Archiving the Arts Initiative
With funding provided by The Wallace Foundation, and in partnership with the UCLA Community Archives Lab, SAADA’s Archiving the Arts Initiative consists of a research study to understand how to best address the relative lack of archival representation for arts organizations that serve communities of color and a fellowship program in partnership with three South Asian American arts organization to preserve and share their histories.
Through this work, we hope to create useful knowledge about how BIPOC arts organizations can engage in documentation practices that ensure that their stories are preserved, be included in mainstream narratives about arts communities, and be given the prominence they deserve.
In the fellowship phase of the initiative, SAADA is partnering with three South Asian arts organizations and three fellows. Each fellow will work with their organization to collect oral history interviews with leaders, members, and constituents and document significant moments from the organization's histories.
SAADA Archiving the Arts Organizations and Fellows
With funding provided by The Wallace Foundation, and in partnership with the UCLA Community Archives Lab, SAADA’s Archiving the Arts Initiative consists of a research study to understand how to best address the relative lack of archival representation for arts organizations that serve communities of color and a fellowship program in partnership with three South Asian American arts organization to preserve and share their histories.
Through this work, we hope to create useful knowledge about how BIPOC arts organizations can engage in documentation practices that ensure that their stories are preserved, be included in mainstream narratives about arts communities, and be given the prominence they deserve.
In the fellowship phase of the initiative, SAADA is partnering with three South Asian arts organizations and three fellows. Each fellow will work with their organization to collect oral history interviews with leaders, members, and constituents and document significant moments from the organization's histories.
SAADA Archiving the Arts Organizations and Fellows
The Music Circle The Music Circle’s mission is to foster awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the classical music of India–one of the world’s greatest musical treasures–by providing a supportive and inspiring platform for its leading exponents. Founded in 1973, The Music Circle presents 8 concerts between September and June by internationally renowned masters as well as emerging artists from both India and North America. We believe that the classical music of India is a source of pride and sustenance to the Southeast-Asian community and allows families to share the most cherished aspects of the culture with their children. By introducing emerging musicians along with our most senior artists, we hope to inspire the growing number of young Indian-Americans who are studying the classical music and dance of their heritage.
Avehi Menon (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based oral historian and museologist driven by a
passion for public history and community engagement. With a Master’s in Museum Studies, she
served as Archive Director at Mumbai’s Sarmaya Arts Foundation overseeing a diverse
collection rooted in the Indian subcontinent. She led the team in managing the collection and
developing programming through exhibitions, immersive outreach and educational
initiatives. Her time as Curator at the Center for Public History in Bengaluru sharpened her skills
in building institutional oral history archives. Interested in the afterlife of oral history interviews
and exploring ways in which they can be made accessible, she pioneered a walking tour that
wove oral history into the narrative of a bustling neighborhood, bringing the voices of everyday
people into the mainstream history of the city.
The South Asian Womxn’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) SAWCC is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to the advancement, visibility, and development of emerging and established South Asian women, femme, and nonbinary artists and creative professionals by providing a physical and virtual space to profile their creative and intellectual work across disciplines. Since 1997, SAWCC's public programs have presented the creative work of South Asian womxn working in multiple disciplines through salons, talks, workshops, readings, screenings, performances, and exhibitions. SAWCC connects womxn of South Asian descent through community-building and encourages their growth as artists by providing a platform to exchange ideas and feedback on their creative work and to network with other South Asian womxn artists, educators, community workers, and professionals.
Shravya Kag (she/they) is a visual artist and documentarian whose pursuit of
vivid, compassionate storytelling has taken her from her home of Vijayawada,
India to Brooklyn, New York. Kag uses photography (analogue and digital) and
film to document queer and South Asian communities around themes of identity
and immigration. Her practice is observational and archival stemming from the
belief that queer existence in itself is legacy. Moving away from the standard
narratives of queer trauma and resilience, Kag’s work focuses on joy and daily
life. Her process is collaborative, often involving the participant in every step of
documentation. She immerses herself in communities, hanging out with the
participants, often without a camera and invites conversation and interpretation.
Kag’s work has been exhibited at various locations such as Somerset House,
London, Photoville and Art Space NYC. She holds her Master's in Photography
from the School of Visual Arts.
Twelve Gates Arts Founded in 2011, Twelve Gates Arts (Twelve Gates, 12G) is a visual art gallery located in Old City. 12G maps the cultures of diaspora and migration, inclusive of the systems that influence it: race, gender, creed, caste, empire, and economy. A nod to the archetypal fortified walls that surround medieval cities worldwide, our namesake underlies our exhibitions and events, which celebrates the melange of cultural identity that foments as peoples move and settle.
12G is an established platform and home base for emerging South & West Asian American artists, curators, and audiences. When these artists present work in traditional Eurocentric art spaces, their craft is often condensed through the Occidental perception of Oriental art, imposing therein a struggle against four centuries of empire that made it monolith. At 12G, diasporic artists can exhibit the full dimensionality, the contradictions and liminalities, of their practice.
12G is an established platform and home base for emerging South & West Asian American artists, curators, and audiences. When these artists present work in traditional Eurocentric art spaces, their craft is often condensed through the Occidental perception of Oriental art, imposing therein a struggle against four centuries of empire that made it monolith. At 12G, diasporic artists can exhibit the full dimensionality, the contradictions and liminalities, of their practice.
Sibia Sarangan (she/her) is a curator and arts fundraiser currently based in upstate New York.
Originally from Chennai, India, Sibia has spent her life between India and New York. She is
currently pursuing her graduate degree at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College
(CCS Bard). Her research focuses on conceptualism and performance across South Asia, with
an emphasis on political dissent, artist activism, and global networks of solidarity. Sibia has held
positions at Dia Art Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art. She studied art history and
political science at the University of Maryland, where she was part of the College Park Scholars
Public Leadership program.