Lecture-Demonstration
Understanding Ecology and Culture – Lessons from Oral Histories
Nandini Oza
Image credit- Submergence village, Rohit Jain
The exhibition Beneath the Turning Sky invites us to reflect on: How do our choices shape the world, our communities, and all others with whom we share the world?
As part of this exhibition, Nandini Oza, former activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and an oral historian, will conduct a session exploring how the mega dam–based development model has irrevocably impacted the ecology of the river valley, as well as the culture, traditions, languages, and everyday lives of people living along the banks of this mighty river and those displaced by the dam.
Followed by a question-and-answer session and a participatory exercise to explore how oral history as a methodology is significant in a country like India, where many languages have no written script and where knowledge, memory, and wisdom are often transmitted orally. The workshop will highlight the importance of oral history in documenting and preserving our rich heritage, environment and cultural diversity.
This event is part of Beneath the Turning Sky programming.
Bookings
Bookings are closed for this event.
Nandini Oza
Nandini Oza is a writer, oral historian and was a long-time activist with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), one of India’s most influential people’s movements for environmental and social justice.
Trained in social work at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Vadodra, she has spent decades working alongside displaced communities affected by the large dam based Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River. Nandini has extensively documented the oral histories of the Narmada struggle in the voices and lived experiences of the movement’s participants, preserving people’s histories that are often overlooked in mainstream narratives. Based in Maharashtra, Nandini continues to advocate for equitable, justifiable and sustainable development and the power of grassroots storytelling in environmental movements.
She was the President of Oral History Association of India from 2020-22 and is associated with the Zindabad trust that supports financially initiatives for social and environmental justice. Nandini has books in Hindi, Marathi and English to her credit.
