Jan 28 2025 to Jan 28 2025 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

How on earth did Stephen Huyler find himself pedalling a bicycle rickshaw at the Indian border on his twentieth birthday? Intriguing stories like this define Huyler’s life and his metamorphosis into a leading documentarian of the cultures and peoples of India.

Early in his career as an anthropologist and art historian, Stephen Huyler recognized that most of the world had little access to feeling the pulse of the peoples of South Asia. In the fifty-two years since his unusual first entry into India, Stephen has traversed the subcontinent dozens of times by a wide variety of transportation in order to conduct a detailed survey of India’s village and other subcultures.

His innate friendliness has always opened doors, while his skills as a writer and photographer have allowed him to create books and museum exhibitions of material never before recorded.

This session draws on Huyler’s book Transformed By India, exploring his many encounters, from maharajahs to musicians, Dalits to Brahmins, politicians to potters. Tying all the many stories together is the innate strength and creative capacity for improvement expressed everywhere in the subcontinent.

In this session, Stephen Huyler will be in conversation with Sandhya Mendonca. This will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Speakers
Stephen P. Huyler
Author

Stephen Huyler’s life has been dedicated to exploring, surveying, preserving, and celebrating India’s rich artistic and cultural heritage. For 50 years, he has travelled through Indian villages for an average of four months each year.

Art historian, cultural anthropologist, photographer, and author, he has been Consultant/ Guest Curator for more than twenty-five major museum exhibitions of Indian art, with solo exhibitions at the Smithsonian, the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), and the Kodak Center for Creative Imaging.

His seven books invoke an India rarely seen by outsiders – people, places, and customs which are, today, not known even by many Indians.
Sandhya Mendonca
Journalist, Media Entrepreneur

Sandhya Mendonca is a journalist-turned-media entrepreneur who chronicles people, society, and culture. She’s the founder and chief editor of Raintree Media which specialises in coffee table books, content creation and experiences. She co-authors biographies and other books with industry leaders and politicians for major publishers like HarperCollins and Penguin. Her book ‘Disrupt and Conquer’ was shortlisted for the Gaja Business Book Awards 2022. She writes ‘The Female Gaze’ column for The Sunday Guardian and hosts the ‘Spotlight with Sandhya’ podcast. A gender and cultural advocate, she founded India’s first multi-arts women’s cultural festival, Under the Raintree.