#AkademiSupported | Exploring Climate Justice Through South Asian Dance: A Dialogue, 3 Jun
June 3, 2025
Walworth Town Hall
We recently hosted a half-day event emerging as an off-shoot from South Asian Dance Equity project, bringing together diverse voices to explore the vital intersections between climate change, folk traditions, and marginalised dance practices, particularly within the context of British South Asian performance.
Academics, practitioners, dancers, and producers engaged in a meaningful dialogue about artistic and ecological futures. The event successfully established new networks and laid the groundwork for ongoing conversations on climate justice and indigenous knowledge systems.
The dialogue centered around two key areas of inquiry:
- How do Adivasi and indigenous communities in South Asia understand and practice the relationship between ecological justice and the arts?
- What are the ways British South Asian dance artists can learn from Adivasi and indigenous knowledge systems about ecological justice in their creative work, while avoiding appropriation and extraction?
The participants shared reflections on their work and practice, keeping these guiding questions in mind. The discussions also provided a chance for all to contribute and share their thoughts.
The event represented our commitment to expanding conversations about South Asian dance beyond traditional boundaries, incorporating urgent contemporary issues like climate justice while respecting and learning from indigenous wisdom traditions.
About SADE
“South Asian Dance Equity (SADE): The Arts That British South Asian Dance Ignores” network is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Dance Research Matters grant scheme. The network examines systemic inequities within British South Asian dance, focusing on five key areas of minoritisations:
- the dominance of Indian/Hindu dance forms and artists;
- LGBTQI+ artists;
- caste-oppressed artists;
- disabled artists; and
- folk and Adivasi (indigenous) arts and artists.
Working with five South Asian arts organisations (Akademi, Baithak, Balbir Singh Dance Company, Nupur Arts, and Sampad) and The Place Theatre as project partners, the network aims to build a more equitable dance sector through exchanges between artists and scholars from South Asia and the UK.
The network is led by Prarthana Purkayastha (Royal Holloway University of London), Royona Mitra (Brunel University London), and Anusha Kedhar (University of California, Riverside).
More information: