We are proud to bring you an in-depth conversation focused on the importance of fostering dialogue and supporting artists, through both, new initiatives formed during, and because of the pandemic, as well as through established models like residencies and student exhibitions. Featuring Ayesha Singh, Artist and Co-founder of Art Chain India; Eve Lemesle, Founder and Director of What about Art? and Mumbai Art Room; Faiza Hasan, Education Coordinator at Kochi Biennale Foundation and Shaleen Wadhwana, Independent Arts Educator and Heritage Professional in conversation with Hena Kapadia, Gallery Director TARQ. This live panel discussion concentrates on the various resources and peer support activities available to artists in India. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session.
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About the panellists:
Ayesha Singh (born in New Delhi, India) is an interdisciplinary artist and co-founder of Art Chain India. Prior to the Art Chain, Singh was working on a space called the Creative Community- bringing creative practitioners from various disciplines to engage in dialogue through various events. As an artist her interdisciplinary practice lays emphasis on movement and displacement; Singh questions social hierarchies, political agendas and subconscious value systems placed on architectural elements that construct our cities and homes. Singh has exhibited her work worldwide, including at the Sculpture Park Jaipur, India; Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK; ACRE Projects, USA; Cambridge University, UK; and other space in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Calcutta, Jaipur, Mumbai and New Delhi (India); Chicago and Miami (USA); London, Reading and Cambridge(UK); and Curitiba (Brazil).
Her work has been published in Art Review, Hyperallergic, Architectural Digest, Art India Magazine, Public Parking, Burnaway, Domus and Stir, to name a few. Singh was recently awarded the 'Emerging Artist' award from India Today in 2020 and was named under the 'Forbes India 30under30' Special Mentions list in 2019. She has won the 'Ellies Creator Award' from the Art Centre/South Florida, USA; the 'Civil Society Institute Fellowship' at Vermont Studio Centre, USA; and the 'Science & Culture Initiative Grant' from the University of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018.
Eve Lemesle lives in Mumbai since more than a decade. She started the arts management agency ‘What About Art’ in 2010. She has produced exhibitions in multiple institutions in India, as well as for the Venice Biennale, Kochi Biennale, Shanghai Biennale or Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh. Lemesle is a Consultant for Qatar Museums Authority, and she is a researcher at the Institute of Public Art at the University of Shanghai. She also runs the not-for-profit curatorial lab Mumbai Art Room. She is the founder of WAA Residency which offered 9 studios to young artists in Bandra from 2013 to 2019.
Faiza Hasan is a visual arts practitioner based in Hyderabad. She acquired her M.F.A at the University of Hyderabad. She was part of the Students' Biennale curatorial team in the 2014 and 2016. Presently, she is the Education Co-ordinator at Kochi Biennale Foundation.
Shaleen Wadhwana, academically trained in History (Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi); Art History (SOAS, London); Liberal Arts, Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University; and Cultural Heritage Law from University of Geneva, lies at the intersection of art, history, heritage and culture. She has professional expertise across museums and galleries ranging from the British Museum, London to Chemould Prescott Road Gallery, Mumbai.
Currently her independent pedagogical practice includes teaching, curating and writing about South Asian history, art and culture to bring audiences closer to it. She frequently writes about the impact of technology on art, and the links between art and public spaces, which has been published by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Serendipity Foundation for South Asian Art Writing. Since 2018, she is the visiting faculty for the MITID Design Management and Innovation Programme. Her curatorial engagements include, 'Osmosis', a group show at TARQ, Mumbai in 2019, a group show at a contemporary art gallery (2020/2021) and a virtual artist residency, 'Pollinator' (accepting applications till 15th August 2020).