Funded by the AHRC GCRF Newton Fund, it focuses on the five former trading posts and garrison settlements up the Hugli river from the megacity of Kolkata. Together they form a rich corridor which is only now becoming the focus of national and international heritage initiatives. None, however, until now has built capacity in India in a sustained manner. This project has transformed that situation. Heritage activists have been upskilled to international standards in co-creating documentation and promoting both tangible and intangible heritage, thus energising the third sector groups.
A diverse toolkit of documentation has been produced, including a heritage management strategy, a docudrama, architectural drawings, a photographic exhibition, recorded testimony, batik banners and more.
These will allow the Hugli heritage activists and owner-custodians to 'talk heritage' to their state with nationally and internationally accredited documentation and visuals in the local Bengali language.
The project has also benefitted greatly from the expertise of local NGOs such as the Indian-Danish Serampore Initiative and Chandernagor Heritage and is collaborating with planners and the West Bengal Heritage Commission.
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