About the Film
In 1973, art historian’s Eberhard Fischer and Jyotindra Jain travelled through India researching Jain practices for Museum Rietberg’s exhibition ‘Art and Rituals: 2500 years of Jainism’, 1974.
During their fieldwork they encountered Jain ascetics in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan with whom they closely engaged. Among other things they were witness to Sallekhana, (the practice of voluntary fasting unto death) of Acharya Gyansagar. With his permission Eberhard Fischer photographed the monk and his young disciple Acharya Vidyasagar, who was caring for him.
For nearly 50 years these photographs remained with Eberhard Fischer in his archive and some published in catalogues, until 2019, when he received a phone call from India enquiring about these very same photographs. Disciples of Acharya Vidyasagar had been in search of Eberhard and his images that captured the last moments of Acharya Gyansagar, Vidyasagar’s ailing guru.
It was only in February 2021, during the preparation of the exhibition ‘Being Jain – Art and Culture of an Indian Religion, 2022-23’ that co-curator Harsha Vinay and his film team were able to reunite these photographs with Acharya Vidyasagar and his disciples. They printed the photographs and carried them to Kundalpur, a remote but important Jain pilgrimage site, where they presented them at a large public gathering. In February 2024, Acharya Vidyasagar passed away, after three days of Sallekhana.
‘The Acharya and the Art Historian’ is a short film that cinematically brings together the encounter of the late Jain monk Acharya Vidyasagar and the Swiss art historian Dr. Eberhard Fischer, spanning a period of five decades. Through interviews and on location shoots with both personalities, using archival video and imagery, this film presents the story of then and now: the encounter and the moment of these iconic photographs, but also who they are today, nearly 50 years later. The concept of Sallekhana and its witnessing then form the connecting thread of this encounter.
Film Title: The Acharya and the Art Historian
Duration: 12.23 mins
Language: English and Hindi
Year: 2026
About the Director
Harsha Vinay is the Founder Director of Green Barbet Ltd, India, a company that provides curatorial services for museums and cultural organizations within and outside India. He has over 13 years’ experience as a cultural practitioner - curating exhibitions for international museums, directing documentary films on living traditions of India, and interfacing with artists and artisans in organizing symposia, workshops and collaborative events. This apart he manages the Alice Boner Institute Residency Programme in Varanasi and its cultural programming. He is co-editor of a research publication series called Alice Boner Dialogues and has contributed essays to exhibition catalogues, newspapers and magazines. His cultural engagement with institutions is diverse and includes government museums under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Embassies, international Universities, art galleries, cultural foundations, and non-profit organizations workings with the arts. Harsha lives and works between Varanasi and Bangalore, India.
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