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I have been working with the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) since fall 2022, working on various technical tasks like maintaining the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive (SACDA)’s automating repetitive tasks to save time, updating and maintaining the research websites, and creating new digital exhibits. Continuing my passion for computer science, I attended Canada’s largest hackathon, … Read more

On October 23, 2025, the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) and the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) held the first of five Community Gathering events, launching a series focused on Honouring Indigenous–South Asian Canadian Relations and Building Intercultural Futures. Carrying the Light marked the beginning of a vibrant partnership between SASI and MOA, celebrating connection and … Read more

On 22 September 2025, the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) hosted Cultural Discovery Day at the Sikh Heritage Museum (SHM) as part of the City of Abbotsford’s Cultural Day programming! SASI Museum Assistant, Makenna Brar, led guided tours of the grounds of the National Historic Site, Gur Sikh Temple with a fun scavenger hunt activity … Read more

On 26 August 2025, the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) hosted a successful workshop titled “Photography is Forever: Documenting History in the Present” at the Sikh Heritage Museum, in collaboration with photographer and content creator Gibi Saini. The workshop began with a contextual introduction by Thamilini Jothilingam, Digital Archivist at the South Asian Canadian Digital … Read more

July 20, 2025 – After months of dedicated preparation and meticulous curation, the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) at the University of the Fraser Valley proudly inaugurated its latest exhibit, Chandra Bodalia’s Legacy: The History and Heritage of Gurdwaras in BC, at the Sikh Heritage Museum in Abbotsford. This is the Museum’s seventeenth exhibit since … Read more

On Friday, July 11, 2025, the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) hosted an enriching event titled “The Art of Preservation: In Conversation with Museum Conservator Vasundhara Pradip Madhumita” at the Sikh Heritage Museum, housed within the Gur Sikh Temple National Historic Site in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The event was part of the National Trust for … Read more

I began my journey as a UFV student in the Fall of 2021, but I had not heard much about SASI until 2024 – when faced with a presentation from Dr. Satwinder Bains in my South Asian Literature class (ENGL 380) with Dr. Rajnish Dhawan. You can imagine my surprise when learning about the South … Read more

On May 15, 2025, the Chilliwack Museum & Archives welcomed community members, educators, and cultural leaders to the opening of Haq and History. This travelling exhibition was developed by the Royal BC Museum in collaboration with the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) at the University of the Fraser Valley in 2022. An important exhibit that … Read more

Over the past several months, I’ve worked on two different archival projects that, while quite different, both focused on preserving and sharing the stories of underrepresented communities. The first involved co-cataloguing the Chandra Bodalia photographic fonds with a colleague. The second, which I undertook independently, involved transcribing, translating and researching a payroll ledger from the … Read more

Salwar Kameez The quintessential South Asian coupling of wide trousers cuffed around the ankles with a straight-cut, long tunic. Chandra Bodalia’s collection of photographs opened the Pandora’s box of my childhood memories: of my dadi holding embroidered salwar kameez too close to the camera for Skype to capture its detail, of my chachi trying pull … Read more