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Category : Arts Program


Kashmir’s women in wait

“More than the political aspect, it is understanding how women cope with the phenomenon of disappearances that appealed to me as a filmmaker,” says director Nilosree Biswas in an interview with SAI on the unique culture of Kashmir.

Contemporary South Asia Student Blog: Arts and Humanities

This is the fifth blog post in a weekly series from a student enrolled in the course ‘Contemporary South Asia: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Intractable Social and Economic Problems’ co-taught by SAI Director Tarun Khanna. The course features several modules on issues...

Capturing South Asia: Interview with Pablo Bartholomew

Capturing South Asia: Interview with Pablo Bartholomew

Indian photographer Pablo Bartholomew has witnessed many of South Asia’s tragedies and triumphs – perhaps most famously the gas tragedy in Bhopal. During his visit to Harvard, SAI sat down with Bartholomew to discuss his photo exhibit, the aftermath of the Bhopal tragedy, how photojournalism is changing, and how his South Asian heritage has influenced his work.

Art and social change

On Friday, Sept. 19, SAI held its inaugural event of the SAI Arts Initiative, with a seminar that explored the role of arts in social change. Cara Moyer-Duncan, Emerson College, and actress Nandita Das discussed the use of cinema in Africa and South Asia as a tool for social activism.

Promise Land Q+A: South Asian immigrants in America

On Thursday, July 31st, film director Kevin Dalvi visited Harvard to screen his film Promise Land as part of SAI’s Annual Summer Film Series. Dalvi engaged in a Q+A with the audience. He discussed obstacles facing many South Asian immigrants, and what it’s like to shoot a full-length feature film with an ensemble cast in just 16 days.

Many languages of South Asian poetry

On May 17, 2014, Harvard was reverberating with echoes of poets from different regions of South Asia at the 18th annual South Asian Poets Meeting. Each year, this event attracts poetic talents and wonderful pieces of poetry from diverse regions of South Asia. Twenty-seven poets from India, Bangladesh and Nepal participated in this year’s event. Among the participants from India, there were Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kashmiri, Kannada, Malayali and Oriya recitations.

A Conversation with Gyan Correa

On December 9th, SAI hosted a film screening of The Good Road, which is India’s official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 Oscars. SAI caught up with the director to discuss his film and the direction of Indian cinema.

SAI Annual Mahindra Lecture with Raghu Rai

On October 28th and October 29th, the South Asia Institute hosted its Annual Mahindra Lecture featuring photographer Raghu Rai. He provided refreshing and honest commentary about his photography, as well as shared his take on everything from politics to religion. On both days, he took time to respond to questions from the audience about his photography and his career in India.