An interdisciplinary conference starts a dialogue on the state of environment in India, and how we can contribute to the global concern of combating climate change
A man trudges through flood waters in Ernakulam, Kerala. Pic/AFP
When you think of global warming, how often do you associate it with the violence inside the human mind, or that before candlelight marches came up against the felling of trees, there were songs by bonded labourers on the quest for their place in nature? The conference, State of Nature in India, aims to bring to light these oft-ignored aspects of negotiating the ecological crisis by creating adialogue among artists, filmmakers, poets, scientists, members of the judiciary and policy makers.
Dr Martin Walde
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"The idea is to raise crucial questions about politics, the crisis of capitalism. Man needs nature. But does nature need man?" says Dr Martin Wälde, director of Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai, which is organising the conference. He adds, "We have seen what happened in Kerala. It's necessary to bring together people of different backgrounds to share knowledge."
"Hopefully, a think tank will emerge from this conference, and we can continue this process of collaboration among people who usually don't meet," says Dr Wälde.
Eco matters
Inaugurated last evening, the conference features two days packed with interesting sessions. Here are the best picks:
Comprehending Violence by Amar Kanwar
The Delhi-based artist and filmmaker looks at how a greater understanding of the nature of violence — among humans, between humans and between humans and nature — may lead to a deeper understanding of the disintegrating natural landscape.
A feminist reading of the feminine mythology of Indian Rivers by Sheba Chhachhi
The photographer and thinker explores how pre-modern knowledge systems describing the relation between humans and their environment offer nuggets of eco-philosophy garbed in myths, folklore and religious rituals.
India’s Circulatory Urbanism by Rahul Srivastava
The Mumbai-based co-founder of Urbz highlights the complex nature of urbanisation through a study that looks at families from the Konkan, who made Mumbai their home without giving
up connections with ancestral villages.
ON Today and tomorrow, 9.30 am onwards
AT Gallery MMB, Max Mueller Bhavan, Fort
CALL 22027710
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