Archives at NCBS
Public Programming
 
The Archives at NCBS turns five! 
 
Saturday, Feb 17, 2024. 
 
Archives at NCBS
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Curtain raiser: Archive walk-throughs
 
Lecture Hall - 1
3:00 PM: 100,000 new archival objects, 120+ years of history!
3:30 PM: Archives for all: Reflections by Janaki Nair
 
Archives at NCBS
4:15 PM: Refreshments
4:30 PM: Exhibition Launch: Breakfast Table
4:45 PM – 7:30 PM: Archive and exhibition tours
 
Free and open to the public
 
 
 
Abstract:
The Archives at NCBS (https://archives.ncbs.res.in/) is a public centre for the history of science in contemporary India. We opened to the public on February 4, 2019. Today, over 250,000 processed objects across 30+ collections and over 120+ years are in various forms, ranging from paper-based manuscripts to negatives to photographs, books, fine art, audio recordings, scientific equipment, letters, and field and lab notes. We cover physics, ecology, environmental movements, mathematics, biology, and more. But through the material, we also see politics, gender, hierarchy, policy, labour, and so much more that highlights the links between science and society.
 
On Saturday, Feb 17, 2024, we celebrate five years of being around! Come join us with your families and friends for a full day of activities, walk-throughs, talks, and browsing archival treasures. We also celebrate five seasons of stories using archival material in our exhibition space with the launch of Breakfast Table, the winning proposal for our call for exhibitions around the theme, Grow (https://archives.ncbs.res.in/grow). The multi-sensorial exhibition draws from the papers of Leslie Coleman and MS Swaminathan at the Archives at NCBS.It considers the food we eat and the societal, political, scientific and economic processes from field to table. 
 
 
Bio of speakers and artists:
Janaki Nair is a historian. She taught at the Centre for Studies in Historical Studies, JNU, until her retirement in 2020. Her published work includes Mysore Modern: Rethinking the Region under Princely Rule (Minnesota University Press and Orient Blackswan, 2011/2012) and The Promise of the Metropolis: Bangalore’s Twentieth Century (OUP, 2005).
 
Pragya Bhargava is a researcher, artist, and educator. She works at the intersection of art and science to investigate questions about beings, things, and phenomena.
 
Nausheen Khan is a filmmaker and visual artist exploring the relationship between society, politics, and gender in her work. 
 
Aparajitha Vaasudev is an artist, illustrator, and designer whose work centres around themes of collective memory.