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About Us
Living Lightly ~ Journeys with Pastoralists is a traveling exhibition that brings the stories of India’s pastoralists to life—tales of mobility, resilience, and harmony with the land. It traces their rich histories, exploring ecosystems that cradle their lifeworlds, the intricate balance of their livelihoods, and the depth of their cultural, artistic, spiritual, and economic practices.
Through a medley of narratives and mediums—testimonies, archives, music, crafts, films, performances, and poetry—pastoralists share their shifting landscapes. They unveil how they weave time and space into a rhythm of their own, revealing philosophies shaped by mobility and herding, where movement is not just a necessity but a way of knowing, and coexistence with the land becomes a profound act of care.
Living Lightly celebrates the spirit of a shared world, where stories of mobility weave into an intricate, living ecosystem. Their knowledge and traditions carry a quiet wisdom, holding possibilities for navigating the uncertainties of a changing climate. The exhibition shines a light on the resilience of pastoralists in a world that has gradually come to overlook mobile ways of life.
Centre for Pastoralism
The Centre for Pastoralism (CfP) works across India on collaborative programs to enhance pastoralist livelihood security, gain mainstream recognition of livestock breeds developed by pastoralists, explore ways of securing their access to grazing resources, promote research to enhance understanding of pastoral systems and undertake outreach to educate society on pastoralism and its many contributions. In advancing these goals, CfP works in close partnership with civil society, academia, government agencies and the private sector.
CfP is a Sahjeevan initiative that emerged from Sahjeevan’s 2016 Living Lightly: Journeys with Pastoralists Exhibition. Sahjeevan’s work on pastoralism in Kachchh, Gujarat over the past two decades has enjoyed a number of successes. CfP was set up with the idea of expanding this work outside of Gujarat to the rest of India.
