Chairperson of the JSW Foundation and Co-Founder of the Hampi Art Labs, Sangita Jindal, Director of Delfina Foundation, Aaron Cezar, Founder and Director of What About Art, Eve Lemesle, contemporary artist Madhvi Subrahmanian and Principal Architect at sP+a, Sameep Padora reflect on the cultural power of artists’ residencies and celebrate the imminent opening of Hampi Art Labs, a first-of-its kind space for art, creativity and heritage. The conversation will be moderated by Komal Sharma, Head of Editorial Content, Architectural Digest, Condé Nast India.
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.
Sangita Jindal: Sangita Jindal is the Founder of Hampi Art Labs and oversees the organisation’s strategic direction. As one of India’s most prominent philanthropists, patrons and collectors, for over 30 years she has supported art and heritage through numerous projects both at home and abroad. As Chairperson of the JSW Foundation – Sangita is responsible for its social development projects. The Foundation’s focus areas are Education, Health and Nutrition, Skill Development, Rural BPO, Environment and Water, Sports, and Art and Heritage. A philanthropist who believes in the transformative power of art, Sangita set up the Jindal Arts Creative Interaction Centre (JACIC) of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in 1994. She also publishes Art India Magazine which has been a chronicler of the Indian art scene since 1996, is celebrating the 5th year of the AD x JSW Prize for Contemporary Craftsmanship and is supporting the next edition of The Indian Ceramics Triennale.
Aaron Cezar: Aaron Cezar is the founding Director of Delfina Foundation, where he curates and develops its interrelated programme of residencies, exhibitions and public events. Under his tenure, Delfina Foundation has hosted nearly 400 artists, curators and collectors in residence, across dynamic programmes from Politics of Food to Collecting as Practice, which launched the first ever residencies for collectors. Cezar has also curated external exhibitions and performances at Hayward Gallery Project Space, SongEun Artspace, and as part of the official public programme of the 58th Venice Art Biennale. Independently and through Delfina Foundation, he sits on numerous boards, committees, and advisory groups, including Hampi Art Lab.
Eve Lemesle: Eve Lemesle is the board chair and strategic advisor of Hampi Art Labs. She has produced many exhibitions internationally for the Venice Biennale, Qatar Museums, Dhaka Art Summit, Asia Now, NMACC to name a few. She ran the artist residency program WAA in Mumbai from 2012 to 2019, creating an intellectually stimulating environment for dialogue on visual arts practices for artists and curators.
Madhvi Subrahmanian: Madhvi’s art practice has been informed by the transitions of her peripatetic life. Her installations are in several public/private spaces. She is one of the founding members and co-curator of the Indian Ceramics Triennale and is also associated with various international arts organizations. Madhvi lives between Mumbai and Singapore and is represented by Gallery Chemould Prescott Road.
Sameep Padora: Sameep Padora is an architect and author. Born in Chamba, Northern India, Sameep Padora established his Mumbai based practice in 2007 after graduating from the GSD, Harvard University. The studio’s work has been widely published both in India and internationally. His practice has in the past received the Wallpaper Design Award for Best Public Building, BeazleyArchitecture Prize, Wienerberger Brick Award, Archdaily Building of The Year 2019, Wallpaper Design Award for House of the Year, as well as the Architectural Review’s Emerging Architecture and the AR Library Commendation Awards. Sameep serves on the academic boards of a number of educational institutes and is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at CEPT.
Komal Sharma: Komal started her career at Mint Lounge, writing culture and lifestyle stories. After five years of being a reporter, she moved to New York for her masters and studied history and theory of modern design at Parsons the New School for Design. Since 2019, she has been at Architectural Digest, Conde Nast India’s office in Mumbai, where in her current role as editor, she leads print, digital, and video editorial plus programming for all AD events.