Conservation of Heritage: Whose responsibility?
Speaker: Dr. O. P. Agrawal, Director-General,
Indian Council of Conservation Institutes, Lucknow
Chairman: Professor Samir Rakshit
Thursday
25 November 2010
5.30 P.M.
at Portrait Gallery		 Illustrated talk on Conserve and Revive Calcutta's Built Heritage
Speaker: Shri Manish Chakraborti, Director, M/s Continuity, Conservation & Architectural Design Practice.
Chairman: Shri Hirak Ghosh, Trustee, Calcutta Tercentenary Trust
ALL ARE INVITED 


Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
organised a talk entitled
"Mughal Miniatures:
Portraits under the Imperial Mughals"
by
Dr. Taran Kumar Biswas,
Director,
Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

on
August 30, 2010 at 4.00 p.m.

at
Victoria Memorial Hall
followed by an interactive session.

Shri Ramananda Bandopadhyay,
renowned painter
has kindly chaired and spoke
on the occasion.


The Victoria Memorial Hall holds Light & Sound (Son-et-Lumiere) shows regularly, as a permanent special event.

The show entitled: ' Pride & Glory - the Story of Calcutta', was designed as a joint venture with Bengal Chamber of Commerce and is being held in both English and Bengali version.
The Show Timings are:  
October to February: 6.15 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. (Bengali)
7.15 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. (English)
March to June: 6.45 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. (Bengali)
7.45 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. (English)
Rates of Ticket: Rs. 10/- and Rs.20/-. Counter opens at 12.30 p.m. (Church Gate). No advance booking. Full ticket for children above three years. No shows on Mondays, National Holidays and Holi and between July to Septembetr.
For block booking contact Education Officer or e-mail us.

________________________________________________________________
PAST EVENTS


Victoria Memorial Hall
organized a talk entitled
"The Angel atop the Memorial Revisited"
by
Professor Madhusudan Bhattacharya,
Retired Professor and Head Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Jadavpur University, Kolkata

on July 19, 2010 at 5 p.m.
at
Victoria Memorial Hall,
followed by an interactive session.

Professor Pradip Narayan Ghosh,
Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
presided over the programme.

Oxford University Press & Victoria Memorial Hall
organised the release of a box set of books :

BAHUDHA AND POST 9/11 WORLD
&
INDIA'S CULTURE: The State, the Arts and Beyond
by B.P.SINGH

Chief Guest
Shri M.K. NARAYANAN
His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal

Speakers
Professor SABYASACHI BHATTACHARYA
Eminent Historian

Professor SUGATA BOSE
Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University

Shri B.P. SINGH,
His Excellency the Governor of Sikkim and the author of the books
were present.

Monday, 5 July 2010 at 6.00 p.m.
Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, West Bengal 

 On the occasion of
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
on 5th June 2010

Victoria Memorial organized the following two events:
 7.00 a.m.:

Planting of saplings in the garden in presence of -

Shri Utpal Chatterjee, Sheriff of Kolkata;

Shri H. P. Budhia, President, Friends of Victoria Memorial;

Shri S. K. Todi, Vice-President of Friends of Victoria Memorial;

Shri Amalesh Dasgupta, Secretary General, West Bengal Federation of United Nations Associations;

Shri Sitaram Sharma, Chairman, West Bengal Federation of United Nations Associations.
3.00 p.m.: 

In-house lecture by Dr. Arunabha Mazumdar, Ex-Professor,
All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata

Theme: Controlling Environmental Pollution

Programmes organized by Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
between July 2009 and April 2010 : A Report

 Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata organized the following programmes on the occasion of "International Museum Day 2010"


Check out message from Swami Prabhananda,
General Secretary Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission
on the theme of International Museum Day - 'Museum and Social Harmony'
Detailed Programme

 Date  Time  Programme  Age group
17 MAY 2010  11 a.m. to
12 noon		 Children's Art Competition 8 years to 11 years
&
12 years to 15 years
18 MAY 2010  11 a.m. to
4 p.m.		 Treasure Hunt  Open to all
18 MAY 2010   Special viewing of some artifacts
in the Portrait Hall		  Open to all
18 MAY 2010  5 p.m. Panel discussion entitled
"Museum and Social Harmony" followed by panel discussion.

Participants:
Professor Amalendu De
Professor Sovan Som
Professor Tapati Guha Thakurta
Dr. Sekhar Bhowmick		  
19 MAY 2010 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. In-house Seminar :
"Historical development in the methods and materials of the paintings".

Resource persons:
Professor Jogen Chaudhuri
Professor Sovan Som		  
 
A message from the General Secretary 
of Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math
Swami Prabhananda
on the theme of International Museum Day - 'Museum and Social Harmony'
  MESSAGE
 

 'Unity in diversity' is a wonderful heritage that India discovered, long back, adopted in life-style and disseminated among others. History abounds with illustrations to show that 'uniformity in diversity' tried in the past did not yield any happy solution. Interestingly, it was Sri Ramakrishna, the 'Prophet of Harmony of Religions' also used to say, "He is indeed a real man who has harmonized everything. Most people are one-sided. But I find all opinions point to the One." He lived a life which demonstrated how religious harmony can bring diverse groups of people together. 'Harmony' is the key solution in today's troubled world with manifold diversities. In the wake of globalization, opening up of economies, pluralistic society is a common feature everywhere. In such circumstances, a harmonious global society is most welcome where people can exchange their views with mutual understanding and striving for all round development of human beings.

A Museum is a structured platform dealing with preservation and transmission of integrated heritage-natural and cultural, tangible and intangible. It provides scope for acquiring knowledge of different cultures, histories of various nations, etc. in an objective way, thereby making way for mitigating conflicts sprouting from misunderstandings. Preservation, documentation and presentation of material and immaterial heritage should be done in such a way that the Museum stimulates the spirit of harmony. Human beings all over the world need to put their skills to work in order to obtain harmony within themselves, with others, within our museums and in the museum world. In fact, museum is an important social and cultural vehicle for promoting and maintaining social harmony in the truest sense.

I hope and believe that the theme of deliberations 'Museum and Social Harmony' chosen for the International Museum Day 2010 will contribute towards achieving the ICOM's global vision of unity and peace.

May your efforts to propagate the message of harmony be crowned with success is my humble prayer.
 14 May 2010  (Swami Prabhananda)
General Secretary
Ramakrishna Math &
Ramakrishna Mission

   Other programmes will soon be notified. Please watch this space.

PAST PROGRAMMES
 
 
 
 

Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
organised a talk entitled
"Marketing of Cultural Institutions"
by
Dr. G.S. Rautela, Director General,
National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata
on 12 April 2010, 5p.m
at Victoria Memorial Hall.

Dr. K.K. Basa, Director,
Indian Museum, Kolkata
presided over the programme.

Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata,
and
Rabindra Bharati University
organised an exhibition of the
Award Winning and Selected Artworks
of the
Faculty of Visual Arts, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata
at
Victoria Memorial Hall
from 9th March 2010 to 14th March 2010, 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

His Excellency, Shri M.K. Narayanan, Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal
inaugurated the exhibition
at 6.00 p.m. on Monday, 8th March 2010,
in presence of Professor Karuna Sindhu Das,
Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University
and
Shri Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, eminent artist.


 VM organised a two-day seminar on "Authenticity of Museum Artifacts" at VMH
on 19th & 20th FEB 2010.
 Speaker on 19th FEB 2010 - Mr. K.K. Gupta, former Chief Consultant, IGNCA, New Delhi.
Speakers on 20th FEB 2010 - Mr. B.V. Kharbade, Scientist and Head of RCL, Mysore
AND
-Dr. V Jeyaraj, former Curator, Govt. Museum, Chennai.
 
Mr. K.K. Gupta delivering his talk.

Victoria Memorial Kolkata and Aus-Heritage Australia
organised a two day workshop
on :"Aspects of Care and Management of Museum Collection”
from 11th January 2010, 10.00 a.m.
at Rotary Sadan, Kolkata
94/2 Chowringhee Road, Kolkata - 700020
(beside Nehru Childrens Museum)
Mr. Vinod Daniel, Chairman Aus-Heritage
&
Mrs Kristin Denise Phillips,
Australian experts
spoke on the occasion.
Dr Saroj Ghose,
Former Director General
of National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata
addressed the inaugural function as Chief Guest.

News published in INDUS AGE - an Australian newspaper.
CLICK ON THE NEWS TO ENLARGE

   

 Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata,
Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
and British Council,
jointly organized an exhibition,
supported by the World Collections Programme

"INDIAN LIFE AND LANDSCAPE
BY WESTERN ARTISTS"
PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS FROM THE V&A 1790 - 1927

From 20 December 2009 to 31 January 2010 for public view

It was inaugurated on 19th December 2009 at 6.00 p.m. at Victoria Memorial.

In the presence of
Jawhar Sircar, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India;
Mark Jones, Director. V&A Museum;
Bina Sarkar Ellias, Editor-Publisher Gallerie International

 OTHER PROGRAMMES HELD

2 January 2010: Watercolour workshop for school children
11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

2 January 2010: Talk by Michael Dockrill on British Foreign Office and Foreigners
5.30 p.m.

9 January2010: Quiz on Indian History by Barry O'Brien
3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.

16 January: India Through Western Eyes: Panel discussion
6.00 p.m.

23 January: Souvenir design workshop by Crafts Council of West Bengal
11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

30 January: Activity Sheet Workshop for school children
11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
Note about the above paintings:
Left: William Carpenter, Tara Chand, the court painter at Udaipur, Pencil and watercolour on paper, June or July 1851, © Victoria and Albert Museum/ V&A images
Right: John Griffiths, A woman holding a fish on her head, Bombay, Watercolour on paper, 1872 © Victoria and Albert Museum/ V&A

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