This symposium consisted of a series of 30-minute presentations by psychoanalysts and cultural theorists on topics of contemporary relevance to both psychoanalysis and artistic and cultural production and reception, together with presentations of works from artists. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion between the symposium participants and the audience.

The objective of the symposium was to foster discussions and cross-fertilisation across the analytic and artistic fields, enabling analysts to present contemporary thinking in psychoanalysis on one hand and artists to present artistic theories and practices in India on the other.

The symposium hoped to open up a space for public discussion and reflection on the role of ‘psyche’ in art and culture as well as on analytic concepts such as ‘eros,’ ‘thanatos,’ sexuality, trauma, resilience, resistance, and the unconscious, as they play out in the clinical and the cultural sphere, with a view towards renewing interest in the complex intermeshing of psyche with socius.