This August, New Delhi is set to host a ground-breaking international symposium that brings the world’s Indigenous voices to the forefront of contemporary art and critical thought. Presented by TAKE on Art and Gallery LATITUDE 28, in collaboration with Arthshila Delhi, the two-day event—titled “Indigenous: Resistant Epistemologies and the Normative Frame of the Contemporary”—unfolds on August 22–23, 2025, offering a vital platform for sharing, challenging, and shaping the narratives of Indigeneity today.

A Conference Rooted in Diverse Experience and Shared Urgency

The symposium is conceptualized by renowned curator and researcher Katya García-Antón and led by Bhavna Kakar, TAKE on Art’s Editor-in-Chief and Founding Director of Gallery LATITUDE 28. Over 25 speakers—including globally recognized artists, Indigenous thinkers, curators, collectors, scholars, poets, and institutional leaders—will convene to engage with the complexities, histories, and futures of Indigenous worldviews from Asia, Oceania, and beyond.

Beyond Definitions: The Power and Complexity of “Indigenous”

While the term “Indigenous” has gained significant traction—especially post the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—this symposium consciously resists homogenizing definitions. Instead, it acknowledges the distinctiveness of Adivasi, Aboriginal, First Nations, and Autochthonous identities, advocating for “epistemic diversity” and historically conscious, context-driven engagement.

Central to this is the concept of ancestrality—a living relationship with land, ancestors, and nonhuman entities—that anchors sovereignty and knowledge in Indigenous traditions. This worldview stands in contrast to Western models of sovereignty based on territory, legal contracts, and individual rights. The symposium aims to deepen this conversation, highlighting Indigenous agency, aesthetic sovereignty, and the transformative power of art to resist, reinterpret, and right historic injustices.

Rethinking the Art World: Equity, Kinship, and Resistance

Far from being a tokenistic exercise in inclusion, the event critiques how the global contemporary art world often flattens Indigenous complexity under notions of diversity and inclusion. Instead, it calls for profound epistemological and structural change—a true meeting of knowledge systems on equitable, rather than merely visible, terms.

The symposium’s wide-ranging program includes sessions on:

• Epistemological equity: Showcasing collaborations like that of artists Rajesh Vangad and Gauri Gill, whose “Fields of Sight” series bridges photographic and Indigenous visual traditions.

• Kinship and embodied storytelling: Exploring cross-geographical collaborations such as the Ara-Thulu (Tree) Project connecting Australian Aboriginal and Indian Adivasi communities.

• Cosmopolitan solidarities: Addressing the planetary scale of Indigenous experience and the critical role of Adivasi knowledge in global debates around environmental crisis, cultural survival, and belonging.

• Museums and institutional critique: Examining projects that decolonize museums and create space for living, evolving Indigenous knowledge.

• Collectors and the art market: Reflecting on responsible collecting, ethical presentation, and the empowerment of Indigenous artists through market and institutional support.

• Confronting coloniality: Engaging with trauma, forced displacement, and the resilience of Indigenous artists from India, Nepal, Australia, and Taiwan.

• Artistic sovereignty: Celebrating Indigenous art makers—painters, poets, dancers, curators, and storytellers—whose work pushes beyond imposed norms to reimagine the present and future.

Indian and Global Voices: A Gathering of Leaders

Participants include some of the most influential voices in the field: from G.N. Devy, cultural activist and founder of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India; to artist-photographer Gauri Gill; to international curators like Candice Hopkins (Forge Project, NY) and Alexie Glass-Kantor (Art Dubai Group). The program also features collectors who have championed Adivasi and Indigenous art in India, as well as renowned artists like the Vayeda Brothers (Warli art), Venkat Raman Singh Shyam (Gond tradition), Mayur Vayeda, and more.

Sessions are designed as cross-disciplinary and dialogic, ranging from collaborative art-making and performance to scholarly panels, poetry readings, and convivial hospitality events.

TAKE on Art: Creating a Platform for Critical Discourse

This symposium is part of TAKE on Art’s broader mission to foster serious, nuanced engagement with contemporary art in South Asia and the world. The magazine’s ongoing TAKE on Writing series and its recent special “Indigenous” issues reflect a commitment to supporting critical writing, peer engagement, and the development of new, authentic modes of creative and intellectual practice.

Why This Symposium Matters (Now More Than Ever)

At a time when cultural identities, memory, and the politics of belonging are being hotly contested worldwide, the symposium does more than spotlight Indigenous resistance—it models new forms of solidarity, creativity, and ethical alliance. The gathering serves both as a celebration of resilience and as a critical forum for addressing long-standing inequities, inviting attendees and readers alike to co-create more just and plural futures in art, society, and knowledge.

With a rich and ambitious program, the symposium promises to reshape conversations around Indigeneity—not only as a matter of representation, but as a call to systemic transformation across artistic, intellectual, and institutional spheres.