About TDF Session 194
More details on the session and the Zoom link available on Registration.
About Synchar Bhaki Pde
Anti-disciplinary artist
Jowai, Meghalaya
Synchar is an indigenous tribal artist, oral history researcher, and storyteller from Jowai, India. She completed her Fine Arts degree at Chelsea College of Arts in 2022, where she often experienced the challenges of being an indigenous artist in a predominantly Western-centric space. This isolation shaped her understanding of how her work was perceived, but she continued to embrace the practices of archiving, making, storytelling, singing, and cooking that are central to her cultural identity. In the safe spaces she found, she received love and compassion, which significantly impacted her artistic journey. Her diverse roles—ranging from nanny to community art assistant, archive assistant, visitor experience host, teaching assistant, facilitator, and ironer—have enriched her practice and deepened her passion for learning from others. These experiences have not only informed her art but also her commitment to engaging with people and communities around her.
Through her art and storytelling, Synchar explores themes such as tribal history, oral tradition, narratives, dreams, literature, humour, resistance, and loss, encouraging her audience to confront the complexities of India’s social fabric. Now that she has returned home, her work is shifting as she engages more deeply with the people and places that have always shaped her, allowing her practice to evolve in new, culturally grounded directions.
