Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts is organising an exhibition to showcase a first-of-its kind exhibition, "Banking on World Heritage."  The exhibition will display banknotes depicting world heritage sites listed by UNESCO at IGNCA in a unique manner and will be at display from Friday, June 30^th – Sunday, July 9^th 2023. The exhibition is curated by Ms. Rukmini Dahanukar, an independent scholar and founder of ‘Money Talks’. The exhibition will be inaugurated on Friday, 30^th June, 2023 at 4 PM by Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi. The inauguration will be attended by High Commissioners and Ambassadors of G20 Countries.

To commemorate the ongoing celebrations under India’s presidency of the G-20 Summit, the exhibition focuses on banknotes of the member nations. It is also a special occasion that coincides with the celebration of India’s 75th year of independence along with UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention’s 50^th year. The theme proposed, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" or "One Earth One Family One Future" perfectly matches the "Outstanding Universal Values of World Heritage."

According to Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts also plans to publish a souvenir. He believes that this souvenir will be of value to scholars and visitors to the exhibition. Apart from this, it will also create awareness about the World Heritage Sites of different civilizations. It will provide an opportunity for exchange of ideas between scholars and researchers from different countries.  Prof. Kumar Sanjay Jha, Archivist, IGNCA Cultural Archives said that IGNCA is proud to present the first of its kind exhibition “Banking on World Heritage”. Never before have banknotes depicting UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the world been presented and commemorated in such a unique way.

Ms. Rukmini Dahanukar the curator of the exhibition said that this exhibition will educate the millennial and youngsters about their culture and heritage through bank notes. She remarked in the light vein that “I have spent more money collecting money”.  The bank notes in our country have 17 languages of India, which reflects inclusivity and unity in diversity.  She further added in this context that everything is make in India and everything is projection of India which would be reflected in this exhibition.  She concluded by saying that this exhibition will also showcase connection of humanity and culture through banknotes. 

Interestingly, the member countries have issued currencies that are one of the most effective ways to depict grand monuments of our history for educating the society about their importance.

The coins are invaluable source of reconstructing ancient Indian history. They depict the glorious history of our past. In many cases they tell us about the reigning period of kings, the economy of kingdoms, the extent of empires and about trade during that period. They also throw light on the art and religion of the period to which they belong. To complement the exhibition, IGNCA is also organizing the panel discussion and the speakers are Sri Sudhakar Kazar, Former Managing Director, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Ltd., Prof. Poonam Mahajan, NCAER, Sri Ashish Chandra, Country Director, De La Rue India Private Limited, SriAnand Kothari, scholar and Ms Rukamini Dahunkar, Curator of the exhibition.

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