Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Hear a panel of experts give the keynote for the 2026 symposium of the American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA) in this recording. These four presentations analyze paintings and textiles to explore how South Asian artists historically visualized the roles of friends, helpers, and advisors. Developed around an upcoming exhibition in New Delhi, the papers explore how the relationships depicted in these works trouble social hierarchies, establishing connections between friends and lovers, between humans and animals, and across boundaries of class, caste, rank, and gender.
11:08 - The Gita Govinda as the Voice of the Sakhi | Vidya Dehejia
48:20 - The Psychic World of Mughal and Rajput Friendships | Molly Emma Aitken
1:10:52 - Transcending gender, transcending social status? The case of Kishangarh | Heidi Pauwels
1:37.14 - Intimate Distance: The Artist Nainsukh and Raja Balwant Singh. | Annapurna Garimella
Hear a panel of experts give the keynote for the 2026 symposium of the American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA) in this recording. These four presentations analyze paintings and textiles to explore how South Asian artists historically visualized the roles of friends, helpers, and advisors. Developed around an upcoming exhibition in New Delhi, the papers explore how the relationships depicted in these works trouble social hierarchies, establishing connections between friends and lovers, between humans and animals, and across boundaries of class, caste, rank, and gender.
11:08 - The Gita Govinda as the Voice of the Sakhi | Vidya Dehejia
48:20 - The Psychic World of Mughal and Rajput Friendships | Molly Emma Aitken
1:10:52 - Transcending gender, transcending social status? The case of Kishangarh | Heidi Pauwels
1:37.14 - Intimate Distance: The Artist Nainsukh and Raja Balwant Singh. | Annapurna Garimella
