Under The Skin – Dharavi’s Lost Leather Artisans
A third-generation ‘Bombay-Tamil’ narrates a personal history of Dharavi’s leather industry and its vanished ‘tholwadis’
Forgotten Files
Custodians of Culture
On 25 May, we hosted a full house for Saturdays at Sarmaya at our archive in Mumbai. Our guests enjoyed getting up close with contemporary art, archival photos and historical documents relating to the courtesans of India. It was a delighted group of art-lovers who gathered for this session, which included interactive activities that encouraged… Read more »
How to read history that hasn’t been written yet
Inspired by a 150-year-old sepia photograph, a museum professional explores how to fill in the blanks of history through an anti-caste perspective
Indian monuments that time forgot
Take our quiz on forgotten, sidelined or destroyed monuments and acquaint yourself with an unseen India.
“These women were the Madhuri and Sridevi of their times”
Accomplished Odissi dancer Madhur Gupta narrates the history of India’s courtesans, once the most glamourous celebrities of the land
Forgotten names on India’s map
India has seen the names of cities, rivers and even roads changed to reflect political realities, contemporary national narratives and the drawing of new borders. Take our quiz to see how well you know some of these forgotten monikers from the past
Forgotten Files
For the 39th issue of Spotlight, we’re bringing you some vanished traditions, unsung artists, lost scripts and other surprising facets of Indian history and art
Who paints Pichwais & other mysteries
Let’s start with the fact that the word ‘Pichwai’ itself is a misnomer
Artist profile: Lena Lowis’s nostalgic botanical art
An exquisite collection of 19th-century botanical art that focuses on common-but-beautiful Indian flowers