South Asia Exhibit Project

• Post Date: 12/1/2025
• Author: Beth Watkins, Manager of Exhibit Interpretation and Visitor Experience
• Reading Time: 2 minute read

• News tag
• Exhibits tag

The Spurlock Museum is developing a new exhibit on South Asia, and we want to hear from you! To create an exhibit with many authentic cultural voices, the project is being developed through extensive community consultation. Our exhibit team is led by Dr. Umeeta Sadarangani, Museum Curator, and Beth Watkins, Spurlock Manager of Exhibit Interpretation.

Survey

The first stage of this process is gathering ideas from our visitors and other stakeholders. One way to share your opinion is to answer this brief survey. It asks a few questions about what topics you’d like to see in the exhibit, and there is space for optional feedback about what you think about the project and some demographic information.

Brief Survey(external link)

Brainstorming Groups

We’re also hosting community brainstorming groups. Currently, we’re focusing on input from people with identity, experience, and/or expertise related to South Asia. This can include:

• cultural or heritage identity (you or your ancestors are from South Asia [Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet])
• professional or academic interest (your studies or work focus on South Asia in some way)
• artistic knowledge (you participate in art forms from South Asia)
• lived experience (you have spent at least 3 years in South Asia)

To sign up to receive information about brainstorming groups, contact Beth at ewatkins@illinois.edu (email link). No preparation is required for participating. Each session involves a group conversation led by Dr. Sadarangani and lasts 60–90 minutes. Registration is required.

Future Plans

In the spring semester of 2026, we will begin creating prototype displays of some of the ideas brought forward by the surveys and brainstorming groups. These will be in the museum’s galleries and open for feedback from all visitors.