Asia Art Archive in India (AAA in I) is an Independent Registered Public Charitable Trust established in 2013 with the goal of building resources for research on the region’s dynamic contemporary art scene. It accomplishes this mission by digitising artist and scholarly archives, developing research projects, and organising programmes. AAA in I’s Research Collection can be accessed from its space in New Delhi, which has been open to the public since 2016.
AAA in I has partnered with individuals, organisations, and institutions on workshops, exhibitions, and talks to further activate the Collection and contribute to new research and artistic projects in the field.
ABOUT AAA IN I
AAA in I’s digital collections currently contain over 50,000 documents, photographs, artwork, and other records, much of it available online.
Highlights include the papers of curator/critic Geeta Kapur and artist Vivan Sundaram, offering insight into India’s art scene over the last half-century from the perspective of two of its leading figures. Also available are the archives of Jyoti Bhatt, Ratan Parimoo, K. G. Subramanyan, and Gulammohammed Sheikh, influential artists who, together, in the decades following Independence, transformed the Faculty of Fine Arts of the M.S. University of Baroda into a centre of gravity for rethinking a modern visual culture for India.
AAA in I also supports research projects both internally and externally. Major projects led by the organisation’s researchers include the Bibliography of Modern and Contemporary Art Writing of South Asia, which gathered over 12,000 pieces of published art writing in thirteen languages from 1900 till 1990, and made them available in an interactive online database. Externally, with support from the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation, the organisation sponsors a grant for research into the Histories of Ideas, Art Writing, and Visual Culture. Meanwhile, with the Inlaks India Foundation, AAA in I offers a bi-annual grant to artists interested in innovating new forms of artistic research.
Finally, AAA in I promotes awareness and extends the reach of its collection and research activities through public programmes and publications. Workshops are organised at the invitation of various university faculties to educate students on the value of archives and art history. A series of collaborations with the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) and the Serendipity Arts Foundation has also yielded programmes and exhibitions in Delhi and Goa.
In 2020, AAA in I launched the digitised archive of Baroda-based artist Nilima Sheikh. The team participated in a project with the Institute for Comparative Modernities at Cornell University and the Dhaka Art Summit to develop connections between art historians of modern art in and across Africa, South, and Southeast Asia. AAA in I is also publishing a three-volume set of dossiers, consisting of writings on art from the region.
In 2022, AAA in I launched the digitised personal archive of artist Mrinalini Mukherjee, along with an exhibition of the archive at the Foundation for Contemporary Indian Art (FICA) and an exhibition at AAA's CCG Library, Hong Kong in 2023.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
- Chandrika Grover-Ralleigh
- Jitish Kallat
- Anupam Poddar
ADVISORS
- Cecilia Morelli-Parikh
OUR TEAM
- Sneha Ragavan, Head of Asia Art Archive in India and Senior Researcher
- Noopur Desai, Researcher
- Pallavi Arora, Research Assistant
- Samira Bose, Curator
- Sunil Kumar Mahawar, Office Assistant
SUPPORT AAA IN I
AAA in I’s collection, research, and public programmes directly rely on individual and foundation support. For further information, please contact asiaartarchiveinindia@gmail.com.
PAST AND CURRENT PATRONS AND SPONSORS
- Godrej Seeds & Genetics Pvt. Ltd.
- India Foundation for the Arts
- Inlaks India Foundation
- Serendipity Arts Foundation
- Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation
- Thapar Education Trust
- Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation
- Ark Foundation for the Arts
- Google Arts and Culture, India
Asia Art Archive in India is an independent Registered Public Charitable Trust registered u/s 12A & 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.