Exhibition: Rediscovering Kolkata through Old Trade and Trade Routes of Bengal

As part of the 17th International History and Heritage Exhibition at the Sabarna Museum in Kolkata, I curated a fascinating philatelic exhibition centered around the theme "Rediscovering Kolkata through Old Trade and Trade Routes of Bengal." The exhibit offered a unique perspective on the city's rich history and cultural heritage, showcasing a range of rare and historic postage stamps that highlighted the significance of trade in the region.

I am excited to offer you a glimpse of this exhibition, which captured the essence of Kolkata's past and its role in shaping the culture and commerce of ancient Bengal.

https://twitter.com/sangrahashala/status/1604879319142387712?cxt=HHwWgMDSzZvP1sUsAAAA

https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/events/exhibition-at-sabarna-sangrahashala-busts-myths-on-kolkatas-history/cid/1914707

Article: The Role of Philately in Art Storytelling: The Case of Ramayana

I am thrilled to announce that my article titled "The Role of Philately in Art Storytelling: The Case of Ramayana," has been published in the prestigious 10th International Digital Storytelling Conference at Loughborough University, UK. This article offers a unique perspective on the use of philately in art storytelling, specifically in the context of the epic tale of Ramayana. 

Through this research, I explored how postage stamps can serve as a powerful tool for conveying cultural heritage and storytelling, offering a fresh perspective on the traditional methods of art storytelling. I look forward to continuing to explore the intersections of philately and storytelling in the future. 

This article also received the Bronze Award in the philatelic publication category at the KARNAPEX 2024 competition held in Bangalore, India.

https://storytellingacademy.education/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DST-Programme-20-22-June-2022-FINAL.pdf

Workshop: Ramayana Painting

Telling stories through ancient paintings is an interesting activity. It becomes more interesting when art classes in schools are involved. 

I visited a school in Tartu in November 2014 to show how ancient paintings have been used in postage stamps to tell the story of Ramayana. Students had a great time seeing the Ramayana paintings in stamps and trying to paint them.

https://raatuse.tartu.ee/et/uudised/2014-2015-uudised/ponev-kulaline-indiast-raakis-ramajana-eeposest?highlight=WyJyYW1hamFuYSJd

Do you want to learn storytelling Ramayana using drawing/painting? I created a Twitter contest DrawingAStory on Ramayana, where you can draw / paint stories of Ramayana using any genre of painting (ancient art, contemporary art, folk & tribal art, cartoons & illustrations, digital & new age art, etc). Selected drawings/paintings will be retweeted. Follow the steps to participate in the contest.

1. Draw / paint characters based on Ramayana

2. Describe the drawing/painting with a short text

3. Tweet the drawing/painting and the short text with the hashtag #DrawingAStory

Exhibition: Inspiring India

The Estonian National Museum Postal Museum exhibited my collection of postal stamps in September 2014, titled 'Inspiring India,' depicting several cultural heritages of India, such as the Ramayana. This exhibit showcased how this ancient tradition is still alive in various art forms in several countries through philately. 

https://www.filateelia.ee/india-inspiring-inspireeriv-india/

https://www.filateelia.ee/foorum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4335

Online Exhibition: Storytelling Ramayana through Philately

I am fascinated by the power of storytelling for entertainment, education, and conservation. As a heritage storyteller, I am particularly interested in understanding how stories were told in ancient times and what we can learn from them to enhance modern-day storytelling.

The tradition of Ramayana storytelling has been preserved through art forms such as paintings and other cultural heritages such as Pattachitra, Mysore, Cheriyal, Madhubani, Thangka, Chitrakathi, Phad, Murals, Kamasan, to name a few. Ramayana feature stories about peace and war, to show the importance of moral values, bravery, and sacrifice. 

Here are some Indian pictorial narratives used to tell the story of Ramayana:

Painting_Genre	Characteristics
Madhubani Mithila	Wall art, simple geometrical patterns, symbolic images, drawing tools were fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, matchsticks, natural dyes and pigments
Chitrakathi	Narrative scroll, used handmade paper, brush and natural colors, accompanied by musical instruments
Pattachitra	Narrative scroll, accompanied by songs, free-flowing and bold outlines, natural colors like white, red, yellow, and black with decorative borders
Phad Kavad	Narrative scroll, panels painting on horizontal cloth, natural colors like red, yellow and orange
Kalamkari Pattam Katha	Block-printed art form with a pen on fabric Cloth-based scroll painting storytelling
Kerala Murals	Vivacious imagery, bold strokes, vivid colors such as ochre-red, yellow, bluish- green, white
Thangka	Painted on cotton or silk cloth, themes were wall painting, lifestyle, rituals and practices of daily life
Mysore	Muted colors made of vegetable, mineral, leaves, stones and flowers, brushes made with squirrel hairs or pointed blades of grass, delicate lines and delineation of figures, lustrous gold leaf Gesso which is a mixture of white lead powder, glue, and covered with gold foil
Thanjavur	Panel paintings on wooden planks, rich and vivid colors, simple iconic composition, glittering gold foils overlaid on gesso work and inlay of glass beads and gems
Cheriyal	Narrative scroll, primary colours blue, yellow, with predominance of red in background, accompanied by musical instruments harmonium, tabla and castanets, well defined outlines, brushes made with hair of squirrels tied to a stick

The story of Ramayana has traveled from India to many other countries influencing their storytelling genres. Here are some global narratives based on the epic Ramayana which have remained a mainstay of storytelling using various art forms in various parts of the world.

Ramayana Version Name	Country
Yama Zatdaw	Burmese version of Ramayana
Reamker	Cambodian version of Ramayana which is also their national epic
Ramakien	Thailand version of Ramayana which is also their national epic. The walls of Wat Pra Kaew (Temple of Emerald Buddha) are decorated with mural paintings depicting stories from the Ramakien.
Maharadia Lawana	Philippines version of Ramayana
Hikayat Seri Rama	Malaysian version of Ramayana
Phra Lak Phra Ram	Laos national epic adapted from Ramayana
Ramakavaca Kakawin Ramayana	Balinese (Indonesian) rendering of Ramayana. Traditional paintings in Bali were mainly found what is known as the Kamasan or Wayang style. Kamasan is Bali's traditional style of painting once used to recite Ramayana.
Bhanubhakta Ramayana	Nepali translation of Ramayana
Janakiharan	Sinhalese translation of Ramayana. According to legend, Ravana had his mountain palace in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka, where there are ancient rock paintings.
Ramaensho	Japanese adaptation of Ramayana
Tibet Tibet China	Tibetan adaptation of Ramayana Chinese adaptation of Ramayana

My one frame exhibit 'Storytelling Ramayana through Philately' has been displayed online since 2014 at the American Philatelic Society's online exhibits page, updated in 2024. 

https://digital.stamplibrary.org/digital/collection/p17047coll6/id/4089/rec/1

https://classic.stamps.org/Topical-Exhibits

Article: Short History of Tibetan Postage Stamps

In the October 2012 issue of the Stamp Lover magazine, I authored an article on a fascinating subject titled "A Short History of Tibetan Postage Stamps", which sheds light on several lesser-known intangible cultural heritages that were found along the Indo-Tibet Silk Road.

The ancient Silk Route that linked India and Tibet is a treasure trove of cultural heritages, yet it remains one of the lesser researched topics in the history of Silk Routes. The article offers a glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of India and Tibet, including ancient trade agreement, the ancient Tibetan language, traditional Tibetan mountain farming technique using Yaks, ancient Tibetan paper making technique using rice plant, and the mysterious Tibetan Snow Lion which is associated with the Tibetan Snow Lion Dance. The article offers a unique perspective on the intermingling of cultures and traditions that shaped the region's history, and provides valuable insights into the preservation of these intangible cultural heritages for future generations.

This article was a joint winner of the Johnson Award for philatelic writing, awarded by the National Philatelic Society in 2013.

http://www.ukphilately.org.uk/nps/past/octdec12.htm