Samtal Jameer, Samtal Jameen

Registrations Open

Marking the launch of Samtal Jameer, Samtal Jameen (Equal Terrains, Equal Selves), the project archive and associated publications Multispecies Speculations and A Growing Lexicon will be presented at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi. The website and publication launch will be followed by a panel discussion on the politics and aesthetics of multispecies worlds with artists Sonia Mehra Chawla, Sharbendu De and Achia Anzi, moderated by project initiator Ravi Agarwal.

Samtal Jameer, Samtal Jameen brings together a diverse group of participants to discuss a wide array of subjects centred on ecology, environmentalism, research and art practices. It explores ideas of multispecies worlds based on the perspectives of thinkers, academics, artists and activists contributing to the project. Specifically, it aims at a radical re-thinking of human and non-human relationships. It seeks to expand the idea of democracy and sustainability through understanding the complexity of such lived relationships and the idea of justice and agency in a multispecies world and the un-alienated life.

Developed by artist, curator and activist Ravi Agarwal, the project archive comprises 21+ conversations on a variety of topics and shared areas of interest and expertise. The project branches further by presenting the work of the participants as it relates to the project and the series of ideas, research and practices shared in common. This project is supported by The Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development in association with Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi. Ravi Agarwal has a long standing inter-disciplinary practice as a photographer/ artist, environmental campaigner, writer and curator. Bridging the divide between art and activism he addresses the entangled questions of nature and its futures using photography, video, text and installation. His work ranges from the long documentary to the conceptual and performative and he has regularly published photobooks and diaries. The book Down and Out (OUP 2002) was amongst the first major photographic works on migrant labour in India. His work has been shown across the country as well as internationally, across festivals and biennales, and solo and group exhibitions.

Sonia Mehra Chawla is a multidisciplinary artist exploring notions of ecology, sustainability and conservation through a multispecies lens. Chawla is an awardee of the International Art+Science programme instituted by Khoj and Wellcome Trust UK/DBT India Alliance. She has been a Fellow of the art, science and business programme of Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart since 2019. Sonia has exhibited widely including curated exhibitions at the CSMVS Museum, Mumbai, ZKM Center for Art & Media, Karlsruhe, Yinchuan Biennale, China, Tate Modern, London, Radialsystem, Berlin, Albertina Modern, Vienna, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Goethe-Institut, Mumbai and Colombo, Edinburgh Science Festival and ESSL Museum Vienna.

Sharbendu De is a contemporary lens-based artist, scholar and writer. He was a Visiting Artist Fellow at Harvard University (2022) researching on the climate crisis. With a decade-long career as a scholar, De teaches photography and visual communications across Universities and cultural institutions incorporating ecological concerns into the curricula. Supported by PhotoSouthAsia, De is currently designing an online course for South Asian visual storytellers working on the climate crisis. His recent projects include An Elegy for Ecology (2016-21) and Imagined Homeland (2013-19). He has also contributed to several book publications including Folk Costumes, Indo-Pacific Air (2022) and Multispecies Speculations (2022).

Achia Anzi is an Israeli artist and researcher based in New Delhi. Anzi is an Associate Professor of Visual Arts and the BFA Program Director at the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, OP Jindal Global University. Anzi completed his PhD thesis titled “Countering Universalism: Decolonisation and the Order of Art” from Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis in 2022. His research combines methods of discourse and cultural analysis, exploring relations between colonialism, art, and aesthetics. His artworks were exhibited in various platforms including Outset India, India Art Fair, Yinchuan Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival (Goa), Jaipur Sculpture Park and Jerusalem Biennale.