This project documents lesser-known visual cultures of colonial and nationalist-era Calcutta that have often remained outside mainstream art histories. Focusing on works by local artists, printmakers, and commercial publishers, it examines how popular visual practices shaped the cultural imagination of the period while challenging conventional narratives of Indian art.

Supported by an IFA grant, Tapati Guha-Thakurta of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC) assembled and photographed materials from private collections across the city. The resulting archive includes indigenous prints, paintings, book and journal illustrations, advertisements, calendars, almanacs, and photographs, offering valuable insights into the evolving visual traditions and cultural exchanges that informed artistic production in late colonial Calcutta.

This grant/project culminated in the publication of the monograph, "A Guide to the Hitesranjan Sanyal Memorial Collection" and the exhibition catalogue, "Visual Worlds of Modern Bengal" curated by Tapati Guha-Thakurta. As part of its collection, the IFA Archive houses both publications, along with project ephemera documenting the project's development and public engagement.