Activities under the Bengal Bratachari Society (1963-1984)

Since inception of the Gurusaday Museum in 1963 up to 1984, some exhibitions were held on National and International level, which are as follows :-

1. 1967 : “The Traditional Folk Art of India” organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art-Fairmount, USA. Some of the objects of the Gurusaday Museum were displayed at that exhibition.

2. 1972 : At the Calcutta Information Centre, organized by the Government of West Bengal, Deptt. of Information & Public Relations, on “Banglar Lokoshilpa Pradarshani-O-Alochana Chakra”, - meaning in English the Exhibition and Seminar on folk art of Bengal and some objects of the Gurusaday Museum were displayed.

3. 1975 : At the National Museum, New Delhi, special exhibition was organized on Bengal Folk Art from the collections of the Gurusaday Museum.

4a) 1982 : At “Bharat Utsab” or the Festival of India, at London, some objects of the Gurusaday Museum were sent through the National Museum, New Delhi.

4b) 1982 : An exhibition named as “Golden Jubilee” was held at the Max Muller Bhavan, Calcutta. Ninety-four objects of arts and crafts of the Gurusaday Museum were displayed in the said exhibition.

5. 1984 : From the selected collection of the Gurusaday Museum, special exhibition on “European influences reflected in the Folk Art of Bengal” was held at the British Deputy High Commission, British Council, Calcutta.

In order to popularize itself, the Gurusaday Museum arranged some more exhibitions were organized in collaboration with the Indian Museum, Kolkata at the Indian Museum, which are as follows:

1. a) 1988 – Exhibition “Glimpses of Folk Art and Tribal Art” with the Gurusaday Museum collection. During this Dr. Jyotindra Jain, Sr. Director, National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum, New Delhi, delivered a lecture on the subject “An introduction to Folk and Tribal Art of India”.

b) 1998 – Exhibition of “Kalighat Pats” from the collections of the Gurusaday Museum. A set (six in a set) of picture postcard on Kalighat Pats was published.

2. 1999 – Exhibition of “Square Paintings” from the collections of the Gurusaday Museum.

3. 2001 – “The Art in wood”. A book was published on this occasion as “Wood Carvings of Bengal of the Gurusaday Museum”.

4. 2002 – “A meadow of Nakshi Kantha” from the collection of the Gurusaday Museum.

5. 2003 – “Scroll Paintings” from the collection of the Gurusaday Museum.

6. 2003 – Participation in an International Exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan, where nine objects from the Gurusaday Museum were displayed in the said International exhibition, organized by the Indian Museum, Kolkata, with the approval of the Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India and the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and titled as ‘Images of Man: Glimpses of Indian Civilization’ held in the National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan.

Special Exhibitions were arranged on different occasions at the Gurusaday Museum, as follows –

1. 1989 – Folk Art of Bengal as a part of the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Gurusaday Museum.

2. 1993 & 1995 – Arranged Design Development Programme at the Museum premises with the financial support of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles, New Delhi. Tribal Patuas, non-tribal Patuas, Dokra artisans, Wood carvers, Kantha embroiders, etc. attended the programme from the different districts of West Bengal.

3. a) 1997 – Competition-cum-exhibition of Kantha and a seminar on “Kantha Art of Bengal”. Successful participants of the competition were awarded medals in the name of Shri Gurusaday Dutt, I.C.S.

b) 1997 – To celebrate the 50th year of Indian Independence an exhibition entitled “Freedom struggle as reflected in the folk arts of Bengal” was organized, which was
inaugurated by Prof. Kalyan Kumar Ganguli, formerly Bageswari Professor, Calcutta
University.

c) Another exhibition on “Folk Paintings of Bengal” was organized in the same year, which was inaugurated by Shri Vasanta Chaudhury, an art connoisseur and eminent Bengali film actor.

4. a) 1998 – “Women in Folk Art of Bengal” an exhibition and seminar was organized.

b) 1998 – An exhibition entitled “Durga and her associates in Bengal Folk Art” was organized on the occasion of the Durga Puja festival being inaugurated by Shri R. K. Mathur, I.A.S., Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles, New Delhi. A set of Picture post card (six in a set) on wood carvings was published.

5. 1999 – “Design-cum-Dying workshop on Handlooms” was organized by the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handloom, Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles, Weavers Service Centre, Calcutta, in consultation with the Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Govt. of West Bengal and in association with the Bengal Bratachari Society and the Gurusaday Museum. It was inaugurated by Dr. Pratap Chandra Chunder, former Union Minister of Education, Government of India.

6. a) 2004 – An exhibition entitled “Puttalika : Dolls & Toys of Bengal”, inaugurated by Dr. Kalyan Kr. Chakravarty, I.A.S., Director General, National Museum, New Delhi.

b) 2004 – “Design Exhibition-cum-Dying Workshop on Handlooms” in collaboration with Office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Weavers’ Service Centre, Kolkata, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India at Gurusaday Museum during 30th December,2004 to 1st January,2005. The workshop was inaugurated by Shri M. Mehorotra, Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIM, Joka, Kolkata on 30th December,2004 .

7. 2005 – An exhibition entitled “Durga in folk art of Bengal” was organized on the occasion of the Durga Puja festival. Exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Sanjay Agarwal, I.A.S., Development Commissioner(Handicrafts), Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles, New Delhi. A folder (book form) was published.