The Institute's residents continue to develop their research and creative work long after their time in Nantes. Over the past months, we have been delighted to follow their latest publications, awards, and projects. In this summer edition, we are pleased to share a selection of these recent books, exhibitions, and initiatives, offering new opportunities to continue the conversations fostered at the Institute, across research, the arts, and society.
Are you a former fellow with a new publication, exhibition, or upcoming event to share? We'd love to hear from you. Let us know about your latest work, and we will be pleased to feature it on the Institute's website and in our upcoming newsletters.
Soumya Sankar Bose publishes a new photobook
Former resident of the Chair Arts, Societies and Contemporary Transformations, Soumya Sankar Bose has published A Discreet Exit Through Darkness & Things We Lost Last Night (Red Turtle Photobook, 2025), a work that weaves together photography and storytelling around a family history shaped by the disappearance of his mother in the late 1960s. Acclaimed for its narrative and visual approach, the book has been shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Award 2025 in the PhotoBook of the Year category.
In spring 2026, Soumya presented We Need To Talk In Whispers, his fifth solo exhibition at Experimenter Gallery in Kolkata. Developed largely during his residency at the Institute, the exhibition can now be explored online through a virtual tour and comprehensive documentation.
David M. Pritchard co-edits a new volume on fourth-century Athens
In Waging War in Fourth-Century Athens: New Appraisals (Routledge, 2026), co-edited with Ian Worthington, David M. Pritchard brings together leading scholars of the ancient world to offer fresh perspectives on warfare and democracy in fourth-century BCE Athens. The volume reassesses Athens' military, diplomatic, and economic capacities after the Peloponnesian War, demonstrating how military affairs were deeply intertwined with the functioning of the democratic city-state.
Kaustav Chakraborty rethinks contemporary masculinities in India
Former Institute Fellow Kaustav Chakraborty has published Abrasive, Soft and Ecological Masculinities in North India (Routledge, 2026). At the intersection of gender studies, media studies, politics, and theology, the book examines models of masculinity in contemporary India. Moving beyond dominant forms of toxic masculinity, it explores the experiences of vulnerable men and introduces the concept of "habitable masculinities," grounded in ecology, care, and new forms of coexistence.
Roslyn Lee Hammers traces the cultural history of cotton in China
In Pictures of Cotton in Eighteenth-Century China (Routledge, 2025), Roslyn Lee Hammers explores how cotton, initially an imported crop, became a central subject in Chinese visual and political culture. Through an analysis of the renowned Pictures of Cotton, commissioned in the eighteenth century by Governor Fang Guancheng and later accompanied by commentaries from the Qianlong Emperor, the book demonstrates how these images helped transform cotton into a symbol of knowledge, imperial authority, and political legitimacy.
Camille de Toledo continues his exploration of rivers as political subjects
In L'Internationale des rivières (Verdier, 2025), Camille de Toledo examines the citizen, legal, and ecological movements emerging around rivers across the world. Blending essay and narrative, the book explores new alliances between humans and the living world, showing how rivers are increasingly recognised as political actors in their own right. In doing so, it invites readers to rethink how we inhabit territories and narrate ecological transformations.
