The city of Ahmedabad is known to have a rich history, cultural heritage with iconic landmarks like Adalaj Stepwell, Jama Masjid, the Calico Museum of Textiles as well as preserves an exquisite archive of handicrafts and culinary traditions. It has also a lineage of patronage with important families that form the cultural foundation and has witnessed tracks of brilliant minds such as B.V Doshi, Buckminster Fuller and Le Corbusier. Over the last couple years, there has been an increased number in Contemporary Art spaces that are dynamic with their programming and outreach. Hence, recognising the growing potential to execute a larger, more comprehensive occurrence that may activate all spaces, simultaneously leading to the initiation of Ahmedabad Cultural Week Edition 1 (ACW Ed.1).
ACW Ed.1 aims to invite an audience of diverse calibres targeting cultural hosts, enthusiasts, critics and patrons. We are honoured to have local leading cultural organisations as part of ACW Ed.1, including :
- 079 Stories
- Archer Art Gallery
- Arthshila
- Basera
- Conflictorium
- Darpana Academy of Performing Arts
- Hutheesing Visual Arts Centre
- Iram Art
- Kanoria Arts Centre
- Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum
- L D Museum
- Mehanat Manzil
- Samara Art Gallery
- Shreyas Foundation
- Vastu Shilpa Foundation
ACW Ed.1 is purely designed for the city of Ahmedabad and its people. It is for the people of Ahmedabad to look forward to interacting with and learning about Contemporary Art and artistic practices. The idea is to activate cultural spaces in sync, so the city and its people have a diverse palette to look forward to every year, ensuring that there is ‘contemporary’ conversation, pedagogy and interaction within and around the sphere of the arts.
Shristi Sainani is the curatorial director of Ahmedabad Cultural Week. She initiated the idea of Ahmedabad Cultural Week to activate cultural spaces in sync, so the city may have an opportunity to invite and celebrate brilliant minds, and for the city’s people have simultaneous access to a diverse palette every year, ensuring that there is ‘contemporary’ conversation, pedagogy and interaction within and around the sphere of the arts.
Her interest also lies in dismantling and assessing core concepts of exhibition making, specifically focusing on Contemporary Art churned through the diaspora of the Global South. She has worked on a number of exhibitions in commercial galleries, public art spaces, museums and independent organisations across the world. Her independent research focuses on collections and architecture of private art museums in addition to looking closely at the art of Africa and Asia, from a modernist and contemporary perspective. Her paper on inclusivity in the realm of museum spaces won the INSC Researchers Award in 2021.
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