This conversation centers on Amit Kaushik's collaborative project with a renowned Indigenous artist, Bhajju Shyam, where they illustrate Gond paintings to critically engage with the environmental injustices faced by the Gond Adivasi community amidst biodiversity conservation efforts. Through two contrasting depictions of the tiger -- as both a protector and a force of destruction -- these artworks capture the community's shifting relationship with nature following the establishment of the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India. Join us to explore how indigenous art becomes a compelling medium for expressing contradictory perspectives on conservation, displacement, and the more-than-human world.

Speaker Background

Amit Kaushik is a PhD student in Integrative Conservation and Anthropology. His research investigates how conservation practices influence and are influenced by the lived experiences of differently situated human and nonhuman actors within the tiger reintroduction program. Bhajju Shyam is a world-renowned Indigenous artist from Madhya Pradesh, India, and the author of Origins of Art: The Gond Village of Patangarh, The London Jungle Book, The Night Life of Trees, Alone in the Forest, and That's How I See Things.

Hosted by the Arts Collaborative student organization. The Gond Art and the Tiger project was supported in part by the UGA Arts Collaborative.