On 28 November, the Varendra Research Museum will open their doors with a Heritage Festival, celebrating Rajshahi’s rich cultural heritage. The Heritage Festival marks the culmination of an 18-month long training programme supported by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund.
As Bangladesh’s oldest museum, the Varendra Research Museum is known for its collections which detail the histories of ancient and medieval Bengal. As climate change and limited resources are threatening these unique collections, Durham University’s UNESCO Chair and the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh have delivered a comprehensive and inclusive dual-lingual training programme.
With an overarching focus on strengthening long-term capacity on the ground, the training programme succeeded in increasing the staff’s overall confidence in curating the objects under their care. Together, they explored a range of topics such as community engagement and volunteering, collections care, cataloguing and digitisation, storytelling in heritage preservation, ethics and intellectual property rights, and risk and disaster management.
Aside from teaching skills, the programme went further with its holistic approach. It connected 34 voices across the museum - from the Director, curators, the estates and front of house team. Together, they developed new policies to protect and preserve objects and began the journey to bring new communities into the space.
The Heritage Festival also marks the launch of their latest physical exhibition ‘A History of Bangladesh in 25 Objects.’ Each exhibited object is from the Varendra Research Museum’s collection. They have been conserved, digitally documented and recorded - the process has revealed their historical significance, places of origin and associated oral traditions. There will be a virtual edition of the exhibition in due course.
Professor Shahnaj Husne Jahan, the project’s in-country Coordinator and National Expert, said that the project has ‘strengthened museum staff capacity for the first time in Bangladesh. The Varendra Research Museum staff learned various strategies to preserve tangible and intangible cultural heritage at risk for future generations.’
Find out more about the project here.
