India has achieved a milestone this year with 75 years of Independence. We are witnessing a change across various facets of life and living, from what we value, think, act, and make choices as individuals, society, and as a nation. While the awareness of the value systems lingers, perceptions and practices have deviated. Once the backbone of our society, indigenous knowledge systems remain a distant memory.

Through this year's theme of LOOKING BACK, WITHIN & AHEAD : Celebrating Indigenous wisdom we would like to take an opportunity to pause, reflect, acknowledge and revive these native knowledge systems. Systems that respected and valued the relationship between humans and nature; harnessed simpler, more sensitive, and honest ways of doing things with profound respect for the planet.

The theme celebrates the traditional wisdom of our country by foregrounding its relevance not just today but as having the potential to support the future of a dynamic world. We look at how this wisdom can operate across scales, from the local to a larger global magnitude, from micro-ecological issues to more widespread notions and practices of sustainability across ecologies, economies, cultures, and systems of existence.

We propose a platform for individuals to come together to collaborate, co-create, and collectively deliberate what was, what is, and what can be.

We encourage you to:

Reflect....on practices, thoughts, and ways of being. that was part of our indigenous knowledge systems….on how the transformation from experience to knowledge and knowledge to wisdom took place historically….on the need for locating, unearthing, archiving/ chronicling, and making indigenous knowledge visible in different ways

Introspect….what these knowledge systems have endured in the current times.…your position concerning what is still valuable or relevant & who holds on to them (individuals or collectives)....how much of these knowledge systems have sustained and in what ways do these co-exist with the current practices….

Speculate…on how these knowledge systems can be adapted for our futures as individuals or as a collective.…on how to envision never before imagined  combinations of contexts, resources, actors, or modes….how best to demonstrate (using different modes/ media/material/processes) the relevance of such systems

Based on this intent we offer a "Create Your Own Track" option.

Select a prompt from each of the below columns and string them together to create your track with a unique proposal.

Please find some examples below that may help create your own proposal using the prompts, however you may use other areas or domains that you wish to explore that do not reflect in the table.

Example 1:
Prompts: Art & Craft + Practises + Explore + Make/Craft + Becoming sensitive to...
Proposal: To understand the relevance of "___ craft" for future through understanding the Practice and communicating with practitioners by making artifacts.

Example 2:
Prompt: Practises + Explore + Archive + Understanding
Proposal:To explore the traditional art of ink making for the purpose of archiving a fast disappearing practise.

Example 3:
Prompt: Practises + Local + explore + make + document & understand
Proposal: Document and recreate traditional recipes used for dealing with very hot summers(understanding local context) for physical well being.

Example 4:
Prompt: Future+ Imagine+ ecology+ visualise/mapping
Imagining the future of river Ganga's water ecosystem by mapping the current state of the river and its usage.

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