Abstract:
Prof Dr Mallica Kumbera Landrus will unpack the legacies of colonial collecting practices and their continuing impact on institutions in University of Oxford. The lecture will explore how the Ashmolean Museum collections and programmes continue to grow and reflect the Indian subcontinent's past and present, while also enriching the collection for future generations, which includes the South Asian diaspora, the largest in the United Kingdom.
Bio:
Prof Dr Mallica Kumbera Landrus is Professor and Keeper of Eastern Art, as well as Senior Curator of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. Born and raised in India, she studied in India, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. She has taught the history of Indian art and architecture at Brown and Princeton Universities, as well as the Rhode Island School of Design. Since 2012, she has been at the University of Oxford, where her research and publications focus on the art and architectural practices of colonial powers in India and contemporary art in South Asia. In recent years, her work has expanded to address broader issues, with a focus on artists who work on various socio-political issues, including cultural, political and climate change. Mallica currently teaches and supervises undergraduate and post-graduate students in the Department of History of Art and the South Asian Studies programme within the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford.