Project grant by the German Federal Foreign Office
With the support of the ‘Cultural Preservation Programme’ of Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the German Consulate General Kolkata, ‘Contact base’ – Banglanatak (a not for profit society working under the trading style) will be given a grant of Euro 50000 (approximate INR 40 lakh) to revive an intricate and exquisite traditional craft of Bengal – Sholacraft. The project aims to lead to cultural sustainability, protect and nurture cultural diversity and raise people’s awareness on their own national identity – a cherished instrument of German cultural relations and education policy worldwide.
On 26th February, German Deputy Consul General Juergen Thomas Schrod signed the agreement with the secretary of banglanatak Ananya Bhattacharya. Cultural heritage is an expression and representation of a society’s notion of itself, of its history its identity, beliefs and traditions. Thus every culture is a world in itself – a world of culture. These worlds of culture must be preserved, nurtured and developed, and that is the aim of the Shola Craft project. Through facilitation of skill transmission, documentation and innovation the Shola craft will be revived, restored and revitalized in this year-long project and an online platform will be developed for knowledge and skill transmission on shola craft, workshops and exhibitions will be held.