Galleries as Agents of Creativity Celebrating Cymroza @50

Mortimer Chatterjee received his MA in the History of Indian Art and Architecture from SOAS, London, and co-founded Chatterjee & Lal with his wife, Tara Lal, in 2003. Based in Mumbai’s Colaba art district, the gallery is focused on contemporary art and historical material. In 2010, Chatterjee co-authored a publication on the art collection of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), along with curating an exhibition of that collection at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai. He is currently editing a major publication on modern and contemporary art from the Indian subcontinent, due to be published in 2022.

Dr. Pheroza J. Godrej is an art-historian and a Ph.D. in Ancient Indian Culture. She founded the Cymroza Art Gallery and authored various publications and curated highly acclaimed exhibitions for leading National and International Museums. She is Chairperson of the Museum Society of Mumbai; former President of the National Society of the Friends of the Trees for 17 years, President Emeritus since 2016. Dr. Godrej is on the Executive Board of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology (ATREE) and the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation; Director of Asia Society India Chapter; and a Trustee of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and the Sea Cadet Corp India. Pheroza is on the Board of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development International Advisory Council. She is an ardent promoter of the Cornelia Sorabji Programme, and supports the Cornelia Sorabji Scholarship at Somerville College, Oxford. She is a Member of the Advisory Council for the JCB Prize for Literature, and a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers & Commerce (RSA), U.K. The Asiatic Society of Mumbai conferred her with the Society’s Honorary Fellowship for her outstanding contribution in the field of art and culture. Dr. Godrej is the Chairperson of the Godrej Archives Council.

Ranjit Hoskote is a poet, cultural theorist and curator. His seven collections of poetry include Vanishing Acts, Central Time, Jonahwhale and Hunchprose. Hoskote curated India’s first-ever national pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2011) and was co-curator of the 7th Gwangju Biennale. His curatorial projects include retrospectives of such major artists as Jehangir Sabavala, Sakti Burman, Mehlli Gobhai and Atul Dodiya within the National Gallery of Modern Art system (Mumbai and Delhi), and a retrospective of M F Husain at the Mathaf Museum, Doha. He has received the Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award, the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award and the S.H. Raza Literature Award

Dadiba Pundole owns one of Mumbai’s oldest commercial art spaces – Pundole Gallery. Pundole is one of Mumbai’s oldest galleries, which his father Kali Pundole set up. He began his career as a gallerist in 1980. He is recognised in the field for his in-depth knowledge on the Indian Modernists including Vasudev S. Gaitonde, Akbar Padamsee, S.H. Raza, Ram Kumar, M.F. Husain and F.N. Souza. Pundole Art Gallery began representing these artists in the 1960s. Dadiba was a consultant at Sotheby’s for their Modern Indian Art sales from 2005 to 2010. Dadiba has taken Pundole to new spaces and new places; and has transformed the gallery into a very successful auction house

Hena Kapadia is founder and gallery director of TARQ, a contemporary art gallery in Mumbai. At TARQ, she is focused on exhibiting and engaging with art that is both process driven and thought provoking. A key interest of her practice is to maintain close relationships with both artists and patrons, and to encourage thoughtful acquisitions of art. Apart from TARQ's regular shows, the gallery is also committed to building an educational structure that enables the art community to grow through discussion, debate and dialogue across a variety of fields.