Chiman Dangi (India) and Vincent Barré (France)
Sapchat Cave, Saint-Nectaire, Massif du Sancy, 2016
Arts Nature en Sancy – Horizons, 10th Edition
At the entrance to the Sapchat Cave in the Massif du Sancy, silver-ringed trees line the path, leading to a solitary stele draped in silver leaves. Etched into its surface is a story of resistance, memory, and ecological reverence.
In 1731, in the village of Khejarli in Rajasthan, India, a woman named Amrita Devi stood against a royal decree ordering the felling of the sacred Khejri trees—vital to the desert ecosystem and deeply revered by the local community. Together with her three daughters, she embraced a tree and was killed with it. Their sacrifice ignited a movement, and soon hundreds of villagers—women, children, and men—gave their lives to protect the trees. This act of defiance marked one of the earliest known ecological uprisings and sowed the seeds for what would later be recognized as the Chipko (meaning “to embrace”) movement.
The installation "Khejri, for the Trees" is a poetic and political reflection on environmental loss, climate change, and the human relationship to nature. It draws a poignant parallel between the deforested, desertifying lands of Rajasthan and the forested highlands of the Sancy. While some temperate regions witness the return of trees, others—like Rajasthan—face an accelerating ecological decline.
What connects these distant geographies is a shared responsibility: to protect, value, and restore the natural world. This work is a call to remember the courage of communities who have fought for the land, and a reminder that the Earth’s fragile balance depends on collective stewardship across continents.
