Dr Ian Magedera visits Kolkata, India, for project to save river heritage
Dr Ian Magedera joined conservationists, architects, heritage commission representatives, other academics and civic planners at a meeting at the British Council in Kolkata in April, to discuss how to preserve the heritage of West Bengal's riverside towns with a colonial past.
The deliberations were part of the Hugli River of Cultures Project, a collaboration between IIT Kharagpur and University of Liverpool funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK, and Indian Council of Historical Research. The aim of the project is to draw up a Hugli Heritage Management Strategy by 2020 supported by Aishwarya Tipnis Architects and Mr G.M. Kapur of the Kolkata Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage.
Dr Magedera is a principal investigator for the project. He said;
"We are concentrating not only on domestic built heritage but also intangible cultural heritage such as Jagadhatri Puja that takes place on the river."
Bengal's riverside towns - Barrackpore, Serampore, Chandernagore, Chinsurah and Bandel - boast of a rich heritage but have been facing rapid urbanisation.
The participants discussed laws that needed to be mobilised, avenues of funding as well as ways to engage more heritage activists and volunteers.
Find out more
- Read the full article on Telegraph India
- Find out more about the Hugli River of Cultures Pilot Project