Join us for The Sindhu Project: Enigma of Roots Symposium - Artistic Traditions of the Indus Region on Saturday, July 17,2021 10am - 1pm.
This symposium explores the important developments in artistic styles and motifs that emerged in the northwestern regions of the South Asian sub-continent during the emergence of the first cities in the greater Indus Valley region, circa 2600-1900 BCE. Professor J. Mark Kenoyer, renowned authority on Indus Valley Civilization, along with Sindhu Project artists Mahwish Chishty and Gunjan Kumar will discuss the role of modern potters and artists who continue to expand and elaborate on the traditions of the Indus. Furthermore, the event will focus on iconic aspects of Gandharan art such as sculpture and architecture circa 300 BCE to 400 CE, but with a new perspective based on scientific research and analysis.
Presentation topics:
J. Mark Kenoyer, Ph.D.
Presentation 1.
Artistic Traditions of the Indus Region and their Legacy in Modern South Asia
This presentation will highlight some of the important developments in artistic styles and motifs that emerged in the northwestern regions of the South Asian sub-continent during the emergence of the first cities in the greater Indus Valley region, circa 2600-1900 BCE. Technologies, color palettes and design motifs will be discussed along with their legacy in later art traditions of the subcontinent. Special emphasis will be on the role of modern potters and artists who continue to expand and elaborate on the traditions begun during the Indus Tradition.
Presentation 2.
Gandharan Art and Architectural traditions: New perspectives and interpretations
This presentation will focus on some of the most iconic aspects of Gandharan art such as sculpture and architecture circa 300 BCE to 400 CE, but with a new perspective based on scientific research and analysis. With the assistance of local artists in Pakistan it has also been possible to recreate aspects of Gandharan art and architecture to better understand how it was constructed and what it may have looked like originally.
Mahwish Chishty
The Sindhu Project: Traveling the Ancestral Route
Artist Mahwish Chishty will share the motives behind The Sindhu Project through the lens of artistic collaboration, border cultures, and personal journey. She also will talk about the art-making processes and techniques used to create this new body of work in the context of the project's artistic concept and intentions.
Gunjan Kumar
Indus as a Medium
Artist Gunjan Kumar will talk about the media and processes used to express her journey from surface traces to subterranean roots in the works she created for The Sindhu Project. Her presentation also will discuss key inspirations that reference archaeological sites and artifacts associated with Harappan or Indus Valley Civilization, including textures, colors, and materials.
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Ph D
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, is the George F. Dales Jr. and Barbara A. Dales Professor of Anthropology, at the Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison. He obtained his Ph D in 1983 at the University of California Berkeley and has been teaching archaeology and ancient technology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison since 1985. He has served as Field Director and Co-Director of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project since 1986. He has worked on excavations and ethnoarchaeological studies in both Pakistan and India, and more recently in Oman. He has a special interest in ancient technologies and crafts, including textiles and textile production, socio-economic and political organization as well as religion. These interests have led him to study a broad range of cultural periods in South Asia as well as other regions of the world, including China, Japan, Korea, Oman and West Asia in general. His work has been featured in the National Geographic Magazine and Scientific American and on the website www.harappa.com.
He is the author of numerous books and edited volumes on the archaeology of South Asia and the Indus civilization. He has published 4 monographs, two edited volumes with more in process, over 77 influential journal articles, has over 87 articles appear in edited volumes, 12 encyclopedia entries and 21 book reviews on works relating to South Asian topics. He has helped curate major exhibitions on the Indus Civilization as well as textiles and experimental archaeological exhibits. Great Cities, Small Treasures: The Ancient World of the Indus Valley, in 1998-1999, at the Asia Society, in New York, and two other venues. He was also a consultant for the exhibit, Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus exhibition curated by Joan Aruz at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
May, 2003.