Celebrated author Jerry Pinto will be in conversation with Shireen Gandhy, Director of Chemould Prescott Road and artist Dr. Varunika Saraf for the launch of ‘Citizen Gallery: The Gandhys of Chemould and The Birth of Modern Art in Bombay‘, a book published by Speaking Tiger that examines the founding story of the 60-year-old gallery and the role it played in shaping public consciousness and citizenship in modern India.

Dr. Varunika Saraf: Dr. Varunika Saraf is an artist and art historian based in Hyderabad. Saraf holds a PhD in Visual Studies from JNU and an MFA(Painting) from the University of Hyderabad. In 2016 Saraf received the Amol Vadehra Art Grant. She was also the Summer Research Fellow at the Getty Research Institute, Visiting Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute,  NTICVA Visiting Fellow at the V&A Museum and the CWIT fellow at the University of Cambridge.

Jerry Pinto: Award-winning writer, poet, editor, journalist and translator Jerry Pinto’s works explore the pains of familial and political life. 

Shireen Gandhy: Shireen Gandhy is a gallerist specialising in Indian Contemporary Art, and is the director of Chemould Prescott Road since 1988. She took over from her parents, Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, who founded the gallery in 1963.

Titled ‘Align & Disrupt’, the talks programme curated by independent curator and educator Shaleen Wadhwana, and supported by Shiv Nadar – Institution Of Eminence, aims to align voices of leading artists and arts professionals on critical issues in the arts ecosystem, and collectively disrupt the status quo to shape a more aware and inclusive art world of the future. For the first time, the key learnings and insights from these talks will be documented in an action-plan which will be widely circulated and made accessible to the public on the India Art Fair website. All talks will be conducted in Indian Sign Language.