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Philanthropy, Collecting & the Art Market: Innovative Patronage Models

February 10, 2023 12:00 pm — 1:00 pm

Auditorium, India Art Fair Grounds

Pioneering art patrons Asha Jadeja Motwani, Durjoy Rahman and Richa Agarwal together with young patron Siddharth Somaiya explore the history of patronage in South Asia, and the importance of reimagining models of patronage in order to foster a more open and inclusive art world for the next generation of artists and art lovers. 

Siddharth Somaiya: Currently an active Angel investor, Siddharth Somaiya is an artist, art collector, and entrepreneur. A graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago. Somaiya also actively engages in the art, sports and entrepreneurial avenues at Somaiya Trust & Somaiya Vidyavihar University in Mumbai.

Asha Jadeja Motwani: Asha Jadeja Motwani is an angel investor and philanthropist based in Silicon Valley. She invests in for-profit technology, internet and high social impact startups in the Bay Area, New York and India. She is the trustee of Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation, a charitable organisation based in Palo Alto and Ahmedabad. The Foundation aims to support entrepreneurs in under-served pockets of the world to promote world-class entrepreneurship at a local level. 

Durjoy Rahman: Durjoy Rahman is an art collector and the founder of Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF), a platform founded in 2018 to promote art and artists from South Asia and beyond in a critical, international art context. As an art foundation, DBF supports artists in creating new artworks and engages art practitioners in relevant exhibitions, publications, and residencies.

Richa Agarwal: CEO of one of India’s largest private art organisations, Richa Agarwal is the driving force behind Emami Art. The leading contemporary art gallery in East India, combines a future-forward vision with established cultural heritages. Richa also heads the Kolkata Centre for Creativity and the Kolkata institute of Art Conservation.

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.