Ashish Avikunthak

Biography

Ashish Avikunthak is an Indian avant-garde filmmaker, archaeologist, and cultural anthropologist. He is the author of “Bureaucratic Archaeology: State, Science and Past in Postcolonial India,” published by Cambridge University Press in 2021, that ethnographically interrogates the role of Archaeological Survey of India in the making of the past in contemporary India. It meticulously uncovers the social, cultural, political, and epistemological ecology of ASI archaeologists to show how postcolonial state assembles and produces knowledge. His films have been shown in major film festivals, galleries and museums, worldwide. He is a Professor of film media at Harrington School of Communication, University of Rhode Island.