Chitpur Road is Kolkata's oldest road lined with colourful markets and majestic architecture
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With each few steps Chitpur Road reveals a new craft, a different story and a unique neighbourhood. From the handmade musical instruments in Jorasanko, to intricate handcarved blocks in Notun Bazaar, delicate jewellery of Garanhata and the grand clay idols and delicate shola ornaments of Kumartuli, Chitpur is an haven for lovers of art, craft and history.
Featured crafts |
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The Chitpur Craft Collective is a community of crafts people, artists, designers and entrepreneurs who are collectively building a new imagination of this historic locality
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Connecting with craftWe work with local communities to reactivate the arts, crafts and cultures of Chitpur through innovative projects and initiatives.
Ongoing projects |
Experiencing Chitpur in new waysWe curate unique experiences at Chitpur's bazaars, craft studios, heritage houses and atmospheric lanes that open up the many secrets, stories and local traditions.
Upcoming experiences |
Our Members
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Annapurna Press is a printing studio that has a 130 year old letter press machine which was shipped from Ohio Cleveland by the great grandfather of Mr Seal. It is one of the last working letter presses in Kolkata
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Art Rickshaw is a creative hub for artists and art enthusiasts the fosters creativity in everyday life and creates a space for the artist in each of us.
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Baidyanath Aash has been running Art and Co. for last 46 years. He has a rare collection of wood and zinc blocks that was passed down to him by a friend that he has carefully preserved for posterity.
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Avantika is a development practitioner, with a background in social entrepreneurship and sustainable development. She holds a Masters Degree in Development Practice from UC Berkeley, USA.
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Biman Das owns a sandesh mould shop and studio in Chitpur. As an artist he has been recognized by Lalit Kala Academy and has exhibited his work as as part of this association.
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Binod Pakray works at Dom Para off Beadon Street, and is a renowned, third generation, bamboo craftsman. He has collaborated with Swarup Dutta and other artists to create installations for shows at India Story, Aakar Prakaar and other spaces.
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Diamond Library is a 140 year old book shop and publisher that is one of the last remaining publishers of Jatra Scripts
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Divya Saraf is a landscape architect and writer, with a dual degree in Landscape Architecture and English from the University of California, Berkeley. Her work is focused around sustainable development and preservation.
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Hamdasti, meaning partnership in Persian, is a non-profit arts organization based in Kolkata, India, that develops collaborations between artists and communities. Hamdasti supports fellowship programs in which creative practitioners from diverse fields work with communities, schools and government departments to collectively design and implement cultural projects. Through innovative, community-driven art and design practices, we aim to strengthen the relationships between people, communities and their cities.
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Nandita Palchoudhuri is a social entrepreneur curating and consulting internationally, in the field of Indian Folk Art Craft and Performance Practices.
She is a Clore-Chevening Scholar in Cultural Leadership,UK. Ex Chairperson and Trustee India Foundation for the Arts, Member, FICCI-Creative Industries Committee, Ford Foundation - International Initiative for Social Philanthropy, Trustee Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta School of Music, Alliance Francaise , Neemrana Music Foundation amongst others. She is trained in Indian Classical Vocal music under Padma Vibhushan Smt Girija Devi. |
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Paramita is a performer, contemporary dancer and arts manager with over 20 years of contemporary dance training and has performed across 18 countries. Adept at designing strategic encounters between businesses and artists to create opportunities of nurturing the creative industries and their contribution to the community, she feels that arts can impact people deeply and therefore build moving messages for social change for the present generation. She is an ArtThinkSouthAsia 2016 Fellow and a Global Fellow of International Society of Performing Arts 2018.
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Panchanan Boral is the owner of a 32 year old book binding shop in Chitpur's Battala area.
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Swarup Dutta is a multidisciplinary art and design practitioner, educator, photographer, scenographer. He is a heritage enthusiast, actively involved in restoration of old houses in Kolkata. His initial training was in the field of fashion; however, upon his return to India, he has been actively collaborating with various craft practitioners for his projects ever since. His works across different mediums, but photography still remains his primary passion wherein he is challenging the boundaries of image-making in India.
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Suhasini Kejriwal is a Kolkata based artist. Her recent work is located inside the contemporary Indian urban sphere, excavating the economies and individuals that comprise it. Kejriwal is an alumni of Parsons School of Design, New York and Goldsmith's College, London. Kejriwal has exhibited extensively both in India and internationally with solo shows in Berlin, Mumbai, and Delhi and others.
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Shantanu Santra is the owner of a jewellery design shop on Garanhata Street, where one can see how jewellery is made from brass moulds. He also has a collection of catalogues and moulds in different designs and shapes. The shop was established by Shantanu’s father Sudarshan Santra when Garanhata was already established as a place for jewellery making around 50 years ago.
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Rabindranath Dutta is the owner of an 82 year old book binding shop with a collection of handmade notebooks and booklets describing rituals for Hindu religious functions.
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Rishika Mukhopadhyay is currently pursuing her PhD from University of Exeter, UK. She is a human Geographer and she's looking at different craft practices of Chitpur Road in her PhD.
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The Community Art Project is a collective of artists working on community engagement and urban activation in Tiretta Bazaar, or Old China Town, just off Chitpur Road.
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Other collaborators include
Bholanath Studio, Stampmakers Rudradeb Das, Wood Cut Chaitanya Library, Heritage Site Makhan Lal Das and Sons, Traditional Sweet Shop Star Harmonium, Tabla and Harmonium makers Ankita Das, Design Student Parina Kamdar, Artist |
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