The South Asia Art Initiative (SAAI) at the University of California, Berkeley promotes research-based conversations and collaborations around the arts of South Asia + its diasporas from the ancient period to the present. SAAI’s mission as an incubator of creative thought and practice is animated by the research interests of the Cal community of faculty and students as well as collaborations with national and international partner institutions. Along with hosting lectures, conferences, and artist/curator/scholar residencies, the SAAI offers the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize and the UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize.
Events Calendar: Spring 2025
- Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Swosti Rajbhandari Kayastha
Contemporary Art Practices in Nepal (and beyond)
5-6:30 pm | 10 Stephens Hall
- ZOOM Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Biplob in Bangladesh
Narratives & Visions of Freedom
9-10:30 am | On Zoom Register HERE - Thursday, February 20, 2025
Sandria B. Freitag
Acts of Seeing, Ways of Knowing: Visual Culture in the Making of Modern India
5-6:30 pm | 10 Stephens Hall -
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Priya Maholay-Jaradi
Transcultural Imaginations: Revisiting the 1959 Donation from the Government of India to Malaya
5-6:30 pm | 10 Stephens Hall - Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Lectures by the recipients of the SAAI Awards for 2025
9-10:30 am | On Zoom - Thursday, April 24, 2025
Imran Qureshi
Artist talk by the South Asia Art Initiative Artist in Residence at UC Berkeley
5-6:30 pm | 10 Stephens Hall - Thursday, May 8, 2025
The 7th Bhattacharya Lecture on the “Future of India”
Rahul Ram
Reinventing Traditional Indian Music for Today’s World
5-6:30 pm | 10 Stephens Hall