Sanatkada Trust:
Celebrating and Preserving Lucknow's Heritage
Incorporated in 2019, Sanatkada Trust is the force powering Lucknow Bioscope and Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival. Sanatkada Trust has been at the forefront of conservation and cultural stewardship efforts in the city for more than a decade thus, earning a name among artists, connoisseurs, historians, scholars, and visitors.
VISION
To better the administration of a growing scope of activities in Lucknow and the Awadh region and draw people to experience Lucknow and the myriad aspects of its culture.MISSION
To carve a niche for Lucknow’s rich syncretic legacies through discussions, exhibitions, performances, recitals, seminars, and workshops. The Trust intends to continue its invaluable contributions to the cultural landscape of our city, ensuring that the essence of Lucknow's heritage is preserved and celebrated for generations to come.
Projects
Lucknow Bioscope
Lucknow Bioscope - a city museum of culture, is a first of its kind initiative to explore, preserve and celebrate Lucknow’s rich and diverse cultural heritage. It aims to tell the story of Lucknow grounded in both the extraordinary and everyday, the past and its reflection in the present, highlighting its people, communities, lifestyles, art, architecture, music, literature, cuisine and the contribution of each to the world of art and culture.
Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival
Launched in 2010, as a celebration of the beautiful culture of Awadh, the Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival (MSLF) started as a Crafts Bazaar and evolved into a kaleidoscope of culture and charm over the years. It is an open-to-all event that brings art, crafts, food, and culture lovers from Lucknow and beyond under one roof.
Begum Akhtar Mazaar
The ‘Mallika-e-Ghazal’, Begum Akhtar lies peacefully at her Mazaar in Pasand Bagh area of Lucknow. The Mazaar was renovated in 2013 by the joint efforts of Sanatkada, Sadbhavana Trust, Takshila Educational Society, ASI and Hamid Ali - under the guidance of Late Saleem Kidwai and Late Shanti Hiranand. The space has been artistically designed and upgraded the place into an open stage where Haziris can be performed and aspiring musicians and singers can hone their skills and carry out their rehearsals.
Board
Noor Khan, Educationist
Noor Khan is an educationist and retired as the principal of Karamat Husain Muslim Girls’ PG College, Lucknow. She has been a core team member of Sanatkada since its inception. She has documented the tangible and intangible heritage of Lucknow and shared it with the city and its people. Noor Khan is one of the organisers of the Awadhi Home Cooked Festival and is one of the curators and editors of the Sanatkada cookbook, Lucknowi Bawarchi Khane: Food From Lucknow Homes.
Saman Habib, Scientist
Dr. Saman Habib is a Chief Scientist at the CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow where she works on infectious diseases. A molecular biologist by training, her research is focused on malaria. She is a Fellow of all the three science academies of the country and is a JC Bose National Fellow. Dr. Habib also presents dramatised readings and is interested in documentation of oral history and crafts practices. She is an old associate of Sanatkada.
Madhavi Kukreja, Founder Sanatkada Trust
Madhavi Kuckreja is the founder of Vanangana, an NGO that works on issues of violence against women; Sadbhavana Trust, a community-based development organisation that promotes grassroot interventions, social justice, and empowerment of women and girls; and Sanatkada, a weaves and craft organisation that has now bloomed into a full five-day festival along with Lucknow Bioscope, a city museum of culture. She has been working for more than three decades now and has dedicated her life for the upliftment of women and preservation of Lucknowi culture.
Directors
Nagma, Co-Director
A true Lucknowi, and a core team member for over a decade, Nagma is a crafts and costumes researcher. Passionate about arts and crafts, her latest passion is seeing crafts from their traditional forms to extravagant ideas. She loves the Lucknow Bioscope project because it brings out stories in their liveliest forms.
Tasveer Hasan, Co-Director
With almost 10 years of experience documenting subjects around Lucknow, Tasveer leads the Communications and Creative Operations for Lucknow Bioscope. He is most excited by the nuances of Awadhi culture, ranging from architectural history, food, music, and dance traditions, to the unique artisans who express their identities through craft.
Vishal Sharma, Co-Director
Passionate to learn about the zabaan and tehzeeb of Lucknow, Vishal never lets go of any opportunity that the Lucknow Bioscope presents to do so.