Our Founding Partners

Virtual Museum of Images and Sound (VMIS) is grateful for the generous support of institutional, governmental, and philanthropic partners whose commitment makes our research, documentation, archival, and digital initiatives possible. Their support advances cultural preservation through VMIS’s open-access platform, strengthening research, conservation practice, and broader public engagement with India’s art and architecture.

Ministry of Culture, Government of India
The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, financially supported Phase I of the development of the Virtual Museum of Images and Sound (VMIS), enabling the creation and launch of the digital platform in 2012.
The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP)
The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) has supported Center for Art & Archaeology’s documentation initiatives on two occasions. In 2014, AFCP funded the photographic and architectural documentation of Indo-Islamic monuments in northern India. From 2023 to 2025, AFCP supported a major project to document 16th-17th-century built heritage along the Grand Trunk Road between Agra and Amritsar, as well as the creation of oral history archives accessible through VMIS.
Harish and Bina Shah Foundation
The Harish and Bina Shah Foundation supported the digital transformation and online publication of the Vijayanagara Archaeological Atlas (VAA) on VMIS from 2024-2026. Their support enabled us to convert Dr George Michell and Dr John M. Fritz’s landmark archaeological survey of Hampi into an interactive, publicly accessible digital platform on VMIS.
GRUH Finance Limited
GRUH Finance Limited, Ahmedabad, provided financial assistance to Center for Art and Archaeology for a documentation and a travelling exhibition project on India’s stepped wells and reservoirs, including advanced 3D mapping and virtual documentation of Rani-ki-Vav in Patan, Gujarat, in 2018.
Kalabhoomi Odisha Crafts Museum
Kalabhoomi Odisha Crafts Museum supported the documentation of its collections by the Center for Art and Archaeology (AIIS) in 2019-20. The project enabled photo documentation of the museum’s traditional art, sculptural, material culture, and textile galleries, contributing to wider accessibility of Odisha’s diverse heritage through VMIS.
Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA)
The Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology commissioned the Center for Art and Archaeology in 2022 to document five temples and objects housed in nine state-protected museums across Tamil Nadu.
Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP) – Arcadia Fund (administered by the UCLA Library)
The Arcadia Fund, administered by the UCLA Library, supported the Rare Negatives and Slides at the Center for Art and Archaeology project under the Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP) in 2022-2025. The grant enabled the preservation, digitization, and cataloguing of over 10,000 rare photographic negatives and slides, enhancing their long-term conservation and accessibility.