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Above 3000m Fellowship
A long-term collaboration between sā Ladakh Biennale and Royal Enfield Social Mission supporting regenerative art, community engagement, and cultural continuity.
Supporting Emerging Ladakhi Art Practices
The collaboration between sā Ladakh Biennale and Royal Enfield Social Mission took shape during the 2023 edition, when a cohort of emerging Ladakhi artists was brought into the land art programme at Disko Valley Bike Park, Leh, developed in partnership with Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation and Crashpad. Artists Skarma Sonam Tashi, Gurmet Kungyam, Arunima Dazess Wangchuk, Jigmet Angmo, Tundup Dorjay, and Anayat Ali worked directly with and within the landscape, contributing to one of the region's earliest sustained platforms for land art experimentation and opening up new pathways for local participation in contemporary ecological practice.
Performance, Textiles & Cultural Exchange
By 2024, the collaboration had grown in scope and register, moving into performance, residency, and embodied practice. Royal Enfield Social Mission supported the biennale's closing ceremony, which brought together Omaggio Performing Company under Tino Sanchez, Rinchen Wangmo's Art of Motion, and a live set by Ladakhi band Dashugs. Across movement, sound, and storytelling, the programme drew these forms into conversation with the biennale's broader landscape.
That same year, artist Aditi Jain undertook a residency through the Himalayan Knot initiative, developed in collaboration with Lehvallee and Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation. Working at the intersection of textile heritage and land-based practice, the residency wove together local artisanship, pastoral knowledge, and contemporary artistic inquiry. Situated within Royal Enfield Social Mission's wider Himalayan textile programme, it asked how craft, ecology, and cultural memory might hold each other — and what emerges when they do.
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Journeying Across The Himalayas
The collaboration extended beyond Ladakh through Journeying Across The Himalayas in Delhi where sā presented the site-specific installation Entanglements at Travancore Palace in 2024. Drawing on the connective tissue between the Aravalli Range and the Himalayas, the work invited students from Samagra Shiksha Kendra, supported by The Child Trust, to paint their aspirations for future generations onto stone surfaces, turning landscape into a surface for intergenerational imagination.
After the exhibition closed, all materials from the installation were repurposed into sustainable building resources through sā's sustainability partner Crashpad — closing the loop between artistic making and ecological responsibility, and giving the work a second life beyond the gallery.
Towards 2026 & Beyond
The sā Ladakh Biennale and Royal Enfield Social Mission continue their long-term collaboration to support regenerative art practices, community engagement, and cultural continuity across Ladakh and the wider Himalayan region. Conceived as a sustained partnership extending across both biennale and non-biennale years, this collaboration seeks to nurture regional artistic practices, strengthen community participation, and foster ecological sensitivity, building meaningful cultural exchanges between Ladakh, the wider Himalayas, and audiences beyond.
A key milestone in this shared vision is the launch of the 'Above 3000m Fellowship', an initiative by sā Ladakh Biennale and Royal Enfield Social Mission for emerging Ladakhi artists working across the Leh–Kargil corridor. Beginning with sā Ladakh Biennale 2026, the fellowship aims to strengthen regional creative ecosystems and foster meaningful exchange between local communities and wider artistic networks through site-responsive and community-engaged artistic practices.
In its inaugural edition, the fellowship will support artists Chemat Dorjay, Tundup Dorjay, Stanzin Tsepel, Stanzin Samphel, and Zahara Batool, who will develop works within living village landscapes while engaging closely with local communities and regenerative approaches to art-making. The fellowship is mentored by the curatorial team of Vishal K Dar and Tsering Motup, curators of sā Ladakh Biennale 2026, with mentorship support for this inaugural edition provided by Trikona Foundation.
The works developed through the fellowship will be presented at sā Ladakh Biennale 2026 in Ladakh from 1–10 August 2026, marking the beginning of a long-term commitment to cultivating locally rooted artistic practices and sustained cultural engagement across the region.
About 75 years ago, the Himalayas became Royal Enfield’s spiritual home. Royal Enfield Social Mission is catalysing an ecosystem of collective action to meet its long term vision of partnering with 100 Himalayan communities by 2030 towards building climate resilience.
The Royal Enfield Social Mission projects and initiatives include ‘The Himalayan Knot’ - a textile conservation project, bringing together pastoral communities, artisans and designers for wider market access; ‘The Himalayan Hub’ - a collective learning center for Climate Resilience; a network of community-run ‘Green Pit Stops’, embodying responsible travel; ‘The Great Himalayan Exploration’ in partnership with UNESCO to document Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH); the Royal Enfield ‘Ice Hockey League’ promoting rural sports and winter tourism; conserving biodiversity and wildlife through the Keystone Species project; and ‘Helmets for India’ - a road safety initiative.
Through the Social Mission, Royal Enfield is also encouraging and inspiring one million riders to explore sustainably and ‘Leave every place better’.
In addition to the Social Mission, Royal Enfield also works with local communities near its manufacturing plants in Tamil Nadu, focusing on areas such as education, livelihood, sanitation, healthcare etc. Two multi-decade partnerships with Bodh Shiksha Samiti in Rajasthan and Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital in Delhi, continue to be supported as legacy projects.
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