The Dwima Collective is a space for research on indigenous narratives and histories of Assam and the rest of Northeast India. In specific, the Dwima Collective seeks to re-visit and re-think narratives and ideas, cutting across temporal and spatial divides, on Assam specifically and the Northeast in general. This online forum broadly focuses and aims to raise critical questions and thinking around pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial histories, cultures and categorisations in the region. Through such critical thinking and articulation, we hope to regain a focus on the narratives of the various indigenous groups of our region.
We are committed to both praxis and theory in bringing about a robust discussion as well as understanding of Assam and the Northeast through long-form articles. We aim to bring in a collaborative model with researchers, writers and cultural activists globally, to enable new possibilities and new thoughts. Since the objective is to be a collaborative forum, this is a Collective. We hope to usher in a new form of pedagogy about Assam and to an extent wider Northeast India through the Dwima Collective. ‘Dwima’ is the Bodo language word for a ‘big river’, a metaphor for the Brahmaputra.
CO-FOUNDERS
Anshuman Saikia is a development and conservation professional with 18 years of experience. He is currently based with an international conservation organisation in Bangkok. He completed his MSc in Environmental Assessment and Evaluation from the London School of Economics in 1999. He is actively involved in initiatives to promote Northeast India and has also been closely working on issues of indigenous peoples’ rights throughout his professional career. As of now he is involved in initiatives that are focused on strengthening cultural and people to people links between Northeast India and Thailand and the larger ASEAN sub-region including strengthening links between Tai people and cultures across Northeast India, mainland SE Asia and Southern China.
Shaheen Ahmed is a graduate student in Cultural Studies at Monash University. She is a film-critic, writer, curator and artist. Her writings have appeared in Himal Southasian, The Wire.in, Scroll.in, Australian Outlook, Indian Cultural Forum among others. Her research areas include decolonisation, indigeneity, borderlands, visual studies, photography, cultures, gender and cinema.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles/essays are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Dwima Collective. The writers are solely responsible for any claims arising out of the contents of their articles/essays.
The Dwima Collective 