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.


Upcoming Events

Wed, Oct 11, 2023
New Directions in Buddhist Art History
--- Sonali Dhingra: Making Monumental Figural Sculpture at Ratnagiri, Odisha (ca. 8th-10th centuries)
--- Padma Dorje Maitland: Emotional Fragments and Modern Networks of Buddhist Materiality in India
5-7 pm  | 10 Stephens Hall

Oct.12-14, 2023
Buddhist Art in a Global World: SAAI Fieldtrip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York with Professor Sugata Ray
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Oct 20-22, 2023
3rd i’s 21st Annual SF Int’l South Asian Film Festival
All day | San Francisco Theatres

Tue, Oct 31, 2023
Indus Blues: The Forgotten Music of Pakistan
5-7 pm  | 10 Stephens Hall

Tue, Dec 5, 2023
New Directions in Modernist Studies
5-7 pm | ​10 ​Stephens Hall

Thu, Dec 7, 2023
Five Tables of Art and Climate Change
4-6 pm | ​BAMPFA