Diary Dates
BACSA Newsletter readers, family and friends may be interested in the following events:
| Date / Time | Event | Place |
On now (until Sunday 19 Oct 2025)  | ‘Ancient India – Living Traditions’ This new exhibition ‘explores the origin of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sacred art in the ancient and powerful nature spirits of India, and the spread of this art beyond the subcontinent’. | British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG Click here for further details, and to make a booking. |
On now (until Sunday 2 Nov 2025)  | ‘Tigers & Dragons: India and Wales in Britain’ This exhibition, featuring over 100 artworks – paintings, photographs, performances, textiles, sculptural installations and new media, by around 70 artists from Wales, England, India and Pakistan ‘delves into the deep-rooted connections between the Indian Subcontinent and Wales’. | Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Alexandra Road, Swansea SA1 5DZ. Click here for further details. |
Tuesday 16 Sep 2025 (until Monday 13 Apr 2026)  | ‘Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies’ An exhibition commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Burma Campaign, and the role played by the Indian, British, African and Asian forces in defeating the Imperial Japanese Army | National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HT Click here for details of the exhibition and the accompanying series of public events. |
18-30 Sep 2025 (details below)   | ‘Textiles from Bengal – A Shared Legacy’ (Published by Mapin, in association with WSRC (Weavers Studio Resource Centre), a not-for-profit trust based in Kolkata) Several events are being held in the UK, to celebrate the launch of this book which ‘explores in depth the lost textile traditions of Bengal from the 16th-20th century, and traces its impact on the historical and cultural aspects of the region’. | London, Manchester and Edinburgh (details below) |
| Thursday 18 Sep 2025, 6pm-8pm | ‘Textiles from Bengal – A Shared Legacy’ This evening includes ‘a live music performance by Soumik Datta, screening of a documentary on Bengal textiles, and a panel discussion with Sonia Ashmore, Francesca Galloway, Lenny Hodges and Rifat Wahhab’ | The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London W1K 1HF Click here to register. |
| Friday 19 Sep 2025, 2pm-4pm | ‘Textiles from Bengal – A Shared Legacy’ This event offers ‘an intimate viewing of rare Bengal textiles from the V&A collection with Avalon Fotheringham, alongside the book launch and a film screening on the topic’. | V&A East Storehouse, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East Storehouse, V&A, Parkes Street, London E20 3AX Click here to register. |
| Thursday 25 Sep 2025, 6pm | ‘Textiles from Bengal – A Shared Legacy’ This evening features ‘the official Manchester launch, academic panel discussions on Bengal’s textiles in the wake of industrialisation, and a documentary screening’. | The Whitworth, University of Manchester Register via Eventbrite. |
| Tuesday 30 Sep 2025, 10am-3:30pm | ‘Textiles from Bengal – A Shared Legacy’ The Edinburgh launch of the book, including ‘a conversation with Sonia Ashmore, a series of academic presentations, a screening of Epaar Opaar: Shared Legacies, and an intimate object viewing of Bengal textiles from the WSRC collection’. | National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Register via Eventbrite. |
| Tuesday 30 Sep 2025, 6pm-7:30pm | ‘Textiles from Bengal – A Shared Legacy’ A public event co-hosted with the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies and the Trustees of the Edinburgh South Asia Association | University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Register via Eventbrite. |
Friday 3 Oct 2025, 5:00pm – 9:30pm  | ‘The Chindits’ A BIHT lecture by Dr Robert Lyman, MBE, followed by an optional 2-course meal | Army and Navy Club,36-39 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JN Click here for further details, and to make a booking. |
Sunday 5 Oct 2025 – Friday 17 Oct 2025  | British India: The East India Company & Mutiny Tour A 13-day tour in India led by Dr Rosie Llewellyn-Jones | Delhi, Meerut, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Serampore, Calcutta. Click here (or ring 020-8901-7320) for further details. |
Tuesday 7 Oct 2025, 11:00am  | East India Company Memorials in London A tour of Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral, with expert guide Dr Jennifer Hawes | Click here for further details, and to buy a ticket. |
Thursday 16 Oct 2025, 11:30am  | BACSA General Meeting (Members only) | Union Jack Club, Sandell Street, London SE1 8UJ. Speaker: Dr Sonia Ashmore, design historian, will speak on Dacca’s muslin industry, and how textile production in India led to industrialisation in the English Midlands. Further details (including registration instructions) will be published nearer the date. |
Sunday 26 Oct 2025  | 150th anniversary of CSI Christ Church, Salem to include ‘Holy Communion Service, a Congregation feast and a concluding ceremony’. All are welcome to attend the church’s sesquicentennial celebrations – including descendants of former congregation members. | CSI Christ Church, Fort Road, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. For further details, please contact: ‘csichurchsalem@gmail.com‘. |
| Thursday 26 Mar 2026 | BACSA Annual General Meeting (Members only) | Union Jack Club, Sandell Street, London SE1 8UJ. Further details (including registration instructions) will be published nearer the date. |
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(Suggestions for BACSA website news items, volunteering opportunities and diary entries, are always welcome – please send them to ‘comms@bacsa.org.uk’.)