Adivaani

Last updated
Adivaani
Founded2012
Headquarters
Kolkata
,
India
Founder(s) Ruby Hembrom
Products Books
URL adivaani.org

Adivaani (stylised as adivaani, in lower case) is a platform that aims to support indigenous expression and assertion, based in Kolkata, India. It is a publishing, archiving and chronicling outfit of and by indigenous people of India's Adivasi Tribes.

Contents

History

In April 2012, Ruby Hembrom attended a four month publishing course, [1] and on being confronted by the absence, invisibility and erasure of Adivasi representation in the curriculum and discourse, a common feature in many spaces she had been at, the idea began there. [2] [3] [4]

Adivaani was registered as a non-governmental organization on 19 July 2012, [5] and became operational, and have produced 19 books thus far, including to anthologies. [6]

Adivaani is the first publishing outfit of and by indigenous people of India to publish in the English language, [7] Hembrom co-opted two others to collaborate with, [8] [7] one of whom still remains with Adivaani as a volunteer.

Etymology

Adivaani is a combination of Sanskrit word 'adi' meaning 'first', 'original', 'ancient' or 'earliest', and 'vaani' meaning 'voice'. Adivaani translates to the 'first voices'. [9]

Work

Adivaani aims to document and disseminate knowledge systems, tangible and intangible cultural facets of Adivasis in English and bi-lingual, creating a database of the authentic Adivasi voice, as recounted by them, using diverse multimedia channels, which can be accessible to indigenous people themselves.

Adivaani has made a documentary film on the making and playing of the Santhal lute and fiddle, the Banam.

Adivaani's first two books were released at the New Delhi World Book Fair, 2013: Gladson Dungdung's 'Whose Country is it anyway?' and, Ruby Hembrom and Boski Jain's 'We Come from the Geese'.

The theme of the book fair was 'Indigenous Voices: Mapping India's Folk and Tribal Literature'. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ "Nominee NDTV L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth Awards. 2016". NDTV.
  2. ↑ Chakrabarti, Ajachi (March 21, 2013). "In their own words". Tehelka. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  3. ↑ "adivaani: Documenting The Spirit Of The Adivasis". The Curious Reader. July 24, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  4. ↑ Mishra, Garima (April 27, 2013). "Lending a Voice". The Indian Express. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  5. ↑ Bhattacharya, Budhaditya (August 30, 2013). "A new voice". The Hindu. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  6. ↑ Shah, Manasi (June 15, 2013). "Stories of the Santhals, by the Santhals". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Yengkhom, Sumati (December 31, 2013). "Voice of the Santhals". The Times of India. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  8. ↑ Sircar, Sushovan (May 18, 2013). "Adivasi imprints get into print". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  9. ↑ Mitra, Ipshita (September 6, 2019). "Ruby Hembrom: 'We never needed to write because we were living documents'". The Hindu BusinessLine. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  10. ↑ Kotamraju, Priyanka (February 8, 2013). "It's time Adivasis spoke about their anguish". The Indian Express. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
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