Time Capsules: A Look at Mumbai’s Institutional Collections
Date: 18th November
Time: 11:30 PM - 12:30 PM
About
Institutional collections are like time capsules, they are repositories of the history, politics and zeitgeist of generations. Join a panel where the custodians of some of Mumbai’s most significant collections share insights into key moments of the city’s cultural milieu.
Speakers
Vrunda Pathare
Oindrila Raychaudhuri
Uttara Parikh
Puja Vaish
Moderator
Mortimer Chatterjee
About the Speakers
Vrunda Pathare is the Head of Godrej Archives. She was instrumental in setting up the Godrej Archives and establishing archival processes as an integral part of the organizational activity at Godrej. She is currently the Secretary of the Steering Committee of the Section on Business Archives (SBA) of the International Council on Archives (ICA) and President of the Oral History Association of India (OHAI). Pathare is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Dr. Avabai Wadia and Dr. Bomanji Khurshedji Wadia Archives for Women and of the Academic Council of Maritime History Society, Mumbai.
She has a postgraduate degree in History from the University of Mumbai and trained in Records Management at the National Archives of India.
Oindrila Raychaudhuri is a graduate from the University of Calcutta, is associated with two leading Archives of Mumbai the Archives of the TIFR as a Consultant Archivist and the Archives of the CSMVS (formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India) as a Consultant Research Facilitator. She is currently also looking after the TIFR Art Collection and regularly organises Art Walks in TIFR where the art lovers of Mumbai can get a glimpse of the priceless collection.
Puja Vaish is Director at the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (2020-present). The JNAF functions as the Modern and Contemporary Art Wing of the CSMVS Museum in Mumbai. Vaish's ongoing exhibition 'Out of Place: Journeys in Indian Art' connects artworks across time through evocations of place and mobility. Her recent curated exhibitions include 'Nasreen Mohamedi: The Vastness, Again & Again', 'Zamin: Homelands, S. H Raza' and 'Ancestors' by artist Sahej Rahal. Previously, Puja was a curator at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum (2013-2020) where she engaged with art & design collections of colonial India spanning the 1800s - early 1900s. She was a research writer for the recent publication on the museum's collection, edited by Tasneem Mehta.
Uttara Parikh is a graduate of Bombay University. Post her education she was appointed manager of the Taj Art Gallery by Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai. In 1967 she joined Air India as a Management Trainee and rose to the position of Deputy Commercial Director.
During her time with Air India, she handled a number of portfolios including the management and purchases for the Air-India Art Collection. After retiring from Air India, she continued to maintain the company’s art collection. In 2013, she was appointed to curate and organize an exhibition of paintings from the Air India Art Collection for International Women's Day at UNESCO Paris. In 2021, she was a co-organizer “Dharohar” - an exhibition of the Air India Art Collection, as part of the Aviation Ministry’s events for “Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav” celebrating 75 years of Independence of India. She is a founding member of the Bhopal Society for Culture and Environment.
Mortimer Chatterjee along with his wife, Tara Lal, co-founded Chatterjee & Lal as well as 47-A, a design gallery. Based in Mumbai, the galleries are focused on contemporary and historical material; the founders also consult for major corporate collections, including the Taj Group of Hotels. Chatterjee has authored and co-authored several publications including a publication on the art collection of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) (along with curating an exhibition of that collection at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai). He is editor of an evolving series of publications on disciplines across the arts spectrum, the first of which was focused on modern Indian art.