STRATEGIZING CURATED PERFORMANCES FOR HERITAGE ART FESTIVALS: A CASE STUDY OF THE ‘DURGA PUJA IN KOLKATA’ AND THE ‘PREVIEW SHOW OF DURGA PUJA ART’

Arkaprovo Das; Anjan Sen

doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i12s.2026.7226

Authors

Arkaprovo Das Senior Research Fellow, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi (Delhi), India
Dr. Anjan Sen Professor, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi (Delhi), India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i12s.2026.7226

Keywords:

Durga Puja in Kolkata, Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), Curated Event Management, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Preview Show

Abstract [English]

This research investigates the Preview Show of Durga Puja Art (PSDPA)—a curated pre-festival event organized in Kolkata before the overwhelming Durga Puja celebrations begin. Our study positions PSDPA as a pioneering curated event management strategy designed to catalyze international tourism for the urban festival. This paper addresses the ‘paradox of abundance’ in high-density South Asian mega-festivals—the local tension of crowd congestion and the global imperative for cultural accessibility—following Kolkata Durga Puja’s inscription on UNESCO’s representative ICH list. Adopting a qualitative case study design grounded in a constructivist paradigm, our study employs a multimodal methodology. Data collection and analysis involved triangulating document and discourse analysis of organizational reports (UNESCO, British Council, massArt) and digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook) with thematic, content, and narrative analysis of participant observations (preview settings), semi-structured interviews (preview actors), visual ethnographies (photos, videos, maps), and auto-ethnographic reflections (stories). The findings demonstrate that PSDPA2023 successfully mitigates typical crowd-related barriers through strategic interventions such as security orchestration and explicit navigation. Cultural accessibility is significantly enhanced via immersive exhibition and festive storytelling, fostering deep engagement between international visitors and indigenous artisans. Comparative analysis with the PSDPA2022 edition reveals an 81.68% growth in global attendance and a 124.90% surge in international visitors, confirming the model’s replicability and its efficacy in balancing global outreach with local cultural authenticity. Our study offers a seminal framework for the anticipatory curation of crowded festivals. It offers practical implications for creative stakeholders and social implications for artisanal welfare, aligning UNESCO ICHs with UN SDGs.

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