Shalmali Shetty is an artist, curator and writer working between India and the UK. She completed her BVA in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda (2015), an MA in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (2017), and an MLitt in Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art) from the Glasgow School of Art (2020). She is the recipient of the Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship (2019-20); the Visual Arts and Craft Makers Award, Glasgow (2022); the Skinny Magazine x Edinburgh Art Festival Emerging Writers Programme, Edinburgh (2023), and the Art South Asia Project x Serendipity Arts Foundation Curatorial Research Fellowship, UK and India (2023).
Working on various projects, she is currently the Producer for two artists; Supporting Producer for Body Remedy, Glasgow; on the Board of Trustees of Outpost Gallery, Norwich; Project Advisor for Mindcraft Studios, Mangalore and former Committee member of Transmission Gallery, Glasgow. Her research interests include themes of archives, memories and material culture studies. She intends to coalesce her backgrounds in art practice and theory in the production of the curatorial.
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Last updated: September 2021.
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EDUCATION
MLitt Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art)
Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK (2019-20)
MA in Arts and Aesthetics
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi (2015-17)
Visual Studies, Cinema and New Media Studies, Theater and Performance Studies, Critical Writing
BVA from the Department of Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat (2011-15)
Painting, Printmaking, Art History
PUC (+2) in Commerce
St. Aloysius Pre-University College, Mangalore, Karnataka (2009-11)
Basic Mathematics, Business Studies, Accountancy, English, French (1st Level)
SSE (Class 10 CBSE)
Sloka – The Hyderabad Steiner Waldorf School, Hyderabad, Telangana (1997-2009)
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
▪ Granted the Art South Asia Project x Serendipity Arts Foundation Curatorial Research Fellowship supported by the Faizal & Shabana Foundation for a R&D period in the UK culminating in an exhibition in Goa, India in December 2023 (July 2023)
▪ Granted the Edinburgh Art Festival x The Skinny Magazine Emerging Writers Award, Edinburgh to publish two articles during the EAF 2023 (July 2023)
▪ Granted the Visual Arts and Craft Makers Award (VACMA), Creative Scotland and Glasgow Life; Glasgow, United Kingdom (November 2022)
▪ Awarded the full-time, one-year Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) Research Grant (British Council) to pursue higher education with an MLitt in Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art) at the Glasgow School of Art, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (2019-20).
▪ Passed the CBSE-UGC National Eligibility Test in Visual Arts and qualified for Assistant Professor at the all-India university level, New Delhi (2017).
▪ Received a Travel Grant to participate in Critical Writing in Collaboration: Curating a Dream Project – a workshop conducted by Rustom Bharucha, TAKE on Art Magazine in collaboration with Piramal Art Foundation, Mumbai (September 2017).
▪ First runner-up for the Art Scribes’ Award, Prameya Art Foundation, New Delhi and Le Napoule Art Foundation, France (2018-19)
WORK EXPERIENCE
Body Remedy | Glasgow
Supporting Producer | March 2022 – ongoing
Supporting with the production of Body Remedy‘s 2022 events and assisting the artist Mele Broomes with their upcoming projects. Supported communications and production for An Tobar and Mull Theatre Festival, March-April 2022.
OUTPOST Gallery | Norwich
Board of Trustees | May 2022 – ongoing
Currently an Acting Trustee observing Trustee duties and responsibilities set out by the gallery.
Mindcraft Studios and Art Kanara Trust | Mangalore
Project Advisor and Mentor | January 2019 – ongoing
Mindcraft Studios, a Space for Interdisciplinary Arts is an initiative of Art Kanara Trust devoted to creating impact and value by provoking new ways of thinking among the young creative community. I am responsible for overseeing the projects and events organized by the space; building collaborations with various heritage, research, and archival organizations; mentoring interns/ students and supervising their research and curatorial projects; content creator and co-designer for the website.
Transmission Gallery | Glasgow
Committee Member | January 2021 – October 2022
Transmission Gallery is an artist-run space in Glasgow established in 1983. The gallery is run and programmed by a voluntary committee of six people who are accountable for all decisions made.
Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions | Glasgow
Work Placement | January – March 2020
The Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions Department curates an innovative year-round public programme that links into GSA staff research, teaching and learning, student experience, creative network, communities, contemporary practice and heritage. I was assigned to work under the supervision of its director and curator Jenny Brownrigg. Projects: Preparation towards the exhibition titled Practicing Landscape: Land, Histories and Transformation; The Lighthouse, Glasgow (January – March 2020).
Art Dose | New Delhi
Associate Editor and Contributor | January 2018 – July 2019
Established in 2017, art dose is an independent resource dedicated to showcasing contemporary art and art practices in India and South Asia. Art Dose is both an online magazine and a ‘zine’ available in print. Projects: Development, writing and editing for Zine Issue 3 – Music and Photography (December 2018); writing and editing for Zine Issue 2 (August 2018).
TAKE on Art Magazine | New Delhi
Consulting Editor | February – July 2019
TAKE on Art is a biannual art journal, established in 2009 and published from New Delhi, comprehensively reporting and critiquing art and cultural events globally from a South Asian perspective. I was invited as Consulting Editor to assist with Issue 25: TAKE Bengal (December 2019) – discontinued due to further studies. I have previously contributed articles for Issue 23: TAKE Architecture (February 2018) and Issue 24: TAKE Fashion (January 2019) following my participation in the two TAKE on Writing workshops in 2016 and 2017. I was further involved with the sister company Gallery Latitude 28, that gave me the opportunity to co-curate the group exhibition titled Cartography of Narratives (New Delhi, April 2019).
Mithu Sen Studio | New Delhi
Research Assistant and Studio Manager | May – November 2018
Mithu Sen is one of India’s leading contemporary artist. I assisted with research required for the artist’s projects; contributed to writing abstracts and proposals, editing and ideating for the same. Projects: Writing, editing and research for Mit i Sny (Myth and Dreams), Galeria Miejska Arsenal, Poznan, Poland (August 2018), published in the exhibition catalogue; and research for UnMythU: UnKIND(s) Alternatives, Asia Pacific Triennale 9, QAGOMA, Queensland, Australia (November 2018).
Delhi Art Gallery (DAG) | New Delhi
Executive – Collections Management and Research | August 2017 – April 2018
Delhi Art Gallery established in 1993, is the largest repository of Indian Modern Art with a collection spanning between the late 18th century and early 21st century. I was working between the Detailing/ Inventory team and the Provenance/ Documentation team.
Big Art Magazine | Art Explore, New Delhi
Writer | August 2017 – December 2018
The magazine was an online initiative by the Delhi-based art gallery
Art Explore. I was trained to write for the online magazine. Additionally, I was involved in the ideation process and writing for some of Gallery Art Explore’s shows.
Short-term Work/ Projects
Christian Noelle Charles | Glasgow
Producer and Curator (May – December 2023)
Communications and Research for the Glasgow-based artist, performer and printmaker
Projects: What A Feeling!: Act I, Edinburgh Printmakers (July-September 2023)
What A Feeling!: Act II, Take Me Somehwre Festival, Tramway, Glasgow (12th October 2023)
Nikhita Devi | Edinburgh
Producer (January – October 2023)
Communications and Funding Application Writing for the Edinbrgh-based artist and dancer
Arika | Edinburgh
Production Assistant and Artist Liaison for Mutual Aid (February – March 2022)
Managing admin, back-end responsibilities and communication with artists, in preparation for their online event Mutual Aid (9-13 March)
Unity Sisters’ x Arika (March 2022 – ongoing)
Event support
India Art Fair | New Delhi
Intern 2-5 | February 2017
Taking place annually in India’s capital, New Delhi, the fair celebrates modern-day South Asia, combining cutting-edge contemporary visual art with modern masters and vernacular artistic traditions. I was required to conduct Curated Walks for the Contemporary Arts Section. I designed a route-map to lead groups of art enthusiasts, students and viewers on guided tours.
Residencies
Body Remedy | Glasgow
Artist-in-residence at Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) | June 21-26, 2022
Exhibitions
Participated
▪ Annual Display of Art by Outgoing Students; Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU Baroda (May 2015)
▪ PhotoRact – an exhibition of photographs, organized by the Rotaract Club of Vadodara; Sayajinagari, Vadodara (April 2015)
▪ First Act – collectively curated in two parts by the Bachelors’ Fourth Year students; Faculty of Fine Arts Exhibition Hall, MSU and May Fair Art Gallery, Vadodara (March 2015)
▪ Mini Print Show – an exhibition of prints; Department of Art & Culture, Panaji, Goa (January 2014 and 2015)
▪ Inter-Art International Print show/ Stefan Balog – an exhibition of prints; Aiud, Romania (2014)
▪ Mindspace – an exhibition of photographs; Galerie Crescent, Bangalore (March 2013)
Seminars & Talks
Invited to present the paper titled: Retracing History in Contemporary Visual Language: An analysis of the works of Sudarshan Shetty, L. N. Tallur and B. Manjunath Kamath, Karnataka Lalithakala Academy and Mangalore University’s “National Seminar: Art and Cultural Heritage of Coastal Karnataka and Evolution of Modern Art in Coastal District of Karnataka”, Mangalore (April 2018)
Workshops
▪ Invited to conduct a creative writing workshop titled A Conversation for a Creative Composition for students of grade 9th and 10th; Fine Arts Department at my alma-mater Sloka – The Hyderabad Steiner Waldorf School; Hyderabad (July 2019)
▪ Invited to conduct a Creative Writing Workshop (including Critical Writing and Documentation), for the first and second-year undergraduate students; Institute of Architecture, Nitte University, Mangalore (March 2018)
▪ Selected and received a Travel Grant to participate in Critical Writing in Collaboration: Curating a Dream Project – a workshop conducted by Rustom Bharucha; TAKE on Art Magazine in collaboration with Piramal Art Foundation, Mumbai (September 2017)
▪ Selected to participate in The Book – The New Writing Group – a writing workshop conceived by Bhavna Kakar and Anushka Rajendran, led by curators Chus Martinez and Ingo Niermann; TAKE on Art Magazine in collaboration with Pro Helvetia and Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, New Delhi (December 2016)
▪ Invited to participate in Art & Visual Thinking Process – a workshop conducted by artist L N Tallur; Hasta Gallery Projects, Mangalore (2010)
SHALMALI SHETTY 