Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften

The Department of South Asian Societies and Cultures at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, warmly congratulates Ruwanthi Gajadeera on her recent international achievement.

On 2 September 2026, the Sri Lankan artist and designer presented her artwork Children of One Mother to King Charles III in London, as part of the celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship. Created using the cyanotype technique and entirely developed through sunlight, the work brings together the national flowers of all 56 Commonwealth countries and offers an artistic reflection on cultural diversity, connectedness and shared responsibility.

We are delighted to have Ruwanthi Gajadeera as a lecturer in our department and particularly value the ways in which her work brings together artistic practice, cultural reflection and transnational perspectives.

We warmly congratulate her on this significant recognition and wish her continued success in her artistic and academic work.

Read the article "Sri Lankan artist gives King Charles III a Commonwealth made in sunlight" here:

https://slguardian.org/sri-lankan-artist-gives-king-charles-iii-a-commonwealth-made-in-sunlight/

Anna Schnieder-Krüger, Dhanya Kirchhof and Reyazul Haque successfully defended their doctoral dissertations in the South Asian Studies program in July 2026. Anna’s dissertation focuses on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi and examines the interplay of urban planning, architecture, and communal life on the university grounds. Dhanya’s research focuses on the media networks and communicative practices of people living in the Indian state of Punjab and in Germany who draw on Guru Ravidas’s teachings. Music plays a central role in this context. In his doctoral dissertation, Reyaz examines GDR newsreels (“Der Augenzeuge”) which contained a significant number of reports on India over a period of several decades. These are analyzed in depth from a film-theoretical perspective, with a focus on time, space, and speed.

The Department for South Asian Societies and Cultures (SASC) extends its warmest congratulations to the three doctoral graduates and wishes them all the best in their future academic and professional careers!

Reyazul Haque, Anna Schnieder-Krüger and Dhanya Kirchhof.

How would the interaction between students, faculty and other (non-)human beings in our Edison-Höfe in Berlin-Mitte change if the inner courtyard, with newly created seating areas and flowering plants, invited us all to linger? Using this AI-generated image of the IAAW, Anna Schnieder-Krüger illustrated to the audience during her PhD defense in July 2026 that her research on the JNU campus in Delhi also offers valuable insights for redesigning university spaces in Berlin…