Hum Sab Ek
Hum Sab Ek is an immersive exhibit inspired by the actions of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), comprising 3 million women working in the informal sector in India.
What began as a traditional impact assessment of the pandemic on the lives of the working poor, evolved into a multimedia exhibition created by an interdisciplinary team of graduate students across Harvard University.
Led by Dr. Satchit Balsari, Associate Professor of emergency medicine and of global health and population, the exhibit is based on 30 hours of oral histories and a survey of over 1000 rural and urban households in Gujarat, India.
The research examines the impact of the pandemic on access to health, education, food, work and finance among the poorest in India. It finds that SEWA’s members, unencumbered by the luxury of confirmation, but emboldened by half a century of organization, implemented material, behavioral and financial solutions that were practical, expedient and mutually beneficial.
The story of SEWA is important because it elucidates alternative approaches to preparing us for our rapidly changing climate.
Approach
Dr. Balsari and his team are also keen on shedding light on alternative forms of science communication at a time when the hegemony of quantitative sciences and modeling drowns out other forms of knowledge generation and dissemination. Hum Sab Ek brings their research findings to a wide global and local audience, in ways that promote engagement, reflection, and reinterpretation.
Through a multilayered approach to documentation and dissemination, the project includes an online archive of oral histories donated to the Harvard Countway Library’s History of Medicine Archives; a traveling exhibition hosted at research institutions, philanthropic organizations, and multilateral organizations; policy roundtables; and invitations to artists to interpret archival material.
Select Press
The Harvard Gazette
‘HUM SAB EK’ harvests stories of self-employed Indian women’s hardships — and victories
May 22, 2024
The Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute
It Takes a Village: Harvard Students Reflect on Creating the HUM SAB EK (We Are One) Exhibition
April 10, 2024
Team
Curators
Technology Lead
Research
Research & Editorial
Design Team
Advisors
Supported By
Prior Collaborators
We thank our colleagues from across Harvard and India for their counsel:
Mihir Bhatt, Caroline Buckee, Bettina Burch, Amit Dave, Mark Elliot, Lori Gross, Jennifer Leaning, Mitul Kajaria, Deepanjana Klein, Ally Mathan, Nathan Melenbrink, Sabrina Lynn Motley, Heather Mumford, Joseph Nallen, Emily R. Novak Gustainis, Ravi Sadhu, Kathy Schoer, Vishwesh Surve, Michael Vortmann, Chase Van Amburg, Rich Wolfe, and the teams at CGIS, Makepeace, and the Mittal Institute in Delhi and Cambridge.
Contact
For more details, collaboration opportunities, exhibition invitations, or general inquiries, please contact us at humsabekhai2023@gmail.com.