Anjolie Ela Menon- Artist

Ms. Anjolie Ela Menon, one of India’s leading contemporary artists, was born in West Bengal, India of mixed Bengal and American parentage. She received her education in Tamil Nadu and thereafter had a brief spell at the J.J. School of art in Bombay, before earning her degree in English Literature from Delhi University. She had her first solo exhibition at age 18, and went on to study and work in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts from 1961-62 on a French Government scholarship. In her long and illustrious career as an artist she has had more than thirty solo shows and several group shows. She was awarded the Padmashri in 2000.

Ms. Menon’s works are in various museums, private and corporate collections in both India and abroad. She is also a well-known muralist and has represented India at the Algiers Biennale, the Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil and three triennials in New Delhi.

Naman P. Ahuja- Art Historian

Dr. Naman P. Ahuja is an art historian specializing in the sculptural arts of Ancient India and medieval Sultanate painting. He is an Associate Professor of Art and Architecture of Ancient India at the School of Art and Aesthetics, JNU. Recipient of several international grants and awards, Dr.Ahuja has lectured widely across the world. He is also the co-author of Divine Presence, the Arts of India and the Himalyas (Five Continents Editions, Milan and Barcelona, 2003). He has been a Fellow of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and Tutor of Indian art at the British Museum, London.

Parul Dave Mukherji- Dean School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU

Prof Parul Dave Mukherji is the Dean at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Earlier, she taught at the Department of Art History and Aesthetics, Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University in Baroda. From 2002, she became the co-convener of the Forum on Contemporary Theory and co-editor of the Journal of Contemporary Thought. She has lectured in India, Europe and Japan (and has been elected as the Delegate at Large representing India on the Executive Council of the International Association of Aesthetics). Her recent publications include Towards A New Art History: Studies in Indian Art (co-edited), New Delhi, 2003 and guest edited special issue on Visual Culture of the Journal of Contemporary Thought, 17 (Summer 2003); Rethinking Modernity, (co-edited) New Delhi, 2005. Her current research focuses on Indian art historiography, the politics of visual representation and the question of caste and gender in the study of early treatises of Indian art and aesthetics. It also involves working out a theoretical framework for comparative aesthetics to set up a conversation across disciplinary boundaries of critical theory and traditional theories of visual representation.