On 11th March 2021, to mark International Women’s Day, our Director, Feroze Gujral was invited by Avid Learning to participate in an online panel discussion titled Female Agency in Art.
The session celebrated the significant roles women have played and continue to play in Indian Art, arts engagement and art patronage. This fascinating live session sought to highlight and champion professionalism and the advancement of women in the business and wider fields. This session explored women’s diverse contributions to the arts from a transcultural, transnational and transhistorical perspective, reflecting global and historical diversity.
This session explored the trajectory of female agency in the arts, specific patronage practices attributed to women, the nuanced relationship between gender, performance and power and feminist inroads and breakthroughs made in the field. This session also explored the specifics of artist, curator, institutional director/ dealer, historian and theorist- as being influenced or shaped by their own gendered view. These dynamic speakers also discussed the role of education, opportunity, access and more in determining their own journeys.
The speakers of the session included Artist and Curator of the Student’s Biennale, KMB Faiza Hasan; Curator &Co-Founder St+art India Foundation Giulia Ambrogi and Art Collector, Philanthropist and Founder, Gujral Foundation Feroze Gujral; in conversation with Founder & Curator, Method Art Space Sahil Arora (moderator).
Prof. Partha Mitter, Writer and Historian, delivered robust and insightful opening remarks on the historic trajectory and growing importance of women artists.
ABOUT AVID
Avid Learning, the cultural philanthropy arm of the Essar Group founded in 2009 has, over the past decade, grown into one of Mumbai’s leading public programming platforms and is firmly entrenched in the country’s wider cultural ecosystem. Our thoughtfully curated and diverse events embrace the spirit of collaboration to bring together the best of Indian and international writers, artists, intellectuals, cultural experts, policymakers and industry leaders across Visual Art, Literature, Culture and Heritage, Education, Design & Technology and the Performing Arts through engaging and dynamic formats like panel discussions, workshops & master classes, roundtables, lecture demonstrations, festival platforms, symposiums & conferences, multidisciplinary performances and walkthroughs. To date, AVID has conducted over 1250 programs and connected with more than 150,000 individuals, a widely eclectic group of life-long learners including students, patrons, practitioners, influencers, thought leaders and cultural & creative enthusiasts in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore, Goa and Gujarat. We have also made our mark internationally, with events and collaborations in Dubai and New York. We regularly collaborate and partner with institutions, organisations and initiatives like the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), (CSMVS) Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), one of the apex bodies that impact cultural policy and the creative sector as a whole. We have been at the helm of programming at the Royal Opera House, Mumbai India’s only surviving Opera House since its reopening in 2016. We believe in the importance of arts for social change and we regularly offer our support and platforms for Social Advocacy. In April 2020, we launched AVID Online, an online further learning campaign on our social media platforms for our followers to engage with a range of varied topics across the breadth of the arts. Our eclectic faculty of experts, thought leaders, practitioners and innovators continue to share their learnings, expertise and knowledge on our social media platforms with tailored content featured weekly for AVID’s online community and beyond. In collaboration with long-term and new partners, we have since dimensionalised the campaign by re-introducing our existing offline formats and IPs and enhancing them for digital engagement. We have taken our content live with engaging masterclasses and virtual panel discussions and also built robust tangential campaigns and series in support of worthy causes and highlighting topical issues. To keep updated on our programmes, like us on https://www.facebook.com/
Watch all past AVID Online episodes on our dedicated YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/