https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kavita_Singh_%28scholar%29Kavita Singh (scholar) - Revision history2026-11-08T10:21:45ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kavita_Singh_(scholar)&diff=509067&oldid=prevAnilsharma: Created The Bio W/ Infobox!2026-03-17T17:25:01Z<p>Created The Bio W/ Infobox!</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian art historian (1964–2023)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2017}}<br />
{{Infobox academic<br />
| name = Kavita Singh<br />
| image = Kavita Singh.jpeg<br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|1964|11|5|df=yes}}<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|7|30|1964|11|5|df=yes}}<br />
| alma_mater = [[Lady Shri Ram College]]<BR>[[Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda]]<BR>[[Panjab University]]<br />
| awards = [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] <BR> [[Infosys Prize]]<br />
| workplaces = [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]]<br />
| occupation = Professor, writer and curator<br />
| sub_discipline = [[Museum Studies]], [[Mughal Painting]], [[Rajput Painting]] and [[Iconoclasm]]<br />
| discipline = [[Art History]]<br />
| titles = Doctor<br />
| notable_works = Scent upon a Southern Breeze: The Synaesthetic Arts of the Deccan<br />
| main_interests = Manuscript Painting Traditions in India, history of museums in [[South Asia]] and the Repatriation of Cultural Artefacts<br />
| boards = [[J. Paul Getty Trust]]<br />
| education = [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] [[English literature]] <BR> [[M.S.]] <BR> [[Ph.D.]]<br />
| notable_ideas = Historical function and role of museums, museums and nationalism<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Kavita Singh''' (5 November 1964 – 30 July 2023) was an Indian art historian. A professor of art history, she served as the dean at the School of Arts and Aesthetics of [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru University]].<br />
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==Education==<br />
Kavita Singh obtained her [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree at [[Lady Shri Ram College]], her [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] in 1987 from [[M.S. University]], [[Baroda]] and her PhD in 1996 from [[Panjab University, Chandigarh|Punjab University]].<ref name=":0" /><br />
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==Career==<br />
Singh was appointed to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 2001, where she was a co-founder of the internationally recognized School of Art and Aesthetics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-21 |title=Kavita Singh |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/kavita-singh |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> She served there as a professor till her death. Her research interests covered the history of Indian painting, particularly the [[Mughal painting|Mughal]] and [[Rajput painting|Rajput schools]], and the history and politics of museums, with a special focus on India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jnu.ac.in/saa/faculty.htm |title=School of the Arts |access-date=5 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502203743/http://www.jnu.ac.in/saa/faculty.htm |archive-date=2 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
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Before joining JNU, Singh taught at the [[College of Art, Delhi]] and the [[National Institute of Technology Delhi]]. She was also a research editor for [[Marg (magazine)|Marg Publications]], and a visiting guest curator at the San Diego Museum of Art, during which time she co-curated the exhibition ''Power and Desire: South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art, Edwin Binney 3rd Collection''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sites.asiasociety.org/arts/power_desire/about.html|title=Power & Desire|website=sites.asiasociety.org}}</ref> The exhibition ran in New York from 10 October 2000 to 7 January 2001. A catalogue by Omina Okada appeared subsequently.<ref>Amina Okada, ''Power and desire : Indian miniatures from the San Diego Museum of Art Edwin Binney 3rd Collection'' Musée des arts asiatiques (Nice, France); San Diego Museum of Art. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/746014996]</ref><br />
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In 2007, Singh led a curatorial team for the second exhibition of the newly opened Devi Art Foundation. The exhibition was titled ''Where in the World''. An abridged version of Singh's introduction to the catalogue appeared online.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://globalartmuseum.de/site/guest_author/163 |title=Global Art and the Museum |access-date=5 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122205657/http://globalartmuseum.de/site/guest_author/163 |archive-date=22 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> From 2009–2012 she was a partner at the [[Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz]] of the [[Max Planck Society]] with Professor Dr. Gerhard Wolf and Hannah Baader for a project called ''The Temple and the Museum: Sites for Art in India''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mpg.de/274644/Partner_Groups_in_India|title=Partner Groups in India|website=www.mpg.de}}</ref><br />
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==Death==<br />
Kavita Singh died of cancer on 30 July 2023, at the age of 58.<ref>{{cite news |title=Art historian Kavita Singh passes away |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/gurugram-news/art-historian-kavita-singh-passes-away-101690742051317-amp.html |access-date=30 July 2023 |publisher=Hindustan Times |date=31 July 2023}}</ref><br />
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==Recognition==<br />
Kavita Singh was elected as an International Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-21 |title=Kavita Singh |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/kavita-singh |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> one of 37 foreign inductees that year,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-23 |title=New 2020 Members Announced |url=https://www.amacad.org/2020-member-announcement |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> and the only one from India in the field of Arts and Humanities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Members |url=https://www.amacad.org/new-members-2020 |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> <br />
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In 2018, she was awarded the [[Infosys Prize]] in Humanities for her work in the field of art history and visual culture.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.infosys-science-foundation.com/prize/laureates/2018/kavita-singh.asp|title=Infosys Prize - Laureates 2018 - Prof. Kavita Singh|website=www.infosys-science-foundation.com|access-date=2019-01-22}}</ref> In her acceptance speech, she joked that her presence at the ceremony was illegitimate as her leave from JNU to visit Bangalore had not been approved.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dogra |first=Nandita Jayaraj and Aashima |title=In our current political climate, art history is more important than ever before: Infosys Prize winner Kavita Singh |url=https://caravanmagazine.in/arts/infosys-prize-winner-kavita-singh |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Caravan |language=en}}</ref> <br />
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She received numerous fellowships and scholarships throughout her career, including from the [[Getty Research Institute]], the [[Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute]], [[Williams College]], the Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], and the [[Asia Society]] in [[New York City|New York]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Getty|url=https://www.getty.edu/about/governance/trustees.html |access-date=2023-07-30 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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==Lectures==<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2VtLofWU0U Looking East, Looking West: Mughal Painting between Persia and Europe] (Getty Research Institute, 2015)<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9_eWgSRQAo Congress of Kings: Thoughts on a painting of Muhammad Shah Rangila] (Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, 2018)<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNSN5rbF0ss Word against Image in Mughal Chronicles] (Bangalore International Centre, 2021)<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW7kKch4TEI A New Museum for a New Nation] (Fralin Museum of Art at The University of Virginia, 2021)<br />
* [https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/islamic-art/islamic-art-in-solitude-lectures?v=endless-prospects-view-from-a-terrace-in-18th-century-awadh-by-kavita-singh Endless Prospects: View from a Terrace in 18th-century Awadh] (Met Museum, 2022)<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXvLD0pJFYU Book of Gold] (American Institute of Indian Studies, 2022)<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-5o2WdTJpY An Embarrassment of Riches: Indian Architectural Exhibits at the V&A] (Sydney Asian Art Series, 2023)<br />
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==Publications==<br />
* ''New Insights Into Sikh Art'' (2003, ed.)<br />
* ''InFlux: Contemporary Art in Asia'' (2013, co-ed.) <br />
* ''No Touching, No Spitting, No Praying: The Museum in South Asia'' (2014, co-ed.)<br />
* ''Nauras - The Many Arts of the Deccan'' (2015, co-ed.)<ref>This book has inspired an online exhibition: {{Cite web |title=Nauras: The Many Arts of the Deccan|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/nauras-the-many-arts-of-the-deccan-national-museum-delhi/_gVRsSkMl8_LJw |access-date=2023-07-30 |language=en}}</ref><br />
* ''Museums, Heritage, Culture: Into the Conflict Zone'' (2015, co-ed.)<br />
* ''Real Birds in Imagined Gardens: Mughal Painting Between Persia and Europe'' (2017)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donde |first=Dipanwita |date=2019-07-29 |title=Kavita Singh: "Real Birds in Imagined Gardens: Mughal Painting between Persia and Europe". |url=https://bilderfahrzeuge.hypotheses.org/3950 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=BILDERFAHRZEUGE |doi=10.58079/m0j8 |language=en-US}}</ref><br />
* ''Scent Upon A Southern Breeze: The Synaesthetic Arts of the Deccan'' (2018, ed.)<ref>{{Cite web |title="Scent upon a Southern Breeze", Marg's new book brings together scholarship on the Deccani arts - Transforming lives |url=https://www.tatatrusts.org/our-stories/article/scent-upon-a-southern-breeze |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Tata Trusts |language=en}}</ref><br />
* ''Ghosts of Future Nations: Gods, Migrants and Tribals in the Late Modern Museum'' (2024, co-ed. Museum of Ephemera, forthcoming, part of the series India Since the 90s).<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Kavita}}<br />
[[Category:1964 births]]<br />
[[Category:2023 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian art historians]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women historians]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian scientists]]<br />
[[Category:Panjab University alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Historians of Indian art]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century women writers]]<br />
[[Category:Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University]]<br />
[[Category:Lady Shri Ram College alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in India]]<br />
[[Category:Academic staff of Delhi University]]</div>Anilsharma