Kathmandu, Nepal – 8 March 2026: UNESCO Nepal and the Mithila Art Foundation today announced a landmark three-year joint initiative to create the world’s most comprehensive digital archive of Mithila art. The initiative, titled “Preserving Living Lines: A Digital Heritage of Mithila,” is supported by a USD 450,000 grant from the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity.
The project will document over 10,000 traditional Mithila motifs, record oral narratives and teaching methods from over 200 master artisans, and create an open-access digital platform in Maithili, Nepali, Hindi, and English. The archive will be hosted jointly by UNESCO and Janakpur Art Institute, with mirror copies at the Smithsonian Institution and the British Library.
“Mithila art is one of the world’s richest living folk traditions, and it faces real threats from modernisation and generational discontinuity,” said UNESCO Nepal Director Dr. Marie Laurent. “This archive will ensure that its knowledge, wisdom, and beauty survive and thrive.”
The project is scheduled for completion in early 2029 and will be formally unveiled at the Mithila Art Festival 2029.