World Heritage Day | Art of holding on: Inside the living archives of Kolkata’s collectors

As World Heritage Day turns attention to monuments and legacy, it is worth looking beyond just structures. Long before heritage became curated, it existed in smaller, more fragile forms – objects that pass through hands and find their way to people who refuse to let them fade. Across the city, collectors, restorers, and preservers are retrieving memory from scrap, inheritance and chance. What they build is continuity, where history is repaired, revived and kept alive.

‘Not everything has a label, but they are my prized possession’

For Manju Chatterjee, collecting is not a choice- it is inheritance, shaped by a family legacy tied to one of Kolkata’s earliest toy businesses. KB Nan & Co (1862–1953) was once a landmark for Englishmen and zamindars, later carried forward by Arun Kumar De, fondly known as the city’s “toy boy.” Even decades after the shop shut, he was invited to the 1977 World of Toys exhibition. “After my father’s death, I started collecting more,” Manju says. “If I find any old toy, I bring it back.” Her shelves hold key-wound mechanical toys, many from before 1947. “Without the key, they don’t work,” she adds. Layers extend beyond display – into storage, memory, and family history. “These may look ordinary, but they carry stories, kept, cared for, and carried forward.”

‘Nothing comes to me complete; I restore, make it what it is’

Goutam Chatterjee doesn’t just collect history, he rebuilds it. “If you saw their earlier condition, you wouldn’t believe these are the same objects,” he says. Nothing comes to him intact – he restores and reworks each piece. What he’s built, continuing a legacy started by his father, is less a collection and more a functioning archive of time. Objects from the late 1800s to mid-1900s like radios, gramophones, typewriters, wartime instruments, all sit side by side. Sourced from scrap and word-of-mouth, each piece is rebuilt to give them new life. “When I was in grade seven, I made a salt power headphone radio using aerial & earth connection, which became the talk of the town,” he said. Even at 68, he restores dozens: “This passion has always been innate in me.”

‘I am so proud of my collection, but also quite possessive of it’

For Jyoti Iyer, collecting began not with intent but emotion. “I can’t pinpoint when it started – it’s been over 25 years of picking things up,” she says. Initially, she was preserving memory. “Much of the antiques in my collection came from my grandparents. I didn’t want to lose that connection.” Over time, it became a conscious pursuit, shaped primarily by her fascination with supari cutters. “From brass to ornamental pieces, it was the craftsmanship that drew me to it.” She describes them vividly – a dragon’s face, a Yakshi, a warrior, a leopard. “Each has its own personality.” Deeply attached, she adds, “I’m proud, but also possessive. These aren’t objects – they’re pieces of time I’ve chosen to hold on to.”