How does Kattaikkuttu, a form of theatre from rural Tamil Nadu, question caste and gender hierarchies? Find out in our upcoming MAP Academy Live with the theatre scholar Dr Hanne M. de Bruin on 30 January at 7:00 pm IST on Zoom: zoom.us/meeting/regist…

An emperor in exile is handed a portrait of his son, while surrounded by a host of figures — women from the royal household, frolicking children, courtiers, eunuchs and attendants — against the backdrop of delicate foliage and looming rock formations. mapacademy.io/what-one-of-th…

If we take a moment to step into ourselves and think about, or rather, feel, the various textures, temperatures and materials we are in contact with at any given moment, we are meditating on the one sense that never really leaves us. mapacademy.io/dancing-bodies…

What challenges do contemporary Indigenous artists face, due to their unique position in an art world which valorises individual talent, while also exoticising traditional practices? mapacademy.io/understanding-…

Meticulously detailed birds, lush foliage and some curious insects; these paintings from The Impey Album give us an insight into the conversation between South Asian aesthetic traditions and natural history. mapacademy.io/when-art-meets…

The art and literature on the trucks in Pakistan is sometimes exceedingly symmetrical, sometimes multilingual or multi-scriptural and sometimes, recklessly extravagant — there are no rules, no template, only expression. mapacademy.io/adorned-in-dre…

How did a fifth-century Sanskrit play come to be illustrated by two notable French artists more than a thousand years after it was written? mapacademy.io/a-fifth-centur…

Nek Chand, a refugee from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), was among the many individuals who moved to the city of Chandigarh looking to earn a living. mapacademy.io/visions-of-an-…

The image of a lute-playing woman atop a white animal might seem familiar to South Asian eyes — after all, this Japanese Buddhist kami (deity), called Benzaiten or Benten, has originated from the Hindu goddess of all learning, Saraswati. mapacademy.io/spiritual-tran…

People flee as icy hail falls from the skies; a nobleman supervises the construction of a palace, only for it to be shaken to pieces by a disastrous earthquake. Animals, trees and people are crushed by collapsing architecture. mapacademy.io/tarikh-i-alfi-…

A man hangs from a tree, pursued by a beast accompanied by snakes on the ground while a dragon-like monster hisses at him from a fiery pit below. Further along the tree, two mice, one white and one black, gnaw at the branch where he hangs. mapacademy.io/dangling-man/

A late-night tryst between lovers was commonly depicted in miniature paintings from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, inspired by the poetry traditions of the time, where love and longing were recurring themes. mapacademy.io/a-clandestine-…

A free-standing wardrobe consisting of two doors, an almirah is typically crafted from wood or steel. Named after the Hindustani and Latin words for closet––‘almari’ and ‘armarium’––this piece of furniture is an integral part of South Asian homes. mapacademy.io/article/almira…

Kera is a decorative, woven belt worn by both Bhutanese men and women for ceremonial purposes. Did you know that it is also considered to be a powerful talisman? mapacademy.io/article/kera/

A form of martial art and self-defence that developed in undivided Punjab, today gatka or gatkabaazi is performed on the festivals of Gurupurab and Baisakhi. Why was it banned under British rule? mapacademy.io/article/gatka/

In the 18th century, artists from Kota and Kishangarh in Rajasthan migrated to Nathdwara, where a famous temple is dedicated to Shrinathji, a child-god avatar of Krishna. There, they began making ‘pichwai’ paintings of the deity. Read more. mapacademy.io/article/pichwa…

A handheld vessel with a round body, constricted neck and flared circular mouth, the lota has been used in South Asia for centuries. How did it come to recieve special recognition by the American industrial designers Charles and Ray Eames in 1958? mapacademy.io/article/lota/

In 1873, Kolkata was rocked by a criminal trial involving a man who murdered his wife over an extramarital affair. Painters around the Kalighat temple in the city chronicled the event, creating some of the first works of art on true crime in India. mapacademy.io/murder-and-art…

Some of the most renowned manuscript paintings on amorous and religious Hindu texts were made in small, independent kingdoms in the Himalayan foothills. How did these ‘pahari’ or ‘hilly’ painting traditions take shape, and who were the key artists? mapacademy.io/article/pahari…