Delving into Materiality and Decolonization: Seminar Featuring Prof. Sudeshna Guha

The Centre for Historical Studies (CHS) recently organized a thought-provoking seminar featuring Professor Sudeshna Guha, renowned for her pioneering work in the fields of material culture, museums, and decolonization. The seminar delved into the scholarly significance of engaging with museums, collections, and curation, shedding light on their role in understanding broader social dynamics and the politics of decolonization.

Professor Guha's extensive scholarship underscores the academic value of delving into materialities, emphasizing how object histories, collecting practices, and collections management provide unique insights into societal structures and power dynamics. Through an exploration of these themes, the seminar aimed to stimulate critical discourse on the politics of representation and the complexities of decolonization.

In her presentation, Professor Guha articulated the historical importance of examining practices such as sorting, describing, archiving, and documenting, particularly within the context of post-colonial India. By contextualizing these practices within broader histories of visualization, museums, and heritage-making, she highlighted their relevance in understanding representation and fostering interdisciplinary methods of inquiry.

Drawing from her expertise as a faculty member at the Department of History and Archaeology, Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence, Delhi-NCR, Professor Guha shared insights from her ongoing research on Museum Archaeology and Heritage Studies. Notably, she discussed her forthcoming publication, an exhibition volume titled "Histories in the Making: Photography and Monuments in Nineteenth-Century India," slated for release by DAG in 2024.

The seminar provided a platform for scholars, students, and practitioners to engage with Professor Guha's research and explore the intersection of material culture, museums, and decolonization. Attendees praised the depth of analysis and the relevance of the topics discussed, emphasizing the importance of incorporating such perspectives into academic discourse and museum practices.

Dr. Rajesh Sharma, Director of CHS, expressed his appreciation for Professor Guha's insightful presentation, highlighting its contribution to advancing critical dialogue within the field of historical studies. He emphasized the need for continued exploration of these themes to foster a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of history and heritage.

Overall, the seminar served as a testament to the transformative potential of interdisciplinary scholarship and the importance of engaging with material culture and museums as sites of knowledge production and socio-political critique. Through initiatives like these, CHS reaffirms its commitment to intellectual inquiry and the promotion of diverse perspectives within the academic community.