My thesis considers two artists books, M.F. Husain’s Story of a Brush and Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan’s The Incomplete Thombu as explorations of alternative methods of narrativizing history, providing insight into how art and text can work together to represent the complexity of modern South Asian history. In analyzing these two books, I hope to draw attention to the significance of the artists book as a unique repository for memory and storytelling that exists outside of nationalist history.

Created as part of my independent study, Out of the Struggle Will Come the Wave is a collaboratively-produced digital resource introducing the public to contemporary anti-casteism in art, activism, and education. The digital book will highlight both the history of anti-caste activism (such as the Dalit Panthers and their publications, illustrated right) and contemporary activists, artists, and thinkers.