Indian Art and cultural space lost a prominent critical voice last day, Kavita Singh (58), a renowned art historian, scholar, writer, former Professor and dean at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and winner of the prestigious 2018 Infosys Prize for Humanities, passed away on Sunday.
She was one of the six eminent scholars who won the Infosys Prize by the Infosys Science Foundation in the humanities category in 2018 for her “extraordinarily illuminating study of Mughal, Rajput and Deccan art as well as her insightful writing on the historical function and role of museums and their significance in the increasingly fraught and conflicted social world in which visual culture exists today.” Said Nayanjot Lahiri, author and Professor of History at Ashoka University, who has known Singh since 2015, quoted in Indian Express.
Her specialisation is in the chronology of Indian Art, and the research focuses mainly on how colonial and religious associations shape Indian Art within a period. Manuscript painting traditions in India, the history of museums in South Asia, and the repatriation of cultural artefacts are the extensive research areas of Kavita Singh’s works.
“Professor Kavita Singh declined one of our review requests just a couple of days back, and it was the kindest and the most honest no ever. Rest in peace, Professor, you will be remembered for your invaluable work and kindness,” Publishing Head of Academics at Cambridge University, Qudsiya Ahmed, wrote on Twitter.
Kavita Singh studied B.A. in English literature at Lady Shri Ram College, MFA from M.S. University, Baroda and her PhD in 1996 from Punjab University. Before joining JNU, she taught at the College of Art, Delhi and the NIT Delhi, was the research editor of Marg Publications, and was a visiting guest curator at the San Diego Museum of Art. In 2001, she joined the SAA as an associate professor. She was appointed its dean in 2017 and held the post for two years. In 2020, she joined the J Paul Getty Trust board of trustees.
In 208, she was removed from the position at JNU due to criticism of the policies of the newly appointed VC in 2016. This happened after the critical stand of Kavita Singh and other faculty members of JNU, related to mandated 75% student attendance, with strict fines for students and teachers. She has a firm opinion about Art and other social realities, reflected in her writings, actions and curations. At the San Diego Museum of Art, she co-curated the exhibition Power and Desire: South Asian Paintings, which is well-celebrated in historical art circles.
She has published several articles on secularism and religiosity, and she authored and co-authored numerous books and monographs on Indian Art, including New Insights Into Sikh Art (2003, ed.), 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.), Museums, Heritage, Culture: Into the Conflict Zone (2015, co-ed.) Real Birds in Imagined Gardens: Mughal Painting Between Persia Europe (2017), Scent Upon A Southern Breeze: The Synaesthetic Arts of the Deccan (2018, ed.).
Kavita Singh delivered lectures in various universities and museums worldwide, such as ‘Looking East, Looking West: Mughal Painting between Persia and Europe (Getty Research Institute, 2015), Congress of Kings: Thoughts on a painting of Muhammad Shah Rangila (Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, 2018), Word against Image in Mughal Chronicles (Bangalore International Centre, 2021).
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