TAF TALKS

With a wealth of experience spanning more than two decades, Virginia Damtsa, Director of VVA Virginia Visual Arts Ltd., stands as a seasoned and respected Art Dealer, Gallerist, Curator, Art Strategist and Artist Agent, bringing a unique and invaluable perspective to the art world.

From pioneering London Rifle maker Gallery in the 2000s to spearheading Virginia Visual Arts in 2018, collaborating with Peter Gabriel on the i/o art & music project and being appointed Director of Arts & Culture at the Town Hall in King's Cross for 2025, her experience of the art world is vast.

At the age of sixteen, Damtsa entered the art market to help her uncle to open the Museum of Alekos K. Damtsa, in The Art Centre Giorgio de Chirico. While she was studying her Master's degrees in Art Management at the University of the Arts and Contemporary Art at Sotheby's Institute, she converted her apartment into a gallery showcasing emerging artists and curated several exhibitions in her space, other galleries and pop-up spaces.

From 2004-2017, she co-owned, with composer and writer Tot Taylor, Rifle maker London, a contemporary art gallery housed in a historic gunmaker's workshop off London's Regent Street. Built in 1712, it is one of the oldest public buildings in the West End of London. In addition to her gallery work, she also lectured at Christie's for the Master's degree in Art, Law, and Business program.

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Nirmalya Kumar is the Lee Kong Chian Professor of Marketing at Singapore Management University and Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute.

Previusly, heading strategy as member of the Group Executive Council of Tata Sons, he reported to Cyrus P. Mistry, the Chairman for the 100 billion dollar Tata Group with over  650,000 employees worldwide.

Nirmalya was professor of marketing and director of Aditya Birla India Centre at the London Business School, besides having taught at Columbia University, Harvard Business School, IMD (Switzerland) and Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management).

As a consultant and coach, Nirmalya has worked with more than 50 Fortune 500 companies in 60 different countries. He has served on several boards of directors, including ACC, Bata India, Tata Chemicals, UltraTech Cement and Zensar.

As an author, his eight books include Marketing as Strategy, Private Label Strategy, Value Merchants and Brand Breakout. Thinking Smart: How to Master Work, Life and Everything In-Between by Harper Collins is the latest. He has nine appearances in Harvard Business Review and several articles in leading academic journals. These publications have attracted over 19,000 citations on Google Scholar.

Nirmalya is one of the world’s leading thinkers on strategy and marketing. He was thrice  included in Thinkers50 (the biannual listing of the top 50 management thinkers in the world) before being inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2017 for his lifetime contributions to management thought leadership. In 2011, he had also received their “Global Village Award” for the person who contributed the most to the business community’s understanding of globalisation and the new frontiers established by emerging markets. Over the years, he has been included in 50 Best B-school Professors (Poets & Quants) and 50 Most Influential Business School Professors (mbarankings.com).

Nirmalya received his Bachelor in Commerce degree from Calcutta University, his Master in Business Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his Doctoral Degree in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Passionate about art, he supports exhibitions and publications through his Indian art collection. In 2013, he was recognized for his efforts on behalf of South Asian art with an Honorary Fellowship by SOAS University of London.

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The Founder Director of 079 | STORIES, Ms. Purva Damani is an art enthusiast. She started her journey with Communications & Marketing at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Armed with interpersonal skills and coupled with a diploma in Human Resources and Marketing, she worked as a Human Resource Consultant in Mumbai before moving back to Ahmedabad.

Back in her hometown, and in an endeavour to create a platform to bring art and culture together and make it accessible to the people, 079 | STORIES was conceptualized.

She possesses an eye for art as an art critic, does art advisories and is on advisory boards for institutes and Ngos.

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Iain Robertson is an expert and leading authority on the international art market. Currently he is a lecturer on the Cultural Policy and Arts Management degree program at Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea, widely known as the best architecture and art institution in the region.

Prior to his role in South Korea, lectured widely on the international art market and emerging art markets. Author of several books including "The Art Business", and most recently, "New Art, New Markets", Iain will be talking about the market for contemporary art and emerging art from the perspective of the collector and also the artist.

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At the age of 5, a passion for art was ignited within her that has continued to burn brightly throughout her life. With over two decades of experience as an artist, art dealer, consultant, and curator, she has dedicated her life to promoting and nurturing the creative talents of others. As the founder of Artistree Gallery, a company with a global reach spanning India, UAE and the UK. According to her, she has the privilege of bringing art to the forefront of people's lives through a range of exciting initiatives.

At the heart of Artistree's mission is the belief that art should be accessible to all, and our art community. Artistree Collective provides a vibrant platform for  creative  expression and collaboration. Through our art events, shows, educational workshops and talks, we aim to support upcoming artists and provide them with the opportunity to showcase their talents to the world. 

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Chiara is the author of "Guide to the Modern and Contemporary Art Market"(Skira), and one of the Editors of Bloomsbury Art Markets publication. Most recently she has acted as Artistic Director of the first Contemporary International Art Biennale held in Fabriano in Italy, a UNESCO Creative City(open till 3 Feb 2023). 

Chiara has published extensively on art and culture for leading international media. For her work in the arts, she has been featured in leading newspapers and magazines such as The Times, Repubblica, Vanity Fair, II Sole 24 Ore, il Corriere, Il Giornale dell'arte, and had interviews for the radio and TV. 

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Harsha Durugadda is a multidisciplinary artist based in India.  He received The Arts Family Emerging Artist Award in 2023 for South Asia and won the Rio Tinto Sculpture Award 2017 at Sculpture by the Sea, Australia.

In 2021 Durugadda was part of a Sotheby’s New York contemporary auction in partnership with Burning Man at Boundless Space.

In 2014, the Courtauld Institute of Art invited him to present on Ancient Buddhist Sculpture at the British Museum, London. He received the Andrew Stretton Memorial invitation in 2016Sydney.

Durugadda’s sculptures have been exhibited internationally at Nord Art in Germany, Emergent Art Space in the United States, London, and Sculpture by the Sea in Australia. Durugadda’s artworks are part of major public and private collections including Busselton Australia (Sculpture by the Sea), Bangalore Airport (Terminal 2), RMZ Hyderabad and HMDA , Hyderabad.

He went to JNU New Delhi, and he currently resides in Hyderabad.

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Susan Stockwell is an established international artist working across sculpture, installation and film. Her practice is concerned with questions of feminism, materiality and social history. Susan’s art employs the material culture of everyday domestic and manufacturing products, such as toilet paper, recycled computer components, maps and money and she transform these seemingly banal products into compelling artworks. In seeking to reconnect an object’s past, its related history and materiality with contemporary issues, she underscores these materials’ urgent inter connection to collective memories, desires and ecological shortfalls; aspects that evoke, expose and challenge inequality and injustice.

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Stephen Snoddy was born in Belfast, NI and studied at Belfast College of Art graduating with an MA in Fine Art before moving to Manchester in 1986 to complete a postgraduate in Museum Studies. From 1987 he has worked in various Gallery’s across England and had a successful Directorial and curatorial career working with such artists as Bruce McLean, Richard Long, Annette Messager, Rita Donagh, John Baldessari, Richard Wilson, Elizabeth Magill, Jochen Gerz, Giuseppe Penone, Christopher Le Brun, Gillian Ayres and many others. In 2013 he began painting again and has had solo exhibitions in Brussels, London and Southampton CAG and he has been shortlisted for the Young Masters Awards in 2017 and the Greater Manchester Artists Award in 2019. His work is in private collections in the UK, USA, Norway, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal and South Korea and in Southampton CAG, University of Ulster and Open University and Yantai Art Museum, China.

Julia Hutt is curator of Japanese art in the V&A’s Asian department, specializing in lacquer-ware and ivory carvings. She also teaches widely on various courses, most notably at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London. She has published extensively on various aspects of Japanese art, particularly Japanese lacquer inro and netsuke. Her numerous publications include Understanding Far Eastern Art (with Helen Alexander, 1987), A History of the Japanese Fan (1992),catalogue and introductory essay for the lacquer volumes of Nasser D. Khalili’s Meiji no Takara; Treasures of Imperial Japan (1995); Japanese Inro (1997);
Japanese Netsuke (2003). 

Hutt is one of the jury members of TAF. She is also a trustee at Chiddingstone Castle, Kent.

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Shivangi Ladha employs a self-referential process, channelling engagements with social, political and ecological spaces and movements through the human body. By a process of drawing, printing and overlaying, her art transforms feelings into shared stories. She graduated from Royal College of Art in 2016 with MA in Print. This year she received Global Talent Award by Art Council England; South Asia Emerging Artist Award by The Arts Family & was nominated for the Queen Sonja Print Award. Her work is held in collections such as the British Museum, V&A, Mead Museum and Reliance Foundation.

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Shanti Panchal’s distinctive, strongly but subtly coloured compositions with their sometimes monumental figures are immediately recognisable and deceptively easy to assimilate. But the paintings warrant a viewing as concentrated as the work that goes into their production. Their message lies not on the surface, not in a quick reading of their figure compositions and firmly drawn figures and suspended narrative, but in the spaces between the figures, and in the intensity and depth of their colour.

Italian born curator Caterina Corni holds a master degree in Art History from University degli Studi di Milano,specialising in the field of Indology. After that, she attended l’Universitéd’été, Centre Pompidou-Bibliothèque Kandinski in Paris. She begun her career as contributor for several magazines specialized in contemporary art, including renowned Flash Art. She curated several exhibitions in Italy and abroad, involving international artists. Since 2005, she became a promoter of cultural events and exhibitions focusing on modern and contemporary Indian art, in thefields of painting, photography and video installations. She currently teaches as Associate Professor of Art History and Curatorial Practices at Symbiosis University, Pune, India. Selected recent exhibitions curated by Corni include: The Arts Family, London (TAF) Emerging Artist Award 2021 (Catalogue conceptualized by Catherina Corni); Hemen Mazumdar, “The Last Romantic”, De Suantio gallery, Singapore, 2019 (Book edited by Caterina Corni, Nirmalya Kumar); “ArtBAB. Art Across Borders”, Kingdom of Bahrain, 2019-2018-2017;Kartick Chandra Pyne, “Il surrealista riluttante”, Francesco Zanuso gallery, Milan, Italy, 2018; Arch. Mario Gottardi, “La grammatica della linea”,collateral event of Salone del Mobile 2018, Milan, Italy; “Non ti scordar dime”, Studio Boscovich, Milan, Italy, 2017; “Jamini Roy. From tradition to modernity. The Kumar collection”, Museo delle Culture, Lugano, 2015; “Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial”, in collaboration with the Government of India, London, 2015.

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Haroun Hayward [ B. 1983 ] lives and works in London. He received his MFA from Goldsmiths University and BA (Fine Art, Painting) from Brighton University, following an exchange stay at the Nagoya University of Arts in Japan. Hayward is currently an artist in residence at The India Art Fair, Delhi. His solo exhibitions include Too Nice, Play It Twice, indigo+madder, London, 2021 and Dance Mania, Wellington Club, London, 2020, with major upcoming projects in Mumbai and London in 2022. Group exhibitions include Galerie Isa 10th Year Anniversary Show, Mumbai, 2022; Paradise Row Projects, September, London, 2021;Urbanism, AORA, London, 2021; Drawing Room Biennial, Drawing Room, London,2021; All the Days and Nights, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, 2020; Interference, Rivington Rooms, London, 2019; Gadfly, indigo+madder, London, 2019; While Supplies Last, Mount Analogue, Seattle, USA, 2019. Hayward is currently a Visiting Lecture at Brighton University and a Mentor at The New Art School.

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Our third TAF TALK is with London-based artist, designer, and fashion designer, Ornella Gallo di Fortuna. Ornella has studios in London and Barcelona, Spain. Born in Uruguay of Italian parents, Ornella graduated in graphic design from Uruguay with industrial and textile design. After spending time in Florence and Venice studying frescoes and mosaics, Ornella then graduated from fashion design studies in Madrid and later at Central St Martins in London. Ornella works as an artist, and sculptor. Relentlessly curious about the diversity and complexity of all matter, Ornella works on large-scale projects and strives to understand how to produce new material systems through technological and material innovation, yet still incorporating traditional techniques. Her latest exhibition, "Solid Reflections" is currently showing at the London gallery (www.thehanovergallery.com) (2nd February - 2nd March) where the artist presents a series of explorations of the "material" as expression. These works are based on the research of intertwining concrete, laser-cut mirror, metallic mesh, and liquid metals. With the intention of manipulating the meaning of what these materials are intended to be used for, and in the process, transform them.

Our second TAF TALK is with owner and director of Tasneem Gallery, Tasneem Salam. The Tasneem Gallery is based in Barcelona, Spain and Berlin, Germany. Founded in 2007, Tasneem will talk about her gallery's artistic programme and how she works with artists. The talk will be interesting to understand how artists could approach a gallery with a view to working together.

Tasneem Gallery is an international contemporary art gallery, located in the residential neighbourhood of Las Tres Torres in Barcelona. It began its operation as a gallery with the opening of its first exhibition in November 2007. The gallery has two main objectives. First to present and promote the work of international artists, both established and emerging. Second to provide information and advice to new and seasoned collectors.

Our platform is based on commitment and long-term relationship with our artists, to support and enable a solid and steady development of their career. Our program is based on an individualized strategy for each artist where we include: the organization of events and exhibitions, diffusion and promotion through different media of their projects within and outside the Gallery, participation in international art fairs and regular update on new proposals to all our contacts. For every show we produce a publication, which is distributed between museums, curators, art critics and collectors, as well as among our clients.

Tasneem Gallery is also one of the founding members of La Fuente Foundation, a not for profit organization registered in London. This foundation runs a project that combines art, education and development at an international level. It aims to stimulate young people and artists to discuss and share ideas about global issues and how they are encountered in day to day life at a local level.

Our first TAF TALK is with the international Chilean artist, Pato Bosich. Pato Bosich, born in Chile in 1978, is a London-based contemporary artist. He graduated from Camberwell School of Art in 2004 and has exhibited in London, Europe, Latin America and the United States, including the National museum – Stockholm, Ateneum Art Museum – Finland, The Courtauld Institute and London University in London, in Chile at the MSSA and MAM Museums, Porter Contemporary in New York, Jano Arts and Fundació Catalunya Amèrica in Barcelona and Sberbank University in Moscow.

His work is figurative and gestural, characterised by a fresh and playful use of space, narrative and referentiality. Recurrent themes are perception and the crossover of dissimilar realities.

His practice is rooted in the tradition of painting and whose work brings about a vast interweaving of voices such as the mythological and symbolic. His work explores the human condition and fragmentation in contemporary society which finds expression in the journeying into the sea and the unknown, as in his series of paintings, “The Ship of Fools”.

His ideas are expressed on the canvas with a fascinating fusion of impressionist, modernist, abstract and surrealist painting styles and techniques. In these diverse compositions he often depicts figures at unusual angles, and they seem like characters in a dream or ghostly apparitions. He draws inspiration from art historical references.