Archives are typically shaped by the choices of what is collected, who is invited to contribute, and whose memories are preserved. This program proposes a different starting point: rather than beginning with materials, it begins with people. It treats listening as a core practice and involves exploring the ethics, methodologies, and practice of oral history, beyond traditionally understood approaches. This month-long workshop shall enable participants to explore different kinds of media that can hold lesser-known histories while encouraging them to reflect on histories within their own families and communities and, together, think about how these can hold larger narratives.

IMPORTANT DATES

Duration: 21 November To 20 December 2026

Registration begins: 14 October 2026

Orientation: 31 October 2026

Registration closes: 16 November 2026

ELIGIBILITY

Open to all

FORMAT

Duration: One month

Sessions: Four to five

Frequency: One session each week

One Session: Three hours

Mode: Via Google Meet/Zoom

FEES: INR 3000

NOTE: The workshop outcomes may evolve into a ‘physical’ exhibition in the future.

REGISTER HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe181Q_TKJ6GW41qze6FtHKSQpzBDJffMoUPx4CY-zrzmUPQw/viewform

Please reach out to us at biharvisualarchive@gmail.com for any queries.

About the Instructor

Avantika Seth is an oral historian, documentary storyteller, and curator building moving archives across the Global South. A graduate of Columbia University’s Oral History Master of Arts (OHMA) program, she explores how memory is carried through stories, silences, bodies, objects, and everyday spaces, through community-led, non-extractive approaches to documenting lived experiences. She has worked with communities, NGOs, universities, and cultural institutions in India and internationally, facilitating oral history workshops and developing participatory archival projects. Her work spans archives, survivor-led storytelling, community memory, and family histories.

Avantika’s recent documentary, Will You Remember What I Choose to Forget?, emerged from an intimate oral history process with her own family in Shimla, exploring memory, silence, care, and the spaces through which family histories are carried. The film received an Honorable Mention in the 2026 Jeffrey H. Brodsky Oral History Award at Columbia University. Through her practice, Avantika seeks to expand what oral history can be, moving beyond the interview to explore how people remember, what remains unspoken, and how stories can be documented without taking them from the people who hold them.