Hey Aotit Katha Kao: Echoes of Bengal’s Past
Discover the rich heritage of Bengal at the annual exhibition “Hey Aotit Katha Kao” by Kolkata Kathakata, to be held at Nehru Children’s Museum, Kolkata. Explore rare artefacts, documents, manuscripts, and collectibles spanning centuries, showcasing the vibrant history, culture, and traditions of Bengal. Don’t miss this celebration of heritage, open until 19th January 2025.
“A people’s relationship to their heritage is the same as the relationship of a child to its mother” – observed Dr. John Henrik Clarke , the renowned American historian and a social activist. This underscores the importance of unearthing and preservation of the heritage around us. “Heritage” is a broad term and encompasses many components like tangible, intangible and natural heritage. State of West Bengal, once part of Bengal (Banga), carries in its womb a rich heritage of all three kinds, which provide clues to our past and traces the continuity how the Bengali society and its culture evolved over many centuries.
“Kolkata Kathakata” is a group of heritage enthusiasts, activists, collectors, connoisseurs and many other like-minded persons created on the WhatsApp platform. Since its inception in 2016 this group has been working tirelessly on the study of history and heritage. The group constantly studies lost traditions and memories of the past in its own way. The collectors who have meticulously built up a treasure trove of vintage artefacts that includes paintings, scrolls, sculptures, dolls, books, documents, photographs, scriptures, furniture, utensils, cameras, lights, and other appliances, coins & notes , stamps, badges, pens , cards , movie posters, lobby cards , pamphlets, gramophone records , special occasion memorabilia and souvenirs – so on and so forth, display the same time to time on the group which helps sharing of information and kindles up thought provoking discussions.
To complement this virtual initiative and bring these priceless artefacts to public view, for several years, ‘Kolkata Kathakata‘ has organized amazing exhibitions on various topics such as the history of Kolkata, history and culture of sports, history of pen and ink, Satyajit Ray, and the freedom struggle of India.
This time, the group has come up their annual exhibition titled “Hey Aotit Katha Kao“.which was inaugurated on Friday, 18th January at Nehru Children’s Museum, Kolkata. and will be on view till 19th January, 2025. Along with the exhibition, the fifth annual issue of ‘Kolkata Kathakata’ magazine was also launched on the day of the inauguration.
This exhibition has been adorned with documents from the time of the formation of Calcutta (now Kolkata), documents of the beginning of the foreign rule in places like Chunchura, Chandannagar, Kashimbazar, Sundarbans and Murshidabad, which largely served as the trading posts and routes of European trading companies since early 16th century CE. It has also showcased cosmetics of the then Bengali women community, studio photographs, old Bengal paintings, matchboxes, the history of the tram in Howrah city, manuscripts and handwritings of prominent people of Bengal, ancient manuscripts, books of Battola literature, banknotes of lost countries, coins, labels of various products, playing cards, cameras and other collectible souvenirs. In a way, this exhibition is an enviable display of various elements related to the history, tradition and culture of Bengal from the Chariyapada period (between 8th to 12th century CE) to the 1960s.
The main objective of this exhibition is to evoke memories of the past among the general public and present them in a real way. Also listening to the collectors in person, who have painstakingly collected and preserved the old artefacts for the posterity, is in itself a visitor’s delight. In recognising such laudable initiatives collector Arup Roy, who has tirelessly studied the freedom fighters of Bengal and collected their memorabilia and Anindya Kar, whose bank note collection is a constant source of amazement have been presented with lifetime achievement award. Another collector Sudhindra Kumar Chakraborty also received a lifetime achievement award for his special contribution.
For heritage enthusiasts of the city this exhibition is surely a window to the golden past of Bengal and Calcutta. For others, I am sure, it would be an eye opener to the understanding of heritage and its significance which can be anywhere around the corner and is just waiting to be explored and shared.
Chandranath Chattopadhya, the mind and soul behind this great initiative, along with his dedicated team, has done a commendable job to curate this exhibition.
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