Madras / Mumbai: Musings on the Modern City

Ashrafi S. Bhagat Ph.D., was the Former Head, and Associate Professor Department of Fine Arts, Stella Maris College, [Autonomous] Chennai. She is an Independent Art Historian, Art Critic Author and Curator. She has written monographs on eminent Madras artists as A.P. Santhanaraj, K.C.S. Paniker, S.G. Vasudev, R.B. Bhaskaran, P. Perumal, R. Vardarajan, K.S. Gopal et al. She was invited by the MARG journal, to be Guest Editor for a special edition on South titled “The Contemporary Art of South India” published in December 2010. She writes on modern and contemporary art in newspapers, magazines and journal. She has written over 200 catalogues essays for the artists. She was invited to be an Art Historian Residence at Concordia College, Bronxville, New York State in 2011. She received the “Women Achievers Award” for her contribution as an Art Historian and Art Critic awarded by the Brew Magazine, Chennai, March 2016. In March 2017 she curated an exhibition invited by NGMA om Madras Art Movement titled Regional Modernity: The Madras Art Movement 1960s to 1990, Painting and Sculpture.In July 2019 DAG invited her to curate the exhibition titled Madras Modern: Regionalism and Identity at Mumbai.

Kamalika Bose is an urban conservationist and founder of Heritage Synergies India, a Mumbai-based consultancy. Her work lies at the intersection of built and cultural heritage, curation, research and education. She completed her Master in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University as a Fulbright Scholar and is a recipient of the SAH-Getty International Fellowship (2016), the European Union’s Global Cultural Leadership Programme (2018) and the French Ministry of Culture’s international program Séjour Culture (2018). She has gained international work experience in New York through positions at Historic Districts Council and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Kamalika has worked on community-oriented urban conservation initiatives in Kolkata Chinatown, Worli Koliwada, Pune Cantonment and Azimganj, Murshidabad. She recently co-curated the exhibition 'Bengal's Durga' at London’s Totally Thames festival 2018, has authored three books and her forthcoming publications are titled People Called Kolkata (Fall 2019) and The Hoysala Legacy (Winter 2019).

Namita Bodaji is the founder of Samskara Academy of Fine Arts, a no-profit organization that promotes Indian music and dance. This organization is devoted to the cause of nurturing talent, organizing seminars, festivals and producing thematic presentations. She led the Spirituality of India Festival on Cape Cod, US wherein she gave lectures, conducted workshops, and performed too. Namita’s performances in India and abroad have won her many accolades from the audience as well as the critics. She has several prestigious performances to her credit in India as well as abroad. Some of them being Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai Festival, Celebrate Bandra, Juhu Hamara Festival, India International Centre, NCPA and many others. Namita has performed extensively abroad and to name a few of the performances- Rice University Houston, Cornell University Ithaca, Florida International University Miami, University of Houston, Texas A&M, Saltsjobad- Sweden, Temple of Fine Arts in Kuala Lumpur, Malyasia, India Cultural Centre in Zagreb, Croatia and so on.

Ranjit Hoskote has been acclaimed as a seminal contributor to Indian art criticism and curatorial practice, and is also a leading Anglophone Indian poet. He is the author of more than 30 books, including Vanishing Acts: New & Selected Poems 1985-2005 (Penguin 2006), Central Time (Penguin/ Viking 2014), and Jonahwhale (Penguin/ Hamish Hamilton 2018); and the monographs Zinny & Maidagan: Compartment/ Das Abteil (Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/ Walther König 2010) and Atul Dodiya (Prestel 2014). Hoskote curated India’s first-ever national pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2011). He co-curated the 7th Gwangju Biennale with Okwui Enwezor and Hyunjin Kim (2008). He was co-convenor, with Maria Hlavajova, Kathrin Rhomberg and Boris Groys, of the exhibition-conference platform Documents, Constellations, Prospects (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2013). He co curated, with Rahul Mehrotra and Kaiwan Mehta, the exhibition-conference platform The State of Architecture: Practices and Processes in India (National Gallery of Modern Art, Bombay, 2016).

Siddharth Somaiya, chef, entrepreneur and stickler for innovation in world fusion tastebuds, started his career and passion from the Culinary Institute of America. Having worked for a Michelin accredited Restaurants like Jean George and Lincoln he was able to gain unparalleled industry experience like no other. He returned to the motherboard to diversify and concoct classics from the pan Asian pallete. Humbly beginning from a Bao take away called The Bao Haus Co, to now running a Bar & Restaurant called Goyaa, he adds a sumptuous twist to the dining experience, giving gourmet food a nouveau chic title. When he is not in the kitchen you can find him playing with his 8 year old Pekingnese, Smuggles or finding ways to invite himself to dining tables across the country.