Kolkata Partition Museum

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The Kolkata Partition Museum (KPM) Project aims to establish a Partition museum in Kolkata, focussed on the experience of Bengal. Its twin foci are historical specificity and cultural continuity: it is dedicated to memorialize, in the most comprehensive manner possible, the specificity of Bengal’s Partition history, its aftermath and afterlives; it is equally keen to emphasize the cultural continuities between West Bengal and Bangladesh, in terms of their common living heritage - language, literature, food, fabric, and the performing arts - and to encourage collaboration between them. And it aims to do so by involving public participation in its programs and gearing all its activities in a way that make it more accessible and interesting to the public at large.

The KPM Journey So Far:

August 2016

Having decided to initiate a Partition Museum Project in Kolkata earlier in the year, I visit Berlin on a self-funded research trip to study its Holocaust Memorials. The purpose is to study the specific memorialisation practices involved in these memorials, try and gain insights from them and present my findings at a Conference next year.

August 2017

I first broach the idea of building a Partition Museum in Kolkata, to primarily an academic audience, at an International Conference at the Indian Museum, which I co-convened with Prof. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Jayanta Sengupta.

August 2018

The Kolkata Partition Museum Trust (KPMT) is registered, after a year of legwork & building a team. During this phase, I am also invited to speak on the nascent project at several premiere academic institutions.

February 2019

KPMT announces itself publicly through an Inaugural event at Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre (JBMRC). The highlight of the event is a conversation between filmmaker Goutam Ghose and Prof. Mainak Biswas about the former’s association with Partition in his life and work.

August 2019

A four-day Commemoration of Partition through Films is organized at Jadunath Bhavan, with Goutam Ghosh as our chief advisor and supported by Tata Steel. It includes features & documentaries from both sides of the border; and has Tanvir Mokammel and Akram Khan as our chief guests.

July 2020

A two-day online workshop is organized in collaboration with the Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts - 'Chronicling Resettlement: Digitizing the Prafulla K. Chakrabarti Papers'.

August 2020

A Webinar with KCC is held with 4 contemporary artists who have worked on the Partition of Bengal and displacement. This is in lieu of an Exhibition that we could not have at KCC, owing to the pandemic.

April 2021

An online folk concert is organized with Arko Mukhaerjee and friends to celebrate the Bengali New Year.

August 2021

A 12-day Art Exhibition, The Legacy of Loss: Perspectives on the Partition of Bengal, is inaugurated at KCC on 17th August. A collaboration between KCC & the KPM Trust, & supported by Tata Steel & the Emami Foundation, it is an Exhibition conceptualized & conceived by Rajasri Mukhopadhyay & curated by KCC, where 5 contemporary artists - Paula Sengupta, Vinayak Bhattacharya, Dilip Mitra, Debasish Mukherjee and Amritah Sen - give us their take on the Bengal Partition.

November 2021

A ‘Children’s Day’ Special online event is organized, with a discussion on the book, Chhotoder Border, by Manjira Saha. The author is in conversation with me.

December 2021

KPMT celebrates the Golden Jubilee of the Bangladesh Liberation War through the lens of cinema, by discussing the films (both documentaries and features) of Tanvir Mokammel on the War. The filmmaker is in conversation with Prof. Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, and the program is moderated by me.

April 2022

An online dance program, ‘Esho He Baisakh’, is organized to celebrate the Bengali New Year. Participants include students from various colleges and Universities, as well as some established dancers/ teachers from reputed dance academies.

24 August 2022

A Virtual KPM is formally announced, with a team presentation, at ICCR Kolkata, to mark the 75th anniversary of Partition. This project is a collaboration between the KPMT & AUR (Architecture Urbanism Research), headed by Aurgho Jyoti, an Indian architect based in the US & India. A multi-disciplinary team - comprising of advisors, specialists and young research scholars worked on it since early 2021, with utmost passion and dedication, trying to meet a very challenging deadline.

26 August 2022

Prof. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay delivers the Inaugural Lecture of the newly instituted ‘Annual Lecture Series’ at Presidency University, Kolkata. KPMT collaborates with the Department of History, PU, for this event.

Nov/Dec 2022

KPMT is the outreach partner for ‘Parted Crafts’, a12-day Exhibition curated by Archi Banerjee, on the impact of Partition on six craft communities in Bengal. Supported by a Mead Fellowship, this is held at ICCR Kolkata, with an Inaugural event on the opening day and a collateral a week later.

March 2023

KPMT organized a special event on the life and work of Adhir Biswas – writer, editor and pioneering publisher of ‘Gangchil’ – in March 2023, at Niyogi Bookstore, College Street, Kolkata.

22 August 2023

Victoria Memorial Hall, in association with KPMT, held a Panel discussion at the Conference Hall of VHM. It began with presentations by Dr Rituparna Roy & Aurgho Jyoti (on KPM & V-KPM respectively), followed by responses to them by Dr. Jayanta Sengupta & Sumona Chakraborty. The session, moderated by Prof. Tapati Guha-Thakurta, ended with a lively Q&A with the audience.

29 August 2023

An online Panel discussion on ‘Writing History for Children' was held with the ITIHASE HATEKHARI (‘First Lessons in History’) Team. An initiative of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung & IDSK, this team published a set of three illustrated books of history for children in 2022, and are all set for three more in 2023. This event was a pre-launch for the new set. The session was moderated by Anwesha Sengupta; and the panelists included Debarati Bagchi, Supurna Banerjee and Santanu Sengupta.

04 January 2024

The second lecture in the 'Annual Lecture Series' was delivered by Prof. Ananya Jahanara Kabir - at the Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre (JBMRC), Kolkata, on 4 Jan 2023.

18 May 2024

In celebration of International Museum Day (18th May), this event - HEARTLAND - presented a unique collaboration between KCC & the KPM Trust, showcasing artist Pradip Das' site-specific trilogy at the Naktala Udayan Sangha Puja: 'Chol Chitra' in 2021, 'Motakapor' in 2022 & 'Hridaypur' in 2023.

30 Aug 2024

The Kolkata Partition Museum Trust, in association with 'Nandikar', presented NABANNA - the iconic Bengali play by Bijon Bhattacharya, on the Bengal Famine of 1943 - at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, on 30 August 2024. The premiere show was a huge success.

2019-2021 KPM Events
2022 KPM Events