Kavita Singh
Singh in 2018
Born(1964-11-05)5 November 1964
Died30 July 2023(2023-07-30) (aged 58)
Occupation(s)Professor, writer and curator
TitleDoctor
Board member ofJ Paul Getty Trust
AwardsAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences
Infosys Prize
Academic background
EducationB.A. English Literature
M.S.
Ph.D
Alma materLady Shri Ram College
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Panjab University
Academic work
DisciplineArt History
Sub-disciplineMuseum Studies, Mughal Painting, Rajput Painting and Iconoclasm
InstitutionsJawaharlal Nehru University
Main interestsManuscript Painting Traditions in India, history of museums in South Asia and the Repatriation of Cultural Artefacts
Notable worksScent upon a Southern Breeze: The Synaesthetic Arts of the Deccan
Notable ideasHistorical function and role of museums, museums and nationalism

Kavita Singh (5 November 1964 – 30 July 2023) was an Indian art historian. A professor of art history, she served as the dean at the School of Arts and Aesthetics of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Education

Kavita Singh obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree at Lady Shri Ram College, her MFA in 1987 from M.S. University, Baroda and her PhD in 1996 from Punjab University.[1]

Career

Singh was appointed to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 2001, where she was a co-founder of the internationally recognized School of Art and Aesthetics.[2] She served there as a professor till her death.. Her research interests covered the history of Indian painting, particularly the Mughal and Rajput schools, and the history and politics of museums, with a special focus on India.[3]

Before joining JNU, Singh taught at the College of Art, Delhi and the National Institute of Technology Delhi. She was also a research editor for Marg Publications, and a visiting guest curator at the San Diego Museum of Art, during which time she co-curated the exhibition Power and Desire: South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art, Edwin Binney 3rd Collection.[4] The exhibition ran in New York from 10 October 2000 to 7 January 2001. A catalogue by Omina Okada appeared subsequently.[5]

In 2007, Singh led a curatorial team for the second exhibition of the newly opened Devi Art Foundation. The exhibition was titled Where in the World. An abridged version of Singh's introduction to the catalogue appeared online.[6] From 2009–2012 she was a partner at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz of the Max Planck Society with Professor Dr. Gerhard Wolf and Hannah Baader for a project called The Temple and the Museum: Sites for Art in India.[7]

Death

Kavita Singh succumbed to cancer on 30 July 2023, at the age of 58.[8]

Recognition

Kavita Singh was elected as an International Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020,[9] one of 37 foreign inductees that year,[10] and the only one from India in the field of Arts and Humanities.[11]

In 2018, she was awarded the Infosys Prize in Humanities for her work in the field of art history and visual culture.[1] In her acceptance speech, she joked that her presence at the ceremony was illegitimate as her leave from JNU to visit Bangalore had not been approved.[12]

She received numerous fellowships and scholarships throughout her career, including from the Getty Research Institute, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williams College, the Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Asia Society in New York.[13]

Lectures

Publications

  • New Insights Into Sikh Art (2003, ed.)
  • InFlux: Contemporary Art in Asia (2013, co-ed.)
  • No Touching, No Spitting, No Praying: The Museum in South Asia (2014, co-ed.)
  • Nauras - The Many Arts of the Deccan (2015, co-ed.)[14]
  • Museums, Heritage, Culture: Into the Conflict Zone (2015, co-ed.)
  • Real Birds in Imagined Gardens: Mughal Painting Between Persia Europe (2017)[15]
  • Scent Upon A Southern Breeze: The Synaesthetic Arts of the Deccan (2018, ed.)[16]
  • Ghosts of Future Nations: Gods, Migrants and Tribals in the Late Modern Museum (2024, co-ed. Museum of Ephemera, forthcoming, part of the series India Since the 90s).

References

  1. 1 2 "Infosys Prize - Laureates 2018 - Prof. Kavita Singh". www.infosys-science-foundation.com. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Kavita Singh". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "School of the Arts". Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. ↑ "Power & Desire". sites.asiasociety.org.
  5. ↑ Amina Okada, Power and desire : Indian miniatures from the San Diego Museum of Art Edwin Binney 3rd Collection Musée des arts asiatiques (Nice, France); San Diego Museum of Art.
  6. ↑ "Global Art and the Museum". Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Partner Groups in India". www.mpg.de.
  8. ↑ "Art historian Kavita Singh passes away". Hindustan Times. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Kavita Singh". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "New 2020 Members Announced". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "New Members". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Dogra, Nandita Jayaraj and Aashima. "In our current political climate, art history is more important than ever before: Infosys Prize winner Kavita Singh". The Caravan. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "About the Getty". Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  14. ↑ This book has inspired an online exhibition: "Nauras: The Many Arts of the Deccan". Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  15. ↑ Donde, Dipanwita (29 July 2019). "Kavita Singh: "Real Birds in Imagined Gardens: Mughal Painting between Persia and Europe"". BILDERFAHRZEUGE. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  16. ↑ ""Scent upon a Southern Breeze", Marg's new book brings together scholarship on the Deccani arts - Transforming lives". Tata Trusts. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
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