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Arts, Culture and Environmental Sustainability

Climate change and its cascading impacts are being increasingly recognized as a major challenge across the globe. India is both a major greenhouse gas emitter and one of the most vulnerable countries in the world for projected climate change. India is already experiencing severe changes in its biomes and the impacts of climate change, including water stress, heat waves and drought, severe storms and flooding, and associated negative consequences on health and livelihoods. A biome is a large community of vegetation and wildlife adapted to a specific climate. Supposedly, 14-18% of India is set to experience biome shifts-from dry to wet in certain areas and vice-versa in others, with dry and xeric habitats being under high risk of change.

These ecological shifts impacting the biomes are a focus for The Kala Chaupal as human habitation, cultural practices and livelihoods are interwoven with the ecosystem of the region. Moreover in India agriculture, culture, built and natural history remains in relationship to the different geographies that make up the sub-continent.

Our artistic programming thus focusses on ecology and climate change to support the SDG 2030 Goals.

Our Purpose

The Kala Chaupal Trust founded in 2018 works in the area of arts, culture and environmental sustainability. We are committed to facilitating collaborations between traditional and contemporary arts; creating conversations that impact an in-depth appreciation of art, and encouraging a confluence of ideas and exchange of knowledge through powerful visual narratives.

Our project approach works from the ground up and engages with sustainable development goals to influence an approach to climate change.

‘Aqueduct Walk’ at the Nahargarh Fort of the participating artists of Jaipur Kala Chaupal 2017

An interactive discussion with the mountain women of the SHG on water sufficiency at Jadipani, Chamba, Urrarkhand, 2019

Who are we?

The Kala Chaupal Trust is a not-for-profit organisation based out of India working in the areas of Arts, Culture and Environmental Sustainability.

The Kala Chaupal identifies socially relevant themes and explores them through the lens of visual, performing arts and public space arts, driving a powerful impact in the process.

RISE4ODISHA

Artisans engaged in selling Raghurajpur arts and crafts at Quorum Club, Gurgaon post Cyclone Fani, May 2019.

Rise4Odisha

A Crisis Intervention post Cyclone Fani 2019

Raghurajpur- A Heritage Village

The devastation caused by tropical Cyclone Fani, which ravaged the eastern Indian state of Odisha on 3 May 2019, has refocused attention on the grim outlook for the state in the face of climate change, experts say.Odisha, like its neighbours Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, has seen some of the worst ever cyclones in India’s history.

Between 1891 and 2018, the state was hit by about 110 cyclones, says tropical meteorologist Uma Charan Mohanty, a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar. “That’s a massive number.”

The geography of the state contributes to the development of the culture for the state as it stands as a coastal corridor between northern and southern India. The dedicated labour of the artisans scattered all over the state has made Odisha a fabulous market of souvenirs and mementos. Stemming from centuries of exquisite craftsmanship, they are a colorful testimony to the integral life force of the people.

#Rise4Odisha was initiated to raise crisis funds to rehabilitate the artisans from the heritage village in Raghurajpur devastated by Cyclone Fani in 2019.

A CULTURAL WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE

Even if scientists knew unequivocally how climate change will manifest itself, traditional knowledge and practices would need to be accounted for and integrated into responses.
How can we gain a deeper understanding of climate change by analyzing it in a trans-disciplinary approach?
How are artists from different fields responded to climate change and to sustainability issues?
How can art support a process of change towards more sustainable societies?
How is this change possible without a cultural change?

OUR APPROACH

Trans disciplinary-regional and global
Community centric and inclusive
Towards Sustainable Development Goals 2030
To initiate new awareness through Impact driven projects
To create artistic and interdisciplinary exchanges

SPEAKER AT THE CHAUPAL

Veer Munshi

Veer Munshi Uses Visual Art, Community Projects, Research And Lectures As A Means To Reflect And Comment On Cultural History, Trauma And The Loss Of Nature. Veer Munshi Is Not Only A Painter In Exile From The Valley Of Kashmir, But The Trials And Tribulations Of His Struggle For Survival Have Themselves Served As An Artist's Testimony In Time.
Dr. Robert Jan Van Pelt

Working Through Thousands Of Construction Documents In The Auschwitz Archives And The Evidence Submitted In The Irving-lipstadt Libel Trial, Robert Jan Van Pelt, An Architectural Historian And The Expert Witness On Auschwitz For Lipstadt’s Case, And A Team From The University Of Waterloo School Of Architecture Led By Donald Mckay And Anne Bordeleau With Architecture And Design Curator Sascha Hastings Teased Out The Concept Of The Evidence Room From The Forensic Evidence That Proves The Existence And Use Of Auschwitz As An Extermination Camp In Which Over A Million People, Mostly Jews, Were Murdered, Mostly In Cyanide Gas Chambers.
Nandita Kumar

Nandita Kumar Is A New-media Artist Who Works At The Intersection Art, Science, Technology And Community To Create Interactive Installations. She Explores The Elemental Process Through Which Human Beings Construct Meaning From Their Experiences, By Creating Sensory Narratives Through The Usage Of Sound, Video/ Animation And Performance, Smartphone Apps, Customized Motherboards, Solar/microwave Sensors.
Arun Kumar H.G.

Is A Sculptor And Installation Artist Who Established Sara (Sustainable Alternatives For Rural Accord) Centre Sara Centre Facilitates The Exchange Of Knowledge Between The Farmers, Artists, Intellectuals, Environmentalists, Teachers, And Students To Share And To Raise Public Awareness About Sustainable Living Practices That Specifically Address The Ecological Concerns Of The Western Ghat Regions.
RICK BLACK

Rick Black is a poet and book artist who runs Turtle Light Press. A Pushcart Prize nominee and former reporter for The New York Times in Israel, he has also authored Peace and War: A Collection of Haiku from Israel (chapbook, Turtle Light Press, 2007). Other titles include Star of David (Poetica Publishing, 2012) and the limited edition artist book The Amichai Windows (Turtle Light, 2017).
Ravi Agarwal

Artist, writer, curator, and environmental activist Ravi Agarwal produces photographs, videos, and installations, through which he exposes the destruction of the natural world and the communities who rely most heavily upon it. Through his work, he bears witness to a process of dominance and transformation, which he describes: “As distinct from nature in its ‘wild’ state, as part of the human domain, nature becomes culture.”
Francois Verges

Françoise Vergès is a French political scientist, historian and feminist. She studies the problem of colonial slavery and the phenomena of creolization using political theories using postcolonial logic.
Gigi Scaria

Gigi is an established artist from Kerala who works in the area of experimental and installation art. His major solo exhibition was held at Aicon Gallery, New York.
Dr Bertrand de Hartingh

Dr Bertrand de Hartingh is a historian, curator, and diplomat who helms the educational, scientific, and cultural network of France in India and puts perspective on the Indo French important cultural events and exchanges that are close to his heart have been affected in these unprecedented times and how despite it all there is light at the end of the tunnel since creation is the strength of a creative community.
Alice Audouin

Alice Audouin, Maskbook Program and Art of Change 21 Founder and Chair of Art of Change 21, and Cofounder and former chair (2008-2014) of the French association COAL Art & Sustainable development.
Jack Rasmussen

Jack Rasmussen, PhD, Director and Curator American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center, PANDEMIC, in relation to the 8 shows the museum is opening in September addressing issues in the USA election: environment, immigration, human rights, surveillance, and addiction.
Helen Frederick

Organizational Curator, the Kala Chaupal, is recognized as a distinguished artist, curator, educator, coordinator of international projects, and as founder of Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.
Yasmine Ostendorf

Founder/Director of the Green Art Lab Alliance, is the Head of the Jac. P. Thijsse Lab for Nature Research at the Van Eyck Academy (NL) and Coordinator, The Green Art Lab Alliance (GALA) which is a network of 35 arts organizations across Europe and Asia.
Laurent Fournier

The French Architect based in Kolkata, Fournier believes that architecture should be in harmony with the climate. Laurent Fournier tells how ceilings can float and why bamboo reed-mud make more sense than brick-concrete-steel.
Achia Anzi

Delhi-based Israeli Artist and an Assistant Professor at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat. whose site-specific installation explores the changing relationship between the earth and mankind.
Geeta Patel

Geeta Patel, Professor of Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures and Women, Gender & Sexuality at the University of Virginia.
Aishwarya Iyer

Aishwarya Iyer, poet, academic and author. Prof. Aishwarya Iyer studied English Literature at the universities of Mumbai and Jadavpur, and Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tania Kovats

Born in London in 1966, Tania Kovats studied at Newcastle Polytechnic before completing her MA at the Royal College of Art, London in 1990. Kovats’ work has focused on drawing and mapping landscapes as well as describing or using geological processes in the making of both sculpture and drawings.
Dr. Samuel Berthet

Currently serving as Director, Alliance Francais Institut, Hyderabad. Samuel has a PhD in history on Indo-French cultural relations 1870-1962 (Manohar CSH for the English version, and CSH-IFP for the French version).
Premjish Achari

Curator, Writer and Translator based in Delhi. His translations have appeared in Indian Literature published by Sahitya Akademi. He has initiated an independent curatorial platform called Future Collaborations aiming at theoretically and politically informed curation.
DHIREN A. SADOKPAM

Dhiren A. Sadokpam is currently the Editor of the news daily Imphal Free Press. He was formerly the Executive Editor, Eastern Quarterly, a journal that examines key issues in Northeast India. Earlier, Sadokpam worked as Senior Associate Producer (Editorial), TV Today, New Delhi and began his media stint with Television International (TVI) in 1996.
WILLIE COLE

Willie Chole is known for his mixed media sculptures that focus on the cultures of West Africa. His upbringing by both his mother and grandmother in the 1960s has had a lasting impact on his work, as his continued use of irons in his sculptures signifies the domestic role of African women during this time.
MARY TING

Mary Ting uses visual art, community projects, research and lectures as a means to reflect and comment on cultural history, trauma and the loss of nature. Solo exhibitions include Lambent Foundation, Dean Project, metaphor contemporary art, and Kentler Drawing Space.
ABEER GUPTA

Abeer Gupta is the director of Krishnakriti Foundation, Hyderabad and the Achi Association India, Leh/ New Delhi. He has directed several documentary films and curated art, education and community media projects.
Parag Tandel

Parag Tandel is a Mumbai-based artist with a post-Diploma in Creative Sculpture from M. S University, Baroda (2005) and Diploma in sculpture and modelling from Sir J.J School of Art, Mumbai (2003).
Dr. Paula Sengupta

Dr. Paula Sengupta is an artist, academic, curator, and art writer. She is Professor and Head of the Department of Graphics-Printmaking at the Faculty of Visual Arts, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, Member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, and Secretary of the artist’s initiative, Khoj Kolkata.
Despina Meimaroglou

Despina Meimaroglou Is a multi-media artist born and raised in Egypt, and settled in Athens and Greece after the completion of her art-studies in the UK in 1966. In 2009 she participated in two international Biennials: Thessaloniki / Biennale 2 and 1st International Women’s Biennale in Incheon S. Korea.
Betsy Johnson

Betsy Johnson joined the Hirshhorn’s staff in January 2016 and was appointed Assistant Curator in March 2018 with responsibilities overseeing the Museum’s photography collection.
Bethany Collins

She is a multidisciplinary artist whose represented by the Patron Gallery, Chicago. Conceptually driven, her work is fueled by a critical exploration of how race and language interact.
Lothar Osterburg

Lothar Osterburg (b. 1961 Braunschweig, Germany) is known for his photogravures featuring hand-constructed models of windmills, lighthouses, and sailboats among others staged in evocative settings.
Monica Jahan Bose

Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist whose work spans painting, film, photography, printmaking, performance, and interdisciplinary projects.
Nuzhat Sultan

As Director for Visual Arts and Museum Affairs (VAMA), Nuzhat Sultan is responsible for cataloging and researching the Club’s permanent collection, which consists of paintings, prints, decorative arts, and furnishings. She also oversees the restoration of the collection. Nuzhat designs the self guided tour booklets and is in the process of setting up a docent program for tours of the Whittemore House.