14 November, 2026
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Aditya Birla Auditorium | On-site
2026 marks a milestone anniversary for several organisations in India’s art ecosystem. This year, publications, MARG (80 years) and ART India (30 years); an award giving body, the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation (50 years); a gallery, Sakshi Gallery (40 years); and a residency, Space Studio (20 years) celebrate significant decades.
These organisations have consistently played an integral role in cultivating the Indian artworld by offering spaces for critical dialogue and intellectual discourse, supporting creative practices – curators, artists, facilitators alike, as well as fuelling the art economy. Many arts practitioners, synonymous with the Indian art industry today, have been supported and hero-ed by one or several of these organisations at various stages of their careers.
By drawing on the various threads of their contribution, this panel will explore the roles of each organisation, how they are interlinked, have sustained their vision from their conception to now, and adapted to the changes and challenges of the times thereby enabling them to be relevant even today.
Geetha Mehra is the Founder and Director of Sakshi Gallery, which began in Chennai in 1986. For over four decades, her work has been shaped by a commitment to sustained, long-term engagement with artists and to building meaningful contexts for artistic practice. She has worked closely with several generations of artists, supporting their development through exhibitions, institutional collaborations, and international exposure. Under her direction, Sakshi has operated across multiple cities in India, introduced international artists and practices to Indian audiences, and created platforms for Indian artists to engage with wider international contexts. This included the establishment of an outpost in Taipei, extending the gallery’s programme internationally. Through her leadership, Sakshi Gallery, now in its 40th year, has developed a sustained presence both in India and internationally, contributing to broader conversations around modern and contemporary art.
Amita Malkani retired as Administrator after 17 years at the Inlaks Foundation. In the last decade the Foundation broadened its outreach and the scope of its activities and collaborative relationships in India and overseas. Amita played a critical role in this enrichment of the Foundation’s offerings. Amita started her working career in Marketing Research in Mumbai. She went on to conduct Social Research at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She then worked as a teacher and set up a pottery studio while she was overseas for several years. On her return to India, Amita helped to formulate an entry strategy for international publishing companies in India while she continued her ceramics and working with children. She trained at the Psychoanalytical Therapy and Research Centre as a counsellor prior to joining Inlaks.
Dr Naman P Ahuja is Professor of art history at JNU and the General Editor of Marg, India’s oldest surviving publishing house dedicated to art and culture. He specialises in the historic foundations of the aesthetic milieu of South Asia as it came to be formed between 300 BC and AD 600. His work both scholarly as well as for the wider public has been variously translated into Hindi, Marathi, French, Spanish and Dutch and has deepened our understanding of South Asia’s art from the perspectives of iconography and transculturalism, archaeology and religion, the historiography of visual culture and aesthetics.
Siddharth Somaiya is an entrepreneur with a deep commitment to art and education, working at the intersection of culture, academia, and technology. He is the founder of Eighty Days, a travel-tech company, and co-creator of IMMERSE, an artist and curator residency in India. As Chairman of the Board of Studies at the Dr. Shantilal K. Somaiya School of Art and a member of the Academic Council at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Siddharth is reimagining arts education in India. In addition, Siddharth sits on the Advisory Board of RIIDL, Somaiya Vidyavihar University’s incubator, which has nurtured over 300 start-ups across sectors. He also served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and former Chairman of the Young Members’ Circle at Asia Society. He brings together culture, education, and entrepreneurship through thoughtful, purpose-driven initiatives.
