Chipko

Workshops for schools, 1991

Chipko was inspired by the forest conservation movement started by the locals in Uttarakhand in Northern India. Chipko, in Hindi, means ‘to hug’. The locals literally hugged the tress to protect them from destruction. The story of the Chipko movement wonderfully illustrates both the devastating effect of the misuse of forests and how the action of local people can be successful in protecting them.

Akademi provided workshops for schools with professional South Asian dance artists and also visual artists, interpreting the story through the art forms of the culture from which the Chipko movement sprung.

Chipko appealed to the zeitgeist of the time and the growing environmental movement and this work coincided with the significant UN-initiated Earth Summit on sustainability in 1992.

See also: Chipko postcard – from our Akademi heritage through 6 artifacts collection.