Tracing our roots

Ancestors (installation view). Pic Courtesy/JNAF

What we leave out in historical narratives shapes the way we view the past and live our present as much as what is included in them. In India and across the world, largely accepted myths about the purity of race have and continue to inform the way we build society or divide it, despite evidence against these ideas. Tony Joseph, author of Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From, tells us, "A poor understanding of history often leads to a narrowing of the mind and this makes societies antagonistic." The book details the ancestry of Indian civilisations grounded in findings in archaeology, genetics and other disciplines as well as DNA research. Today, an online conversation with Joseph, along with artist Sahej Rahal and curator Puja Vaish, will explore the book's insight within the context of Rahal's ongoing exhibition Ancestors at Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF), on display till May 8.

Sahej Rahal and Puja Vaish

Vaish points out that there are many parallels between what the artist explores and the facts that Joseph points to. In Ancestors, Rahal investigates the archaeological site of a post-human future civilisation, and in doing so, questions the way we view indicators, imprints and objects of the past to arrive at a narration of history and understanding of our present. The book, Vaish explains, challenges purist and ethnocentric beliefs with research that reveals societal origins are more mixed than we are ready to believe. As Rahal adds, we're asked to define ourselves, put into camps or draw stark boundaries based on the myths we're told and the way we build history, but we forget that the closer we look at these boundaries, the lines get blurry.

Joseph hopes to speak about how all large population groups in the world today are the result of multiple mass migrations that happened in the distant past and also, what the four migrations that made India tell us about ourselves and our civilisation. He adds, "We are all interconnected - genetically, culturally and historically - far more than we imagine."

Tony Joseph

The talk, Vaish tells us, will explore present world views on which our understanding of history, prehistory and the sense of belonging in the world are structured. She concludes, "We want to discuss with Tony the notions of purity and ethnic identities, social structuring concerning endogamy and the caste system, origins of agriculture and its impact on civilisation, and trace the ideas of democracy in early civilisations in the Indian subcontinent."

On: Today, 6.30 pm
Log on to: @jnafmumbai on Instagram for the registration link