"One of art’s functions is to recall that which is absent—whether it is history, or the unconscious or form, or social justice." - Lucy Lippard
Postcard on the Kirana shops of Yelahanka, curated by Masters student Amorette Grace, 2019
Vision
Interdisciplinary, radical and practice oriented anchoring of humanities will bring about a much-needed mobilization in the way(s) we construct knowledge, in both digital and traditional domains.
In the Interdisciplinary Studies in New Humanities and Design, we envision a deep engagement with the practices and knowledge traditions from the global south, and stretch the boundaries of its relationships with social theories and humanities - through the tools and inquiry structures offered by design.
The fundamental questions of this new discipline are:
- If both Humanities and Design look at societies, how can we ask interdependent questions that stretch their disciplinary boundaries by identifying research opportunities in both?
- How then can we integrate these critical inquiries in order to reexamine the values of the existing discourses and key discussions.
Core Values
We encourage, support and foster/nurture opportunities for:
- Shared Authorityin the production(s) of knowledge
- Democratization of knowledge in the dissemination(s) of knowledge to diverse audiences
- Experientiality as a primary mode of critical and creative inquiry in the construction of understandings of self and the world
- Storytellingas an immersive space and its various iterations via multi-modaland multiverse modes, to reexamine new possibilities for community and world building
- Playfulness and self-discovery in the approach towards critical discourse and their emergent narratives
- Adaptabilityto different contexts and methods and to conduct enquiries within them
Storytelling at the interstices of technology and community practice
Poster by Srishti Masters student Jahnavi Koganti, for a mini student project to envision and curate a museum for Yelahanka, Bangalore, 2019
Domains
It engage with vantage points accorded by the following domains of knowledge systems - in the creation, inquiry and dissemination of various discourse
Public History
Creating knowledge about the past through active collaboration and disseminating that knowledge to diverse audiences beyond the academy
Creative Writing Practices
Developing and nurturing nuanced forms of expressions in the art of storytelling as an intrinsic tool of engagement
Cultural Studies
Framing interdisciplinary problems and fine tuning analytical thinking, leading to emergent critical inquiries and constructing discourses
Digital Humanities
Locating interrelationships between technology and society; changing traditional humanities with new technologies; and developing new ethics for technology and change
Critical Geographies
Interrogating maps and borders, place making, identity constructions; and studying movement and migrations
Translation Practices
Appreciating language diversity and knowledge systems constructed in languages; translation as a pathway of knowledge dissemination; and locating the conceptual vernacular
Gender Studies
Problematizing the body, its politics and situatedness; breaking the status quo of visibilities and invisibilities of gender and sex
Visual Culture and Media Studies
Articulating the relationships between visuality, aesthetics, markets and cultures in the contemporary digital contexts, where the flow of images is unstoppable and the image is a site of contested meaning production
By situating ourselves at the interstices of these domains, we aim to reanimate humanities, trigger constructive discussions and create new conceptual categories for the critical times that we live in.
Collaboration and Community: Art Science experiments in association with Srishti and IISC, Bangalore, 2019