An installation exploring pastoral communication between people and animals through sound, material, visual and interactive experiences, connecting the traditions of India and the UAE.

Herding the Unheard: Traces of an Unwritten Language is a collaborative design research project by Avid Learning ME and Dakhnii Diaries exploring the acoustic language between pastoralists and their animals. Drawing on ethnographic research into India’s indigenous pastoral communities and wool ecologies, the project translates pastoral calls, oral histories and wool traditions into sound installations, visual languages, tactile artefacts and interactive design prototypes.

Presented as an immersive installation, experimental design laboratory and experiential workshop, the project invites visitors to listen to archival recordings, explore evolving design translations, create material samples derived from indigenous wool traditions and contribute to conversations around endangered knowledge.

The project, is being presented in the UAE, establishes a dialog between the pastoral landscapes of the Arabian Peninsula and India by making links between the UAE's relationship with sheep, camel wool, and desert craftsmanship and Indian wool techniques. Wool turns into a living record of cultural memory, migration, and adaptation.

About Avid Learning
Avid Learning is the cultural arm of the Indian multinational conglomerate Essar Group. It was founded in Mumbai in 2009 by Madhu Ruia, who has spent over 16 years cultivating dialogue across the arts, design, literature, heritage and innovation.

About Dakhnii Diaries
Dakhnii Diaries is a living lab for crafts that curates interdisciplinary engagements across design, anthropology and heritage studies. Founded by interdisciplinary researcher and designer Varsha Rani, it explores the intersections of material culture, pastoralism and socio-ecological systems.