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Varta Trust organizational logo: The word ‘Varta’ written out in black colour in a bold stylized typeface in all capitals on a white background. The text is inside a rectangle finely outlined in black. The first ‘A’ in ‘Varta’ is affixed with the graphic of a bugle on top. The bugle faces to the right, and breaks the rectangular outline where it sticks out above the logo lettering. Tagline below the logo says "Gender, Sexuality, Intimacy, Publishing". Logo artwork credit: Rudra Kishore Mandal

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Accessing a shared past for a shared future

By Yashita Kandhari

Yashita Kandhari on her experience of discovering and getting involved with a queer archiving initiative in her hometown Kolkata
This graphic is a combination of an extract from the accompanying article and the visual of a New Year’s greeting card, one among 3,000 such letters and cards that Kolkata-based Counsel Club, one of India’s earliest queer support groups (1993-2002), used to receive in the 1990s and early 2000s. The greeting card has three flaps. The central one is empty and the extract text, printed on a yellow vertical rectangle that looks similar to the postcards issued by India Post, is placed on this empty space. The flap to the left of the rectangle shows a pretty bouquet of flowers growing out of a pink heart. The flap to the right of the rectangle is a cut-out of an enchanting forest and a white dove flapping its wings. The text placed on the central flap says: “To me it is important to construct historical narratives that do not present queer identities and experiences as monolithic. By including personal documents and narratives, archives allow us to tell not one history, but multiple histories. Stories contained in the archives can provide leverage and evidence for activists as they bear witness to the pain and discrimination faced by queer people. The Counsel Club Archives definitely changed and expanded the way that I understand queerness in the context of my own hometown, Kolkata.” Graphic credit: Pawan Dhall
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Varta Trust, Kolkata, West Bengal