Living with a Divine River in Central India: Narmada River and Adivasi Expressive Cultures

This exhibition will be on view at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music’s Miller Hall at 406 Prospect Street, New Haven from March 25 - April 29 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12 - 4 p.m. Free and open to the public.

The fifth longest river in South Asia and the longest west flowing river in India, Narmada is revered by the Adivasi-indigenous[1] groups in central India, inspiring rich expressive cultures and livelihoods. The river’s holy elements, from the water to the soil on its banks, to the rocks that it cuts and shapes, create a sacred ecology.

Contemporary Gond artists find inspiration in oral stories and songs, the rich mythological universe, the narrative traditions and expressive cultures that articulate an iterative and spiritual relationship with this ‘divine’ river. This exhibition of artworks by Pardhan Gond artist Durga Bai Vyam and her daughter Roshni Vyam will focus on what it means to live with the sacred Narmada river, to foster routine and ritual engagements with its sacred, more than human waterscape.

[1] The term ‘Adivasi’ can be translated as ‘original inhabitants’. The term doesn’t translate to indigenous and its meaning in a settler, North American context. The relevance of indigeneity India continues to be contested by scholars ( (Béteille, 1998); (Ghosh, 2006); (Karlsson, 2003); (Xaxa, 2005))

Sponsored by the Institute of Sacred Music’s Religion, Ecology, and Expressive Culture Initiative and convened by Shivangi Pareek.

Join us for an opening reception at Miller Hall on Wednesday, March 24 at 5 p.m. Free and open to the public.

The ISM will also host a webinar and a panel discussion in conjunction with this exhibition. Stay tuned for more information.

Contact: Katya Vetrov