Inception & the Evolution of Spaces
The private museum was launched in the year 2010, it is the first privately managed museum on contemporary art in India. The main headquarters lie in Noida, Uttar Pradesh with a sprawling team and exhibition space, they also have a museum in Saket which opened in 2011. Its founder is Ms Kiran Nadar, the visionary and connoisseur of the arts. A new space called KNMA cellar was opened in 2019 at Okhla, New Delhi.
Funding and Focus
The space has been funded by Shiv Nadar Foundation and had initially included Modern Art, but now has veered into a more contemporary art domain. The collection majorly houses artworks by various Indian artists who are trying to pave a particular wave for Indian art.
Curatorial Excellence
The curatorial team at KNMA Noida and KNMA Saket is led by the exemplary Roobina Karode. Some significant art exhibitions that have happened at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art Saket are Constructs/ Constructions in 2015, Anatomy Lessons: Artist. Pedagogue. A poet. A scholar. An exhibition on KG Subramanyan in 2016, post his passing away. Hammer on the Square, a show on Himmat Shah. Shows on Vivan Sundaram, Jeram Patel, Rameshwar Broota, Nalini Malini, etc. Kiran Nadar Museum of Art events are known and popular for their curatorial finesse and the need to defy as well as define Indian art for a global audience.
Exhibitions that are popularly organised at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida include bodies, armour and cages, solo show of works by Shakuntala Kulkarni in 2012, shows curated by Akansha Rastogi, an annual exhibition that showcases the MFA Project artworks of the graduating students of Shiv Nadar University. Kiran Nadar Museum of Art Delhi and Noida boasts of an array of exhibitions that can re-mould the meanings of art, by show-casing cutting edge contemporary and giving a platform to new and diverse voices.
Educational Initiatives and Outreach
They have an active outreach and educational department which is working towards conducting audience friendly programmes in tandem with the art collections and exhibitions. They hold workshops and symposiums that are centred around adults and children to introduce them to new aspects of Indian art. The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art hosts many lectures by prominent scholars, critics and artists for any art lover to revel in.
Future Expansion
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art is all set to open a new museum and cultural centre by 2026 which is spread across 1,00,000 square feet off the highway near Indira Gandhi International Airport. Designed by the Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye, renowned for notable projects like the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Princeton University Art Museum in the US, the project is a collaborative effort with S Ghosh & Associates serving as the local architects of record. “The cultural centre will have studios and two auditoriums to seat 700 and 200 people, respectively. These will host music, dance and theatre performances,” says Kiran Nadar for an interview with Mint Lounge. “The construction work has just started and the thought on the curation is going on.” The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art photos showcase the architectural plan of the new space that was unveiled in the month of May of this year and shows the grandiosity of the space.
Growing Collection
The collection of KNMA too which houses great Indian giants from the 20th century such as Bombay Progressives such as FN Souza, V S Gaitonde, M F Husain, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee and Ram Kumar is also an ever-growing space. Kiran Nadar Museum of Art is one of the best museums that the country has to offer with the most titillating exhibitions and a fabulous visual experience to anybody that walks through its doors.
