The afikra Podcast Smita Prabhakar on Ishara Art Foundation & Nurturing South Asian Art in the UAE
We challenge the conventional perceptions of home and identity in a diasporic context and delve into South Asian art. An art collector, entrepreneur, and the founder and chairperson of the Ishara Art Foundation, Smita Prabhakar shares personal anecdotes, including her move to Dubai 45 years ago and the evolution of her understanding of community and belonging. The discussion highlights the importance of contributing to the place one calls home, regardless of origin or citizenship, and breaks down geographical and cultural silos in the art world. Smita touches upon the challenges and future aspirations for Ishara, emphasizing its role in fostering cultural understanding and appreciation through art in the Arab Gulf region and beyond.
0:00 Introduction to the Ishara Art Foundation
2:58 The Importance of Humility and Valuing People
6:30 The UAE as Home and Giving Back to the Community
10:20 Ishara: Bridging South Asia and the Gulf
15:21 The Ambition of Ishara: South Asian Art on the World Map
25:39 The Imperative of Investing in "Two Homes"
32:28 Understanding "Histories and Cultures of the Arab World"
41:37 Lines of Flight: Shilpa Gupta's Exhibition
45:41 Challenges for Ishara in the Next 10 Years
51:04 Books and Novels on South Asian Art and History
52:31 Misunderstanding vs Lack of Communication in the Arab World
56:49 Final Reflections
Smita Prabhakar is an entrepreneur, collector and art patron who has been based in the UAE for over four decades. She is the Founder and Chairperson of the Ishara Art Foundation. Smita is also a member of the International Acquisitions Committee at Tate Modern (London), the Middle Eastern Circle of the Guggenheim Museum (New York) and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice). Smita’s collection, The Ishara Art Foundation and The Prabhakar Collection, focuses on South Asian contemporary artworks that reflect diverse voices and shared histories from across the region. She has supported the V.S. Gaitonde exhibition, 'Painting as Process, Painting as Life' in New York and Venice in 2015-6, a workshop around Shilpa Gupta’s artwork, 'For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit,' organised at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018, and the seventh and eight editions of the Colomboscope Festival in 2022 and 2024.
Connect with Smita Prabhakar 👉
https://instagram.com/isharaartfoundation
Hosted by:
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afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
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