Conversations @ India Art Festival 2014

Ranjit Hostoke: is a cultural theorist, curator and poet. He is the author of more than 25 books, including Vanishing Acts: New & Selected Poems 1985-2005 (Penguin, 2006) and Central Time (Penguin/ Viking, 2014), and the monographs Zinny & Maidagan: Compartment/ Das Abteil (Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/ Walther König, 2010) and Atul Dodiya (Prestel, 2014). Hoskote has translated the poetry of the 14th-century Kashmiri mystic Lal Ded as I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded (Penguin Classics, 2011). With Ilija Trojanow, he has co-authored Kampfabsage (Blessing, 2007; in English as Confluences: Forgotten Histories from East and West, Yoda, 2012). With Nancy Adajania, he is co-author of The Dialogues Series (Popular, 2011), an unfolding programme of conversations with artists. With Maria Hlavajova, he is editor of Future Publics: A Critical Reader in Contemporary Art (BAK, forthcoming). Since 1993, Hoskote has curated 30 exhibitions of contemporary art, including two monographic surveys of Atul Dodiya (Bombay: Labyrinth/ Laboratory, Japan Foundation, Tokyo, 2001; and Experiments with Truth: Atul Dodiya, Works 1981-2013, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, 2013), a lifetime retrospective of Jehangir Sabavala (National Gallery of Modern Art, Bombay and New Delhi, 2005-2006), a historical survey of Indian abstraction, Nothing is Absolute (with Mehlli Gobhai; CSMVS/ The Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, 2013), and a survey of 150 years of art by Parsi artists within the narrative of an emergent Indian modernism, No Parsi is an Island  (with Nancy Adajania; National Gallery of Modern Art, Bombay, 2013-2014). Over 2000-2002, Hoskote co-curated the trans-Asian collaborative project, ‘Under Construction’ (Japan Foundation: Tokyo and other Asian centres). Hoskote co-curated the 7th Gwangju Biennale with Okwui Enwezor and Hyunjin Kim (2008) and was curator of India’s first-ever national pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2011).

Nancy Adajania is a cultural theorist and curator. She is the editor of the monograph Shilpa Gupta (Prestel, 2010) and has co-authored, with Ranjit Hoskote, The Dialogues Series (Popular, 2011). Her essays have appeared in numerous volumes, anthologies and journals; most recently, ‘Globalism before Globalisation: The ambivalent fate of Triennale India’ in Shanay Jhaveri ed., Western Artists and India: Creative Inspirations in Art and Design (The Shoestring Publisher, Bombay, 2013), and ‘Dashrath Patel: Non-aligned Alignments’ in Seminar No: 659/ ‘Inheritances’ (July 2014). Adajania has written and lectured extensively on art and the public sphere, and on transcultural art practices, at Documenta 11, Kassel; ZKM, Karlsruhe; Transmediale, Berlin; Künstlerhaus, Vienna; the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; and the Former West Research Congress, Vienna, among other venues. She was Editor-in-Chief of Art India (2000-2003), where she developed a discursive space for emergent new media and public art practices. She taught the curatorial practice course at the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts, Austria, in 2013 and 2014. Adajania was Joint Artistic Director of the 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012). Her curated exhibitions include Zoom! Art in Contemporary India (Culturgest Museum, Lisbon, 2004), Avatars of the Object: Sculptural Projections (The Guild/ NCPA, Bombay, 2006), The Landscapes of Where (Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Bombay, 2009), Your name is different there (Volte Gallery, Bombay, 2011), Sacred/ Scared (Latitude 28, New Delhi, 2014), and a survey of 150 years of art by Parsi artists within the narrative of an emergent Indian modernism, No Parsi is an Island (with Ranjit Hoskote; National Gallery of Modern Art, Bombay, 2013-2014). Adajania has been research scholar-in-residence at BAK/Basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht (2010 and 2013).

Mustansir Dalvi is Professor of architecture at the Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai. He is Chairperson Board of Studies in Architecture at the University of Mumbai. His research is published in 'New Architecture and Urbanism: Development of Indian Traditions' (INTBAU), 'Buildings that shaped Bombay: the Architecture of G. B. Mhatre'(UDRI), 'Quiet Conversations: the architecture of Kamu Iyer'(MPC/NCPA), 'Mulk Raj Anand: Shaping the Indian Modern' (Marg), and is the author of ‘The Romance of Red Stone: An Appreciation of Ornament on Islamic Architecture in India’ (Super Book House). He has also been published in the Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects, the Journal of the Indian Society for Technical Education, the Journal of Italian Design, Architecture+Design, Architecture: time, space and people, Indian Architect & Builder, Art India, Domus, Domus India, Marg, the Economic & Political Weekly, the Indian Quarterly, Take on Art, National Geographic Traveler, Time Out Mumbai, the Mumbai Reader, and Spade. Mustansir Dalvi has written columns on urban issues in Time Out Mumbai, Firstpost.com and scroll.in, where he observes and critiques the unravelling urban fabric of Mumbai in its present post-planning avatar

Gieve Patel is well-known painter and writer. His paintings are in private and public collections in India and in other countries, including: The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal; Jehangir Nicholson Collection, Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai; the Museum of Modern Art, Menton, France; The Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, USA. He has published three books of poems, and has written three plays. He has been conducting a poetry workshop for school students at Rishi Valley School, Andhra Pradesh, since the last twenty years. He has worked as a medical practitioner in rural and urban India

Sudhir Patwardhan is an artist, and an occasional writer and lecturer on art. His first one person show was held in 1979. Since then his work has been seen regularly in exhibitions in India and abroad.  Patwardhan has also been a curator focusing on introducing new audiences to contemporary art. A monograph on his work, ‘The Complicit Observer’ written by Ranjit Hoskote, was published in 2004. This was followed in 2007 by another book by Ranjit Hoskote on Patwardhan’s drawings – ‘The Crafting of Reality’. This is translated into Marathi by Dilip Ranade as ‘Rekhachitravichar’, published in 2012.  A monograph in Marathi, written by Padmakar Kulkarni was published in 2005.  He lives and works in Thane, near Mumba

Mortimer Chatterjee received his Masters in the History of Indian Art and Architecture from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Having worked in the UK with an important collection of Indian photography as well as Christies auction house, Chatterjee moved to India to pursue his interest in Indian modern and contemporary art. Over the last decade he has been responsible for maintaining major art collections including the Taj Group. In 2010 he co-authored a publication on the art collection of theTata Institute of Fundamental Research, along with curating an exhibition of that collection at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai. In 2003 he and his wife, Tara, began Chatterjee & Lal. Today based in Colaba’s art district of Mumbai, the gallery’s program is focused both on the work of emerging artists and historical material. Over the last nine years, the gallery program has formed animportant node in the city’s maturing art scene. In addition to the exhibiting of work within the confines of the gallery, Chatterjee & Lal has also organised a number of projects that have utilised non-traditional spaces within the city. Chatterjee lives and works in Mumbai

Kaiwan Mehta (Mumbai. 1975) has studied Architecture, Literature, Indian Aesthetics and Cultural Studies. He is a theorist and critic in the fields of visual culture, architecture and city studies. He authored Alice in Bhuleshwar: Navigating a Mumbai Neighbourhood (Yoda Press. New Delhi, 2009). He is completing his doctorate at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore, through the Manipal University; and has now published various essays in edited books on Bombay/Mumbai, and the cities of 19th Century such as Shekhawati. Since March 2012 he has been the Managing Editor of Domus India and is also the Director - Academic Affairs at the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI) - Parsons Mumbai. He is associated with Jnanapravaha (Mumbai) and set up as founder course director the Art, Criticism and Theory programmes and was elected as the Jury Chairman for the international artists' residency programme across 11 disciplines at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany; he was also the founder director of Arbour Research Initiatives in Architecture. Mehta is also the Executive Committee member with INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) - Mumbai chapter.

Smita Dalvi teaches architecture and aesthetics in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. She is the editor of Tekton, an academic journal in Architecture, Design and Urban Planning. Her special interest area is in Indo-Islamic Art and Architecture on which she has delivered several guest lectures in Indian and foreign universities and cultural centres. In 2007, she was awarded the fellowship of 'Fulbright Visiting Specialist: Direct Access to the Muslim world'. Her research areas are in Architecture, Cultural History and Urban Heritage and has read and published papers and articles in conferences and several architectural and cultural journals. In her research, she explores syncretism and overlaps in art, architecture and society. She is an avid traveller and photographer. Currently, she is pursuing her doctoral studies at IIT- Bombay on the subject of Architecture and Cinema."

Anupam Sah, a heritage conservation-restoration practitioner, strategist and educator, is the Founder-Director of Anupam Heritage Lab (India) Pvt. Ltd. and Himalayan Society for Heritage and Art Conservation. Presently, his prime area of interest is building up institutions, professionals and reference documents in India in the field of heritage conservation and museum development. In Mumbai, at the CSMVS Museum, he serves as the Consulting Head for Art Conservation, Research and Training. Anupam works with a Systems Approach based on the premise that various problems are inter-related and form networked cycles of effects or causes, and interventions at the appropriate place can effect large changes in the System and bring about desirable change. He has rendered services to the Government of India’s Ministries of Culture, Tourism, Urban Development, various State Governments, INTACH, World Bank, UNDP, and UNESCO in various capacities. In recognition of his work in the field of heritage conservation, he was conferred the Sanskriti Award - for Social and Cultural Achievement. Anupam holds a Masters Degree with distinction and a Gold Medal in Conservation of Works of Art from the National Museum Institute, New Delhi

PHEROZA J. GODREJ Art is Pheroza’s forte. In 1971 she established Cymroza Art Gallery. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, a Masters in English and French, a Masters in Ancient Indian Culture and a Diploma in Aesthetics. She is a Board member of the Department of Ancient Indian Culture of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Her literary career co-relates history, travel, painting and lithography, resulting in the  publication of 11 works which she has co-written/co-edited - including a definitive work: “A Zoroastrian Tapestry : Art, Religion & Culture”, which has won great admiration in India and abroad. Her interest in the arts is wide-ranging and includes a specialized knowledge of modern Indian painting. A passionate advocate of the rich art history of India, she has been the Honorary Secretary of the Museum Society of Bombay since 1971; she is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture, Government of India; Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai. She is a trustee of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for The Arts, New Delhi. Serious about heritage conservation, she is a life member of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH); an advisory member of the Trust’s Parsi Heritage Cell (New Delhi) and a trustee of the Dr.  Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai. She is an active nature conservationist

Ramu Ramanathan is a playwright, director and theatre activist based in Mumbai. Ramanathan’s plays include Shanti, Shanti, It’s a War (1993), which won the All-India Best Play Award, endowed by The Hindu), as well as Mahadevbhai and Collaborators (which won the BBC Radio Playwriting Regional Award for 2003). Ramanathan is also author of a number of plays, including 3, Sakina Manzil, Jazz, and Cotton 56 Polyester 84. In addition, he has written and directed three children’s plays, The Boy Who Stopped Smiling and Medha & Zoombish I and II. Eight of his plays have been collected into the Orient Blackswan volume, 3, Sakina Manzil and Other Plays.

Sameera Iyengar is co-founder of Junoon, an organisation that aims to create platforms for theatre in India, and thus unleash its power and magic for all to access and experience. She was previously Director Projects at Prithvi Theatre, where she worked from 2002 to 2011, and has also worked part-time with the Seagull Theatre Quarterly. She has a PhD focusing on theatre from the Department of South Asian Languages & Civilisations at the University of Chicago, but her theatre journey began in her undergraduate years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she majored in mathematics and minored in theatre. Iyengar has been a core member of the India Theatre Forum (ITF) since its inception in 2006, and has co-edited Our Stage: The Pleasures and Perils of Theatre Practice in India Today (Tulika, 2009). She is Course Coordinator for 's newly launched capacity building programme for theatre groups – SMART: Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre. www.junoontheatre.org, theatreforum.in

Dilip Ranade was born in 1950, in Maharashtra. He holds a diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art. Mumbai, in 1971. In 1984 he received an Indo-US sub-commission grant to study Museology. He has presented several slide lectures on Portraiture and the Techniques of Diorama Making. He is currently the Exhibition Consultant at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya  Mumbai. He has held several solos as well as participated in group exhibitions including, “Rekhavishkar”, Guild Art Gallery Mumbai & Sudarshan Art Gallery, Pune,2011; Humor, wit & Satire”, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi,2011; Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai ( 1972,1978,1980 & 2004) Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, ( 1979,1981,1996,1999 ,1906 & 2004) Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, 1999; Total Museum, Seoul, 2003.solo- “Shifting The Logic-Drawings show (1977-2007)”, at Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, Threshold Art Gallery, New Delhi and Galerie 88 Kolkata, 2007; “Shimmer of the self “, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai 2011.”The Decrypted Self”, 2012 at Threshold Art Gallery, New Delhi.Translated the catalogue: The Crafting of Reality- Sudhir Patwardhan : Drawings by Ranjit Hoskote into Marathi titled ‘Rekhachitravichar’ in 2012.  Received award ‘Balshastri Jambhekar Anuvad puraskar 2013’ for the book Rekhachitravichar