Kolkata or Calcutta is known as the cultural capital of India. It is a place with many colonial remnants. In 2019, a dedicated cultural space was established in Kolkata. Under thin the four renowned iconic colonial buildings of Kolkata, the Old Currency Building, Metcalfe Hall, the Belvedere House and the Victoria Memorial Hall have been refurbished to develop them collectively as a cultural hub. The Ministry of Culture of the Government of India is developing cultural spaces around iconic buildings in all the metro cities beginning with Kolkata. After Kolkata, such cultural spaces will be developed in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Varanasi.
The building was founded in the year 1833. Agra Bank was first housed in this building. It was named as Old Currency Building when the government occupied a large portion of it for its Currency Department in 1886 from the Agra Bank Limited
Conservation and restoration work the Old Currency Building in the Dalhousie Square was carried out to turn it into a hub for exhibitions. There will be three floors of exhibition space with 13 well designed galleries, where over 600 art pieces will be on display. The appearance of the more than 150-year-old structure has been given a fresh coat of paint. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is the custodian of Currency Building. ASI chose The Currency Building for cultural space because it is a prominent part of Bengal’s heritage and history.
The Belvedere House in Alipore was the palace for the Viceroy of India. It was lying in a derelict condition. After the facelift this building is now Indira Gandhi National Centre of Art. It is a tribute to Bengal renaissance and Rabindranath Tagore. It also showcases the original works of the Hungarian mother-daughter duo artists, Elizabeth Sass Brunner and Elizabeth Brunner. It also has paintings on hundred years of Shantiniketan and old photographs Kolkata by famous painters like Raja Deen Dayal and Shambhu Saha are part of the exhibition.
The design of Metcalfe Hall was taken from the portico of the Temple of Winds in Athens. It was built in the year 1844. ASI carried out a major conservation exercise in 2018-19 to restore its heritage. To commemorate the occasion of “100 years of Bengali Cinema”, The National Museum of Delhi set up an exhibition. In the ground floor of the building in collaboration with the Film Heritage Foundation.
The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the then Empress of India, Queen Victoria. After the makeover Victoria Memorial has become a unique combination of heritage, architecture, and museum. It has seven galleries. Three galleries on the ground floor display iconic oil paintings by many artists from Bengal as well as from other parts of India. It also displays the Jaipur Procession of 1876, the world’s second-largest oil painting.