Director and Chief Curator at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Head of Arts at CERN, Mónica Bello and Director of KHOJ International Artists’ Association, Pooja Sood explore how artists and arts organisations can tangibly effect change and address pressing global ecological and societal issues. The conversation will be moderated by Shuddhabrata Sengupta, curator at the Raqs Media Collective.

Generously supported by JSW and curated by researcher and arts manager, Priya Chauhan, ART ACROSS —— celebrates the power of critical dialogue and the critical need for celebrating the arts. Spanning key issues in art, design and architecture from a variety of perspectives including from institutions, market experts, philanthropists and creatives, the series aims to foster an inclusive platform to explore contemporary culture, with South Asia at its centre. All talks will also be conducted in Indian Sign Language.

Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung: Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, PhD is a curator, author and biotechnologist, currently serving as Director and chief curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) Berlin, Germany. He founded SAVVY Contemporary in 2009, where he served as the artistic director until 2022. He was the artistic director of Sonsbeek20-24, Arnhem, Netherlands, as well as the 12th and 13th editions of the Bamako Encounters – African Biennale of Photography, Mali. He was guest curator for the Dak’Art biennale in Dakar, Senegal, 2018 and was the Curatorat-large for Documenta 14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany in 2017. He curated the Finland Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019, together with the Miracle Workers Collective. He is professor in the Spatial Strategies MA program at the Weissensee Academy of Art in Berlin.

Mónica Bello: Mónica Bello is an art historian and curator with a deep understanding of the intersection of art and science. Since 2015 she is curator and head of Arts at CERN at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva. In this position she holds a crucial role in fostering partnerships and promoting artistic endeavors within the scientific community. Under her leadership Arts at CERN has fostered collaborations with international organizations, expanding CERN’s cultural network, while designing the art programs – residencies, exhibitions, and commissions – and transforming them into valuable platforms for engagement with scientific research. In 2023 she is curating the opening exhibition of CERN Science Gateway, and Dark Matters at Science Gallery Melbourne. In 2022 she curated the Icelandic Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale with the artist Sigurður Guðjónsson. Previous appointments were the curation of Quantum/ Broken Symmetries; as guest curator of the Audemars Piguet Art Commission for Art Basel; artistic director of VIDA at Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, and as head of the Department of Education at Laboral Centro de Arte, Gijón. 

Pooja Sood: Pooja Sood is a founding member and Director of Khoj International Artists’ Association, a not-for-profit society committed to experimentation and exchange in the visual arts in India. Under her stewardship, Khoj has grown from an annual event in 1997 to a small but vibrant building-based institution which plays a central role in the development of interdisciplinary and critical contemporary art practice in India and South Asia.

Shuddhabrata Sengupta: Shuddhabrata Sengupta is an Artist and Curator with the Raqs Media Collective.

*Monica Bello’s participation is generously supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in India under the initiative SwitzerlandIndia 75.

*Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung’s participation is generously supported by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi.