Adivasi Art and Activism examines the making of adivasi (indigenous) art in India in relation to the homogenizing forces of Hinduization, development, and globalization. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork in rural western India, the book documents curatorial projects in and beyond the confines of museums and art institutions, in the realms of the home, the body, and the landscape. Adivasi Art and Activism raises vital questions about preservation and curation of indigenous material and provides a critique of the aesthetics and politics of Hindu nationalism in contemporary India.

Nel 1871 una delle leggi più draconiane passate dallo stato coloniale inglese, il Criminal Tribes Act, marcò milioni di persone, e intere comunità come ‘nati criminali’. Tra questi molti facevano vite nomadi, lavorando come artisti, attori, acrobati e intrattenitori. Il film è narrato e diretto da un gruppo di artisti ‘ex-criminali’ che, durante la pandemia, ha documentato con talento e coraggio le proprie storie altrimenti invisibili nei media nazionali e internazionali, e nella memoria del paese. Con questo film ci immergeremo nelle storie e nell’arte di gruppi che continuano lottare con lo stigma della loro identità, e a vivere ai pericolosi margini della società Indiana.

A courageous and talented group of artists from one of India’s so-called ‘criminal tribes’, stepped out during the COVID-19 pandemic to document the stories of their communities, which have remained invisible from national and international reporting. If you’re interested in films, and would like an insight into little known stories from Indian culture and current affairs, come along to the film screening of what they have recorded. It will take you through the histories and arts of people living at the perilous margins of Indian society and will explore how they are dealing with the impact of the pandemic.

Book here