Team IHAR at the AMI Festival held in the Indian Museum, Kolkata

The AMI Festival at the Indian Museum, Kolkata beautifully brings rural India into the heart of the city. Walking through the exhibition feels like stepping into a living archive of village life — from terracotta traditions and folk paintings to everyday tools, stories, and songs that have shaped generations.

Curated with warmth and sincerity, the festival creates a shared space where artisans, researchers, museum professionals, and visitors connect deeply with India’s rural heritage. Here, heritage isn’t just displayed — it is felt, heard, and celebrated.
Every object carries a community’s memory, every performance echoes the rhythm of village life, and every exchange bridges the distance between our rural roots and the urban world.

This year, IHAR proudly participated with three representatives.
Our member Mouli Roy collaborated from Devalgarh Museum, while Nabanita Ghoshal and Ronita Mondal represented Team REACH Foundation, Kolkata, engaging with visitors on the urgent need to conserve historic buildings and safeguard cultural heritage.

Adding to this spirit of collaboration, IHAR Director-Operations Sri Surya Sarathi Roy and IHAR Digital Media Incharge Suprabho Roy, accompanied by Suchira Nandi Purkayastha, Journalist, The Times of India, visited the ongoing festival and warmly appreciated the dedicated efforts of our fellow members.

Our presence reinforced a collective message: heritage survives only when communities, institutions, and individuals work together to protect it.

AMI is a powerful reminder that heritage is not a relic of the past —
it is a living, breathing legacy shaped by people, preserved with care, and enriched when shared.