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Kajri Jain is a Professor in the Department of Art History, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the efficacies, affects, and values associated with images in modern and contemporary India, particularly within the realm of popular images such as 'calendar art,' monumental statues, and representations of nature in temples, gardens, zoos, and cinema. Her work critically examines how these images are produced, circulated, and deployed as material objects, integrating ethnographic sensibilities with visual studies methodologies. Jain's teaching emphasizes South Asian materials and employs a postcolonial and transcultural approach to interrogate the disciplinary assumptions of art history, cinema studies, and visual studies. Her current research project explores how vernacular images in spaces across India articulate ideas of nature and mobilization in the post-reform Indian public sphere, addressing the aesthetic and moral-ethical values amidst the tension of modern artistic traditions and the impacts of colonialism and industrialization.
Department of Art History • University of Toronto
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Department of Sociology