Roots & Ruptures Untangling Climate through Ecology, Power and Practice

A 7-Day Workshop for Creatives Across Disciplines

Dates: Wednesday 3rd June to Wednesday 10th June 2026

Location: SARA Centre in Dombekoppa village, Shivamogga district, Karnataka.

About the Workshop

We are living in a time where the climate crisis is widely acknowledged, yet unevenly understood and responded to. Roots & Ruptures is a week-long, site-specific workshop that invites participants to engage with climate not as an abstract concern, but as a lived and complex condition shaped by ecology, power, and everyday practice.

Concept Note

Roots & Ruptures is a week-long, site-specific workshop at the SARA Centre in Dombekoppa, Karnataka, located within the ecologically sensitive landscape of the Western Ghats. Centred on ecology, water, and the interconnected impacts of the climate crisis, the programme engages with environmental change as a lived, material, and uneven reality shaped by power, labour, knowledge, and everyday practice.

Anchored by the question What is my position within this crisis, and what does response mean from where I stand?, the workshop invites participants to reflect on their own location within ecological systems. Designed for creatives across disciplines, it encourages direct engagement with landscapes, communities, and materials, shifting from observation to participation.

The programme draws from the long-term work of the SARA Centre, where ecology, agriculture, and cultural practice intersect through sustained engagement with place. Emerging from a region shaped by both biodiversity and disruption, including histories of displacement linked to hydroelectric projects, SARA frames environment not as a subject to be represented, but as a condition to be engaged with through collective labour and critical reflection.

Through field immersions and studio sessions, participants will encounter forests, water systems, agricultural practices, and community-led ecological initiatives. Working with natural and found materials such as soil, water, wood, and archival fragments, they will explore how material carries memory and how creative practice can respond to processes of extraction, transformation, and survival.

Supported by mentors and facilitators across ecological research, environmental thought, artistic practice, and grassroots work, the workshop creates a space for dialogue, inquiry, and shared learning. It culminates in participants developing responses as stories, gestures, or works that extend their engagement beyond the programme.

What You Will Engage With

  • Field immersions across forests, water systems, and agricultural landscapes
  • Engagement with community-led ecological initiatives
  • Studio-based explorations with natural and found materials
  • Dialogues with practitioners across ecology, policy, and art
  • Collective discussion and reflection

Program Structure

  • 3 days of sessions and dialogues
  • 3 days of site visits and field immersion
  • 1 day of reflection and participant sharing

Who Can Apply

Open to:

  • artists
  • writers
  • filmmakers
  • researchers
  • environmental practitioners
  • and others working across disciplines

Living & Participation

  • Shared dormitory accommodation
  • Simple vegetarian food
  • Rural setting
  • Full participation required

Contribution

₹4500
(Covers food and local logistics)

About SARA Centre

SARA (Sustainable Alternatives for Rural Accord) is a community and artist-led platform based in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. Its work brings together ecology, agriculture, and cultural practice through long-term engagement with local landscapes and communities.

Through initiatives in water conservation, seed preservation, and ecological restoration, SARA explores how environmental challenges intersect with questions of livelihood, knowledge, and collective responsibility.

Apply/Enquire

Please use this Google form to apply
[info.saracentre@gmail.com]

Participation Terms

  • Participants are expected to:
  • Participate with openness and responsibilit
  • Attend all sessions and stay for the full duration
  • Be comfortable with shared accommodation and simple living conditions
  • Engage actively in discussions and activities
  • Respect the space as an alcohol-free environment

This is not a retreat, but a space for engagement.