At a time when India’s rural legacies risk being eclipsed by the noise of hypermodernity, the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC) opened a window to the past, one that feels startlingly alive. In collaboration with the Indian Museum and the Museum Association of Bengal, KCC’s AMI Art Festival 2025 sparks life into ‘Breathing (with) History – Celebrating Rural Heritage Stories’, a landmark exhibition which urges urban audiences to rediscover India’s rural cultural landscapes.
As one steps further into the exhibition, the eyes are drawn to a riot of cultural expressions. Bankura’s terracotta figurines and the enigmatic Chau masks seem to observe you, as if privy to age-old secrets and village dramas. On the right, the scroll paintings from Pingla unravel in delicate, meticulous strokes, weaving stories of myth, harvest and celebration with equal finesse. Shafaque Meerza from the Sanskriti Museum and Art Gallery, Hazaribagh(Jharkhand) gave a sneak peek into her collection. “These pieces come from the hands of village women who paint Sohrai and Khovar motifs during the harvest and wedding season, respectively, adorning mud walls with stories of abundance.
Artists including Putli Ganjhu and Parvati Devi have shifted the practice onto paper, helping the tradition gain visibility abroad in countries such as Australia, Switzerland, Italy and Canada.” According to Meerza, the movement has since expanded to nearly 400 women, each finding both income and recognition through this craft. Suchorita Kanrar of Darpan – Reflection of the Past, emphasised the role of digital innovation in keeping tradition alive. “Children spend most of their time with screens. My husband and I had this wonderful idea: why not convert this idea of a museum into a digital space, where the children can openly interact with the past and explore the rural traditions?” The platform showcases everything from Pingla’s pattachitra and Ghurni’s clay dolls to the delicate flourishes of Rajbari architecture, along with forgotten everyday artefacts seldom displayed in traditional museums.
Adding to this multi-regional narrative, Cooch Behar Archive presents a meticulously curated selection reflecting the folk traditions of North Bengal. It includes Gosanimangal manuscripts, folk-play scripts and material on Malshi, Bhaowaiya and Chatka music once performed by Abbasuddin Ahmed and Damayanti Barman (Ray). Also on view are shitalpati mats, Rajbanshis’s textiles like Mekhli and Patani, bamboo fishing tools such as kholai and old photographs showing rituals and instruments. Standout pieces include a late 19th – 20th century Bishahari folk-play manuscript and rare HMV promotional booklets that trace the region’s musical journey through the mid-20th century. Speaking to The Statesman, Ranjit Taro from Fondazione L’Albero della Vita (FADV), himself dressed in Karbi attire, shed light on the Karbi Anglong community from Assam, exhibiting a rich display of wares.
“Each garment, pini (a woman’s garment worn below the waist), pekok (utilised to tie or fasten), vamkok (girdle worn by Karbi women), reflects traditional methods using cotton, silk or jute silk.” He further discussed the poho- a turban, which comes in three kinds, each signifying its unique hue. Red is worn by married men, while white is worn by youth, particularly unmarried ones, and the Khanjar is a colourful poho donned by girls and women. In a section shimmering with both everyday beauty and ancient craftsmanship, Eeshita Basu, teacher and collector from The Heritage School, explores jewellery as an instinctive human impulse. “Even in the earliest human societies, people decorated themselves with flowers, leaves and stones. After food and clothing comes the desire to embellish.”
Her display is a true treasure chest, packed with everything from metal and cloth jewellery Bengalis grew up seeing at home to antique Hyderabadi coin necklaces and weighty hansuli (choker) pieces. Alongside them sit Dokra wire-work designs, terracotta bead strings and Nagaland’s iconic headhunter pendants. The collection wanders into mango-motif chains, red and white sandalwood seeds, coconut-shell trinkets, macramé experiments and paddy-grain ornaments. The narrative of rural Bengal is further enriched by thematic installations curated by fellow scholar Aptauddin Molla from the Geography Department of the University of Calcutta. His display ranged from region specific turban styles to blind maps, terracotta sculptures and fibre art, weaving geography and material culture into a tapestry of heritage preservation. Prof. Durga Basu, who heads the Society for Heritage, Archaeology & Management (SHAM), said that this year’s theme, ‘Worship and Rituals of Rural Bengal’, aligns with the society’s mission of promoting awareness about heritage and vanishing cultural practices.”
The exhibition curated district-specific rituals such as Bankura’s Bhadu Puja, Punni Pukur Brata(water conservation vow) and Shashthi Puja. The showcase includes unique observances like West Mendinipur’s giant Bheem Puja and the communal Goshto Pujo after Ras Purnima. “These events justify the popular Bengali saying ‘Baro Maashe Tero Parbon’ (There are more festivals than months in a year). Under the guidance of the Botanical Survey of India, the industrial section of the Indian Museum charts how industrial societies rely on plants for materials, medicines and industry. Specimens like a 200-year-old upas tree (antiaris toxicaria), double coconuts and fibres from cannabis and bamboo illustrate how natural resources sustain livelihoods and cultural practices. In the concluding segment, presented by Prof. Tamali Chandan Roy of the Sundarban Anchalik Sangrahashala, visitors were drawn into the archaeological layers of Baruipur and Joynagar, weathered stone figures, time-worn coins and delicate fibre-cast icons.
Of particular note was the ‘Unnoti Devi’ figure, a symbolic representation of prosperity and unity, with ten hands embodying facets of human endeavour from agriculture to literature and social reform. Sitting atop a lion named Uddam, she represents an ethic of independence and nationalist symbolism embedded in folk tradition. Every nook and corner of the hall tucks in stories waiting to be discovered, a tale that binds past to present, village to city, tradition to imagination.