Connecting over 25 millions NRIs worldwide
Most trusted Name in the NRI media
NRI PEOPLE- OUR NETWORK
 
HomeSpun, the Smithsonian Indian American Heritage Project (IAHP)

 

HomeSpun, CA raised $200,000 for Smithsonian Indian American Heritage Project

Los Angeles, March 14, 2010
Staff Reporter

On Sunday, March 14th Indian American community leaders from across California came together and raised $200,000 for HomeSpun, the Smithsonian Indian American Heritage Project. HomeSpun was launched by the Washington DC based Smithsonian Asian Pacific American (APA) Program and aims to tell the story of Indian immigrants and their descendants in America. This is the first time such a ground-breaking Indian American initiative has been undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research center. 


Featured guest speakers included Dr. Richard Kurin, Under Secretary of History, Arts, and Culture and Acting Director of the Smithsonian APA Program, and Mr. Suchin Adhlakha, HomeSpun Project Manager. Local community leaders, Dr. Damodar SarDesai, Dr. Ashok Gore, and Mr. Amrit Bhandari were instrumental in making the event a well-attended success.

Dr. Manohar Bartakke Member, Smithsonian HomeSpun Advisory Council said it was an excellent opportunity to showcase the rich Indian traditions and culture in the best possible way.Navin Doshi, Uka Solanki, Amrit Bhandari, Sam Bhogal, Hark Vasa and Bhupinder Randeria also expressed their views and pledged their contributions for the project.

 Given the success of Sunday’s event, Southern California HomeSpun volunteers Gore and Bhandari have started discussing a HomeSpun gala event later in the year.  Suchin Adhlakha of the Smithsonian stated, “It always amazes me how committed the [Indian American] community is about this project.  Most, if not all, of the nearly 3M Indian Americans in this country will agree that this project is long overdue. Without the community’s passionate support, we would never have achieved such progress in such a short time.”  $700,000 of the $2,000,000 project fundraising target has been raised in the past year. HomeSpun is planning its next fundraiser in New York City, where the Indian American population is estimated to be close to 350,000 people.

The HomeSpun exhibition will open in 2012 on the national mall in Washington DC at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and then travel the nation for three years visiting 12-15 cities. Plans to bring the exhibition and accompanying public program series to Los Angeles are already underway.  Find out more about this once-in-a-lifetime project for Indian Americans at or on facebook. Please contact Suchin Adhlakha, HomeSpun Project Manager, with any question at 202-622-2693 or adhlakhas@si.edu.

HomeSpun: Smithsonian Indian American Heritage Project is a new initiative to create an exhibition chronicling the story of immigrants from India and their descendants in America. The exhibition will be accompanied by a curriculum guide for middle school students, a public program series to educate the general public, and a website with supporting social network tools to engage audiences. Numbering nearly 3 million in the U.S., Indian Americans now have the chance to have their history, contributions, challenges, and perspectives told at the Smithsonian Institution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK for More

PHOTOS

 

 

Click for NRInews

-----------------------------

Click for NRI community News