Ranjit Hoskote (born 1969) is an Indian poet,

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogu ...

, cultural theorist and independent

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. He has been honoured by the

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, India's National Academy of Letters, with the

Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

and the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation. In 2022, Hoskote received the 7th JLF-Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award for Poetry.

Early life and education

Ranjit Hoskote was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

and educated at the Bombay Scottish School,

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

, where he studied for a BA in Politics, and later at

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

, from where he obtained an MA degree in English Literature and Aesthetics.

Career

As poet Hoskote began to publish his work during the early 1990s. He is the author of several collections of poetry including ''Zones of Assault'', ''The Cartographer's Apprentice'', ''Central Time'', ''Jonahwhale'', ''The Sleepwalker's Archive'' and ''Vanishing Acts: New & Selected Poems 1985–2005''. Hoskote has been seen as extending the Anglophone Indian poetry tradition established by

Dom Moraes Dominic Francis Moraes (19 July 1938 – 2 June 2004) was an Indian writer and poet who published nearly 30 books in English. He is widely seen as a foundational figure in Indian English literature. His poems are a meaningful and substantial ...

Nissim Ezekiel Nissim Ezekiel (16 December 1924 – 9 January 2004) was an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor and art critic. He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically for Indian Poetry in English. He ...

, A.K. Ramanujan and others through "major new works of poetry". His work has been published in numerous Indian and international journals, including '' Poetry Review'' (London), ''

Wasafiri ''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word " safa ...

'', ''

Poetry Wales ''Poetry Wales'' is a triannual poetry magazine published in Bridgend, Wales. Founded by Meic Stephens and now published by Seren, it is edited by Zoë Brigley. Since its first publication in 1965, the magazine has built an international rep ...

'', ''Nthposition'', ''

The Iowa Review ''The Iowa Review'' is an American literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews. History and profile Founded in 1970, ''Iowa Review'' is issued three times a year, during the months of April, August, and December. Origin ...

'', ''Green Integer Review'', ''

Fulcrum (annual) ''Fulcrum, An annual of poetry and esthetics'' is a United States literary periodical that has been published since 2002. The magazine is edited by Philip Nikolayev and Katia Kapovich. It appears once a year, and publishes poetry, critical and ...

'', ''Rattapallax'', ''Lyric Poetry Review'', ''West Coast Line'', '' Kavya Bharati'', ''Prairie Schooner'', '' Coldnoon: Travel Poetics'', ''The Four-Quarters Magazine'' and ''Indian Literature''. His poems have also appeared in German translation in ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History Th ...

'', ''Akzente'', the '' Neue Zuercher Zeitung'', '' Wespennest'' and ''Art & Thought/ Fikrun-wa-Fann''. He has translated the Marathi poet

Vasant Abaji Dahake Vasant Abaji Dahake (born March 30, 1942) is a Marathi poet, playwright, short story writer, artist, and critic from Amaravati district in the Maharashtra state of India. In 2009, ee was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection ''Chit ...

, co-translated the German novelist and essayist

Ilija Trojanow Ilija Trojanow (Bulgarian: Илия Троянов, also transliterated as Ilya Troyanov; born 23 August 1965 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian–German writer, translator and publisher. Life and literary career Trojanow was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1 ...

, and edited an anthology of contemporary Indian verse. His poems have appeared in anthologies including ''Language for a New Century'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 2008). and ''The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets'' (Newcastle: Bloodaxe, 2008). Hoskote has also translated the 14th-century Kashmiri mystic-poet Lal Ded, variously known as

Lalleshwari Lalleshwari, also known locally as Lal Ded (; 1320–1392), was a Kashmiri mystic of the Kashmir Shaivism school of Hindu philosophy. She was the creator of the style of mystic poetry called vatsun or ''Vakhs'', literally "speech" (from Sanskr ...

, Lalla and Lal Arifa, for the Penguin Classics imprint, under the title ''I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded''. This publication marks the conclusion of a 20-year-long project of research and translation for the author. Reviewing Hoskote's third volume, ''The Sleepwalker's Archive'', for

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...

in 2001, the poet and critic

Keki Daruwalla Keki N. Daruwalla (born 24 January 1937Arun Kolatkar Arun Balkrishna Kolatkar ( Marathi: अरुण बालकृष्ण कोलटकर) (1 November 1932 – 25 September 2004) was an Indian poet who wrote in both Marathi and English. His poems found humour in everyday matters. Kolatkar ...

– Hoskote wrote obituaries for these "masters of the guild". Hoskote has also written about the place of poetry in contemporary culture. As a literary organiser, Hoskote has been associated with the PEN All-India Centre, the Indian branch of

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

, since 1986, and is currently its general secretary, as well as Editor of its journal, ''Penumbra''. He has also been associated with the Poetry Circle Bombay since 1986, and was its president from 1992 to 1997. As art critic Hoskote has been placed by research scholars in a historic lineage of five major art critics active in India over a sixty-year period: "William George Archer, Richard Bartholomew,

Jagdish Swaminathan Jagdish Swaminathan (21 June 1928 – 25 April 1994) popularly known as J. Swaminathan was an Indian artist, painter, poet and writer. He played a role in the establishment of the Bharat Bhawan, a multi-art complex in Bhopal, in 1982, and serv ...

, Geeta Kapur, and Ranjit Hoskote... played an important role in shaping contemporary art discourse in India, and in registering multiple cultural issues, artistic domains, and moments of history." Hoskote was principal art critic for

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

, Bombay, from 1988 to 1999. In his role as religion and philosophy editor for The Times, he began a popular column on spirituality, sociology of religion, and philosophical commentary, "The Speaking Tree" (he named the column, which was launched in May 1996, after the benchmark 1971 study of Indian society and culture, ''The Speaking Tree'', written by scholar and artist Richard Lannoy). Hoskote was an art critic and senior editor with ''The Hindu'', from 2000 to 2007, contributing to its periodical of thought and culture, ''Folio.'' In his role as an art critic, Hoskote has authored a critical biography as well as a major retrospective study of the painter Jehangir Sabavala, and also monographs on the artists

Atul Dodiya Atul Dodiya (born 20 January 1959, in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, India) is an Indian artist. Biography Atul began exhibiting and selling his work in the early 1980s following his graduation from Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai where he received a B ...

Tyeb Mehta Tyeb Mehta (26 July 1925 – 2 July 2009) was an Indian painter, sculptor and film maker. He was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group and the first post-colonial generation of artists in India, like John Wilkins who also broke fre ...

, Sudhir Patwardhan,

Baiju Parthan Baiju Parthan (born 1956 in Kerala), is a painter of intermedia art in India. Curated by Ranjit Hoskote, ''Baiju Parthan: A User's Manual'' takes the reader on a tour through the artist's diversely populated imagination. It maps Parthan's jour ...

Bharti Kher Bharti Kher is a contemporary artist. In a career spanning nearly three decades, she has worked across painting, sculpture and installation. Throughout her practice she has displayed an unwavering relationship with the body, its narratives, and ...

and Iranna GR. He has written major essays on other leading Indian artists, including, among others, Gieve Patel,

Bhupen Khakhar Bhupen Khakhar (also spelled Bhupen Khakkar, 10 March 1934 – 8 August 2003) was an Indian artist. He was a member of the Baroda Group and gained international recognition for his work as "India's first 'Pop' artist." Works Khakhar was a sel ...

Akbar Padamsee Akbar Padamsee (12 April 1928 – 6 January 2020) was an Indian artist and painter, considered one of the pioneers in modern Indian painting along with S.H. Raza, F.N. Souza and M.F. Husain. Over the years he also worked with various mediums ...

, Mehlli Gobhai,

Vivan Sundaram Vivan Sundaram (born 28 May 1943) is an Indian contemporary artist. His parents were Kalyan Sundaram, Chairman of Law Commission of India from 1968 to 1971, and Indira Sher-Gil, sister of noted Indian modern artist Amrita Sher-Gil. He is marr ...

, Laxman Shreshtha, Surendran Nair,

Jitish Kallat Jitish Kallat (born 1974, Mumbai) is an Indian contemporary artist. He lives and works in Mumbai, India.
The ...

, the Raqs Media Collective, Shilpa Gupta and Sudarshan Shetty. Hoskote has also written a monographic essay on the Berlin-based artists Dolores Zinny and Juan Maidagan. As cultural theorist As a cultural theorist, Hoskote has addressed the cultural and political dynamics of postcolonial societies that are going through a process of

globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

, emphasising the possibilities of a 'non-western contemporaneity', "intercultural communication" and "transformative listening". He has also returned often to the theme of the "nomad position" and to the polarity between "crisis and critique". In many of his writings and lectures, Hoskote examines the relationship between the aesthetic and the political, describing this as a tension between the politics of the expressive and the expressivity of the political. He has explored, in particular, the connections between popular visual art, mass mobilisations and the emergence of fluid and fluctuating identities within the evolving metropolitan cultures of the postcolonial world, and in what he has called the nascent "third field" of artistic production by subaltern producers in contemporary India, which is "neither metropolitan nor rural, neither (post)modernist nor traditional, neither derived from academic training nor inherited without change from tribal custom" and assimilates into itself resources from the global archive of cultural manifestations. Hoskote has also speculated, in various essays, on the nature of a "futurative art" possessed of an

intermedia Intermedia is an art theory term coined in the mid-1960s by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe various interdisciplinarity art activities that occur between genres, beginning in the 1960s. It was also used by John Brockman to refer to work ...

orientation, and which combines critical resistance with expressive pleasure. He writes that "the modern art-work is often elegiac in nature: it mourns the loss of beauty through scission and absence; it carries within its very structure a lament for the loss of beauty." In a series of essays, papers and articles published from the late 1990s onward, Hoskote has reflected on the theme of the asymmetry between a 'West' that enjoys economic, military and

epistemological Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

supremacy and an 'East' that is the subject of sanction, invasion and misrepresentation. In some of these writings, he dwells on the historic fate of the "House of Islam" as viewed from the West and from India, while in others, he retrieves historic occasions of successful cultural confluence, when disparate belief systems and ethnicities have come together into a fruitful and sophisticated hybridity. Hoskote, in collaboration with wife

Nancy Adajania Nancy Adajania (born 1971) is am Indian cultural theorist, art critic and independent curator. Early life and education Nancy Adajania was born in 1971 in Mumbai, India. She was educated at the Princess Alexandra School, Elphinstone College, whe ...

, has focused on transcultural artistic practice, its institutional conditions, systems of production and creative outcomes, and the radical transformations that it brings about in the relationship between regional art histories and a fast-paced global art situation that is produced within the international system of biennials, collaborative projects, residencies and symposia. As curator Hoskote was co-curator of the 7th

Gwangju Biennale The Gwangju Biennale is a contemporary art biennale founded in September 1995 in Gwangju, South Jeolla province, South Korea. The Gwangju Biennale is hosted by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and the city of Gwangju. The Gwangju Biennale Found ...

(2008) in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, collaborating with

Okwui Enwezor Okwui Enwezor (23 October 1963 – 15 March 2019) was a Nigerian curator, art critic, writer, poet, and educator, specializing in art history. He lived in New York City and Munich. In 2014, he was ranked 24 in the '' ArtReview'' list of the 100 m ...

and Hyunjin Kim. In 2011, Hoskote was invited to act as curator of the first-ever professionally curated national pavilion of India at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, organised by the

Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, in ...

, India's National Academy of Art. Hoskote titled the pavilion "Everyone Agrees: It's About To Explode", and selected works by the artists Zarina Hashmi, Gigi Scaria, Praneet Soi, and the Desire Machine Collective for it. The pavilion was installed in the central Artiglierie section of the Arsenale. Hoskote wrote that his pavilion was "intended to serve as a laboratory in which we will test out certain key propositions concerning the contemporary Indian art scene. Through it, we could view India as a conceptual entity that is not only territorially based, but is also extensive in a global space of the imagination." In making his selection of artists, the curator aimed to "represent a set of conceptually rigorous and aesthetically rich artistic practices that are staged in parallel to the art market. Furthermore, these have not already been valorized by the gallery system and the auction-house circuit.... The Indian manifestation will also focus on artistic positions that emphasize the cross-cultural nature of contemporary artistic production: some of the most significant art that is being created today draws on a diversity of locations, and different economies of image-making and varied cultural histories." As cultural activist Hoskote is a defender of cultural freedoms against the monopolistic claims of the State, religious pressure groups and censors, whether official or self-appointed. He has been involved in organising protest campaigns in defence of victims of cultural intolerance. Awards, grants and residencies Hoskote has been a Visiting Writer and Fellow of the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted o ...

of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

(1995) and was writer-in-residence at the Villa Waldberta, Munich (2003). He has also held a writing residency as part of the Goethe-Institut/ Polnisches Institut project, "The Promised City: Warsaw/ Berlin/ Mumbai" (2010). He was awarded the Sanskriti Award for Literature, 1996, and won All India Poetry Prize at

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

/Poetry Society All-India Poetry Competition, 1997. India's National Academy of Letters honoured him with the

Golden Jubilee Award in 2004. The

S. H. Raza Sayed Haider Raza (22 February 1922 – 23 July 2016) was an Indian painter who lived and worked in France from 1950 until his death, while maintaining strong ties with India. He was born in Kakkaiya (District Mandla), Central Provinces, British ...

Foundation conferred its 2006 Raza Award for Literature on Hoskote. Hoskote has held an Associate Fellowship with Sarai CSDS, a new-media initiative of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, and is in the process of developing, jointly with Nancy Adajania, a new journal of critical inquiry in the visual arts. Hoskote has been researcher-in-residence at BAK/ basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, and is a contributor to BAK's long-term Former West platform. Hoskote currently lives and works in Mumbai.

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''Zones of Assault'' (1991), Rupa Publishers, New Delhi * ''The Cartographer’s Apprentice''. (Pundole Art Gallery,

2000) * ''The Sleepwalker’s Archive''. (Single File, Mumbai 2001) * ''Vanishing Acts: New and Selected Poems 1985–2005''. (

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

2006)
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* ''Die Ankunft der Vögel'', German translation by Jürgen Brocan. (Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2006)
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* ''I, Lalla - The Poems of Lal Died'' (2013), Penguin Classics * ''Central Time''. (Penguin Books India/ Viking, New Delhi 2014)
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* ''Pale Ancestors''. (poems by Ranjit Hoskote and paintings by Atul Dodiya; Bodhi Art, Mumbai 2008) * ''Jonahwhale'' (2018), Penguin Random House India
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* ''The Atlas of Lost Beliefs'' (2020), Arc Publications
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* ''Hunchprose'' (2021), Penguin Hamish Hamilton
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Non fiction

* ''Pilgrim, Exile, Sorcerer : The Painterly Evolution of Jehangir Sabavala (Eminence Designs, Mumbai 1998) * ''Sudhir Patwardhan: The Complicit Observer''. (Eminence Designs/ Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai 2004)

* ''The Crucible of Painting: The Art of Jehangir Sabavala''. (Eminence Designs/ National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai 2005) * ''Ganesh Pyne: A Pilgrim in the Dominion of Shadows''. (Galerie 88, Kolkata 2005) * ''Baiju Parthan: A User's Manual''. (Afterimage, Mumbai 2006)

* ''The Dancer on the Horse: Reflections on the Art of Iranna GR''. (Lund Humphries/ Ashgate Publishing, London 2007)

* ''Bharti Kher''. (Jack Shainman Gallery, New York 2007) * ''The Crafting of Reality: Sudhir Patwardhan, Drawings''. (The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai 2008)

* ''Zinny & Maidagan: Das Abteil/ Compartment''. (Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/ Main & Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln 2010) * ''The Dialogues Series''. (co-authored with Nancy Adajania; Popular Prakashan/ Foundation B&G, Mumbai 2011; first five books in an 'unfolding programme of conversations with artists'): * ''Anju Dodiya''. * ''Atul Dodiya''. * ''Veer Munshi''. * ''Manu Parekh''. * ''Baiju Parthan''.

* ''Praneet Soi''. (essays by

Charles Esche Charles Esche (born 1962, in England) is a museum director, curator and writer. His focus is on art and how it reflects, provokes and influences changes in society. He lives between Edinburgh and Eindhoven. Career Since 2004, he has been director o ...

and Ranjit Hoskote; Distanz Verlag, Berlin 2011) * ''Atul Dodiya''. (edited by Ranjit Hoskote, with texts by Thomas McEvilley, Enrique Juncosa, Nancy Adajania and Hoskote; Prestel Verlag, Munich, London & New York 2014)

* ''Kampfabsage''. (co-authored with Ilija Trojanow; Random House/ Karl Blessing Verlag, Munich 2007) * ''Despair and Modernity: Reflections from Modern Indian Painting''. (co-authored with Harsha V. Dehejia and Prem Shankar Jha; Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi 2000) * ''Confluences: Forgotten Histories From East And West (co-authored with

) (New Delhi, Yoda Press 2012)

As editor

* * ''Dom Moraes: Selected Poems''. (Penguin Modern Classics, New Delhi 2012)
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As translator

* * Ilija Trojanow, ''Along the Ganga: To the Inner Shores of India''. (Penguin Books India, New Delhi 2005) * Ilija Trojanow, ''Along the Ganges''. (British edition: Haus Publishing, London 2005) * ''I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded''. (Penguin Classics, New Delhi 2011)
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Poetry Anthologies

* ''Language for a New Century'' (2008) ed. Tina Chang, Nathalie Handal and Ravi Shankar. Published by W. W. Norton & Company. * ''The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets'' (2008) ed.

Jeet Thayil Jeet Thayil (born 1959) is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is the author of several poetry collections, including ''These Errors Are Correct'' (2008), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award. His first novel, '' Narcopolis,'' ( ...

. Published by

Bloodaxe Books Bloodaxe Books is a British publishing house specializing in poetry. History Bloodaxe Books was founded in 1978 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Neil Astley, who is still editor and managing director. Bloodaxe moved its editorial office to Northumbe ...

. * ''Staying Human: New Poems for Staying Alive'' (2020) ed. Neil Astley. Published by

. * ''Singing in the Dark'' (2020) ed.

K. Satchidanandan K. Satchidanandan (1946) is an Indian poet and critic, writing in Malayalam and English. A pioneer of modern poetry in Malayalam, a bilingual literary critic, playwright, editor, columnist and translator, he is the former editor of ''Indian L ...

and Nishi Chawla. Published by Penguin Vintage.

Exhibitions curated

* 'Hinged by Light' (paintings and sculptural departures by three major Indian abstractionists: Mehlli Gobhai, Prabhakar Kolte, Yogesh Rawal; Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay, January 1994). * 'Private Languages' (paintings, sculptures and assemblages by three emerging Indian artists: Anandajit Ray, Ravinder Reddy, Sudarshan Shetty; Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay, January 1997). * 'Making An Entrance' (site-specific public-art installations by the artists Jehangir Jani, Bharati Kapadia, Kausik Mukhopadhyay,

and Sudarshan Shetty, set up in the Kala Ghoda precinct, Bombay's old colonial quarter, during the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2000; Bombay, February 2000). * 'Intersections: Seven Artistic Dialogues between Abstraction and Figuration' (paintings and mixed-media works by Chittrovanu Mazumdar, Mehlli Gobhai, Bharati Kapadia, Yogesh Rawal, Baiju Parthan, C. Douglas and

Jitish Kallat Jitish Kallat (born 1974, Mumbai) is an Indian contemporary artist. He lives and works in Mumbai, India.
The ...

; The Guild Art Gallery, Bombay, February 2000). * 'Family Resemblances: Nine Approaches to a Mutable Self' (paintings by Laxman Shreshtha, Sachin Karne, Atul Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, Baiju Parthan, Amitava Das, Surendran Nair, Anju Dodiya and Gargi Raina; The Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Bombay, March 2000). * 'The Bodied Self' (paintings by Anju Dodiya, Jehangir Jani and Theodore Mesquita; Gallery Sans Tache, Bombay, April 2001). * 'Labyrinth/ Laboratory' (a mid-career retrospective of Atul Dodiya, including paintings, sculpture-installations and assemblages, at the invitation of the Japan Foundation; Japan Foundation Asia Center, Tokyo, June–July 2001). * 'The Active Line' (drawings by Jehangir Sabavala, Mehlli Gobhai,

Laxma Goud Kalal Laxma Goud (born 21 August 1940) is an Indian painter, printmaker and draughtsman. He works in variety of mediums including etching, gouache, pastel, sculpture, and glass painting. He is best known for his early drawings that depict erot ...

, Manjit Bawa and

Jogen Chowdhury Jogen Chowdhury (born 19 February 1939) is an eminent Indian painter and considered an important painter of 21st century India. He lives and works in Santiniketan. He graduated from the Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata and subsequentl ...

; The Guild Art Gallery, Bombay, December 2001) * 'Clicking into Place' (a trans-Asian exhibition—the Indian phase of 'Under Construction', below—including paintings by Alfredo Esquillo/ Manila, Shibu Natesan/ London, Jitish Kallat/ Bombay, and a digital installation by Baiju Parthan/ Bombay; Sakshi Gallery, Bombay, February 2002). * 'Under Construction' (Hoskote was co-curator for this collaborative curatorial project, initiated by the Japan Foundation Asia Center, which took place at various venues in Asia, culminating in an exhibition at the Japan Foundation Forum and the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, in December 2002)
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* 'Visions of Landscape' (paintings by Akbar Padamsee, Ram Kumar, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Sudhir Patwardhan, Laxman Shreshtha, Atul Dodiya and Shibu Natesan; The Guild Art Gallery, Bombay, January 2005). * 'Jehangir Sabavala: A Retrospective' (a monographic exhibition of Sabavala's art, covering the period 1942–2005; The National Gallery of Modern Art: Bombay and New Delhi, November–December 2005). * 'Strangeness' (paintings, drawings, mixed-media works and sculpture-installations by Krishen Khanna, Baiju Parthan, Theodore Mesquita, Viraj Naik, Tina Bopiah, Sunil Gawde, Rajeev Lochan, Riyas Komu,

T. V. Santhosh T. V. Santhosh (born 1968 in Kerala) is an Indian artist based in Mumbai. He obtained his graduate degree in painting from Santiniketan and master's degree in Sculpture from M.S. University, Baroda. Santhosh has acquired a major presence in ...

, Krishnamachari Bose, Krishnaraj Chonat; Anant Art Gallery, Calcutta, January 2006
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* 'Aparanta: The Confluence of Contemporary Art in Goa' (a survey exhibition gathering together 265 art-works by 22 contemporary artists and 4 historic masters, ranging across oils, watercolours, drawings, graphics, mixed-media works, sculptures and video-installations; artists include F N Souza, V S Gaitonde, Angelo da Fonseca, Laxman Pai; Antonio e Costa, Alex Tavares, Wilson D'Souza, Sonia Rodrigues Sabharwal, Hanuman Kambli, Giraldo de Sousa, Vidya Kamat, Viraj Naik, Siddharth Gosavi, Pradeep Naik, Subodh Kerkar, Rajan Fulari, Rajendra Usapkar, Santosh Morajkar, Yolanda de Sousa-Kammermeier, Nirupa Naik, Chaitali Morajkar, Liesl Cotta De Souza, Querozito De Souza, Shilpa Mayenkar, Baiju Parthan, and

Dayanita Singh Dayanita Singh (born 18 March 1961) is an Indian photographer whose primary format is the book. She has published fourteen books. Singh's art reflects and expands on the ways in which people relate to photographic images. Her later works, draw ...

; Old Goa Medical College Building/ Escola Medica e Cirurgica de Goa, for the Goa Tourism Development Corporation, Panjim, April 2007)
CURATORIAL ESSAYREVIEW
* The 7th Gwangju Biennale (Artistic Director: Okwui Enwezor; Curators: Ranjit Hoskote and Hyunjin Kim; Gwangju, South Korea, 5 September-9 November 2008). * 'To See is To Change: A Parallax View of 40 Years of German Video Art' (a re-curation of the globally circulating Goethe-Institut collection, '40 Years of German Video Art', as a 2-day annotated screening cycle and symposium by a group of theorists, artists and enthusiasts: Nancy Adajania, Shaina Anand, Ranjit Hoskote, Ashok Sukumaran, Kabir Mohanty, Mriganka Madhukaillya, Kaushik Bhaumik, Devdutt Trivedi, and Rana Dasgupta; Jnanapravaha & Chemould Prescott Road, Bombay, 14–15 November 2008)
CONCEPT, DESCRIPTION & SCHEDULEARCHIVAL VIDEO
* 'ZIP Files' (an editorial selection from the Foundation B&G collection, including paintings, photographic works and sculptures by 24 contemporary artists, including Rameshwar Broota, Surendran Nair, Riyas Komu, Ram Rahman, N. S. Harsha, Nataraj Sharma, Valsan Koorma Kolleri, Jogen Chowdhury, Manu Parekh, Madhvi Parekh, Gargi Raina, Ajay Desai, Krishnamachari Bose, Sumedh Rajendran, Veer Munshi, Pooja Iranna, Baiju Parthan, Rekha Rodwittiya, G. R. Irannna, Ravi Kumar Kashi, H. G. Arunkumar,

Subhash Awchat Subhash Awchat is an Indian artist and author based in Mumbai. Literary career Awchat wrote the novel ''Madam'' in memory of Smita Patil, a collection of short stories, and a book of essays. His book ''Studio'' was collated from diaries tha ...

, K. S. Radhakrishnan, and Farhad Hussain; Foundation B&G & Tao Art Gallery, Bombay, February 2009 and Foundation B&G & Religare Arts Initiative, New Delhi, April 2009)
REVIEW
* 'Shrapnel' (an exhibition of recent works by Veer Munshi, developed through an ongoing dialogue between Munshi and Hoskote; the exhibition included extracts from the artist's ongoing photographic archive, 'Pandit Houses', and his painting-based installation, 'The Chamber'; Foundation B&G and Tao Art Gallery, Bombay, March 2009)

* 'The Pursuit of Intensity: Manu Parekh, Selected Works 2004–2009' (Foundation B&G and Tao Art Gallery, October 2009)

* 'Retrieval Systems' (an exhibition exploring the use of memory as resource in the work of Alex Fernandes, B. Manjunath Kamath, Baiju Parthan, G. R. Iranna, and Tina Bopiah; Art Alive, New Delhi, November 2009). * 'Detour: Five Position Papers on the Republic' (an exhibition conceived as a 'critical homage' on the centennial of Gandhi's ''Hind Swaraj'', 1909, with works by Dayanita Singh, Ram Rahman, Ravi Agarwal, Samar Jodha, and Sonia Jabbar; Chemould Prescott Road, Bombay, December 2009 – January 2010)
CURATORIAL ESSAY, WORKS & INSTALLATION VIEWS
* Everyone Agrees: It's About To Explode (the India pavilion at the 54th

, La Biennale di Venezia, with works by Zarina Hashmi, Gigi Scaria, Praneet Soi, and the Desire Machine Collective/ Sonal Jain & Mriganka Madhukaillya; Arsenale, Venice, June–November 2011). * 'The Needle on the Gauge: The Testimonial Image in the Work of Seven Indian Artists' (an exhibition featuring works by Indian photographers extending their practice through documentary projects, video works, blogs and social initiatives: Ravi Agarwal,

Gauri Gill Gauri Gill (born 1970) is an Indian contemporary photographer who lives in New Delhi. She has been called "one of India's most respected photographers" by the New York Times and one of "the most thoughtful photographers active in India today" ...

, Samar Jodha, Ryan Lobo, Veer Munshi, Ram Rahman, Gigi Scaria; CACSA/ Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Adelaide, September–October 2012). * 'Nothing is Absolute: A Journey through Abstraction', co-curated by Ranjit Hoskote & Mehlli Gobhai ( The Jehangir Nicholson Gallery, CSMVS/ formerly the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, February–August 2013).REVIEWREVIEW
* 'The 4th Former West Congress: Documents, Constellations, Prospects', co-convened by Boris Buden, Boris Groys, Kathrin Klingan, Maria Hlavajova, Ranjit Hoskote, Kathrin Rhomberg and Irit Rogoff (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, March 2013). * 'Experiments with Truth: Atul Dodiya, Works 1981–2013' (The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi: November–December 2013). * 'No Parsi is an Island', co-curated by Ranjit Hoskote & Nancy Adajania (The National Gallery of Modern Art/ NGMA, Mumbai: December 2013 – February 2014). * 'Zameen' (an exhibition including works by Ravi Agarwal, Atul Dodiya, Vishwajyoti Ghosh, H. G. Arunkumar, Zarina Hashmi, Ranbir Kaleka, Ryan Lobo, Veer Munshi, Jagannath Panda, Baiju Parthan, Ashim Purkayastha, Ram Rahman, Gargi Raina, Gigi Scaria and Praneet Soi; Art District XIII, New Delhi: October 2014 – February 2015). * 'The Shadow Trapper's Almanac: Tanmoy Samanta, Recent Works' (TARQ, Mumbai: November 2014 – January 2015). * ‘Abby Weed Grey and Indian Modernism’, curated by Susan Hapgood and Ranjit Hoskote (New York University: Grey Art Gallery, New York City: January–March 2015). * ‘Unpacking the Studio: Celebrating the Jehangir Sabavala Bequest’ (CSMVS, Mumbai: 15 September-31 December 2015). * ‘The State of Architecture: Practices & Processes in India’, co-curated by Rahul Mehrotra, Ranjit Hoskote & Kaiwan Mehta (NGMA, Mumbai: 6 January-20 March 2016). * ‘And the last shall be the first: G R Iranna, Works 1995-2015’ (NGMA Bangalore, 16 January-16 February 2016). * ‘No Parsi is an Island’, co-curated by Ranjit Hoskote & Nancy Adajania (NGMA, Delhi: 20 March-29 May 2016). * ‘The Quest for Cruzo: A Homage to the Art of Antonio Piedade da Cruz’ (Sunaparanta: Goa Centre for the Arts, Panjim: 30 June-20 July 2016). * ‘Laxman Shreshtha: The Infinite Project’ (JNAF/ CSMVS, Mumbai: 2-part retrospective, 18 August-3 October + 14 October-31 December 2016). * ‘DWELLING’ (10th anniversary show of Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai: 2 parts , Part 1: 10 November 2016 – 10 January 2017). * ‘Terra Cognita? Three Moments in the History of the Graphic Image in India, 1556-2016’ (Serendipity Arts Festival, Palacio Idalcao, Panjim, Goa: 15 December 2016 – 15 March 2017). * ‘DWELLING’ (10th anniversary show of Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai: 2 parts , Part 2: 29 March-29 May 2017). * ‘In the Presence of Another Sky: Sakti Burman, A Retrospective’ (NGMA Mumbai: 17 October – 26 November 2017). * ‘Anti-Memoirs: Locus, Language, Landscape’ (Serendipity Arts Festival, Palacio Idalcao, Panjim, Goa: 14–22 December 2017). * ‘State of Housing: Aspirations, Imaginaries, Realities’, co-curated by Rahul Mehrotra, Ranjit Hoskote & Kaiwan Mehta (Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai: 2 February-18 March 2018). * ‘The Sacred Everyday: Embracing the Risk of Difference’ (Serendipity Arts Festival, Palacio Idalcao, Panjim, & the Church of Santa Monica, Old Goa: 15 December 2018 – 15 January 2019). * ‘No Place like the Present’ (Akara Art, Bombay: 16 January – 9 March 2019). * 'The 20th' (20th anniversary show, Art Musings , Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai: 12–18 February 2019; extended through a cycle of 5 exhibitions at Art Musings across the year). * ‘M F Husain: Horses of the Sun’ (MATHAF Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar: 20 March-1 July 2019). * ‘Reverie and Reality: Jogen Chowdhury’ (Emami Art/ Kolkata Centre for Creativity, Kolkata: 20 September-7 December 2019). * ‘Opening Lines: Ebrahim Alkazi, Works 1948-1971’ (Art Heritage + Shridharani Gallery, Delhi: 15 October – 11 November 2019). * ‘Transients’, a solo exhibition of photographs by Sheetal Mallar (Art Musings, Mumbai: 9 January – 10 February 2020). * ‘Don’t Ask Me About Colour: Mehlli Gobhai, A Retrospective’, co-curated by Ranjit Hoskote & Nancy Adajania (NGMA Mumbai: 6 March – 25 April 2020). * ‘Patterns of Intensity’ rtists: Chandrashekar Koteshwar, Ghana Shyam Latua, Barkha Gupta, Anil Thambai, Teja Gavankar, Meghna Patpatia, Suman Chandra, Savia Mahajan, Vipul Badva, Kaushik Saha, Purvai Rai(Art Alive Gallery, Delhi: 3 – 30 April 2021). * ‘Mehlli Gobhai: Epiphanies’, co-curated by Ranjit Hoskote & Nancy Adajania (Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai: 23 July – 31 August 2021). * ‘The Cymroza Chronicles’ , Cymroza at 50 (Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai: 1 September – 19 October 2021). * ‘Mapping the Lost Spectrum’ , Cymroza at 50 (Pundole’s, Hamilton House, Mumbai: 1–14 September 2021). * ‘F N Souza: The Power and the Glory’ (JNAF/ CSMVS, Mumbai: 29 October 2021 – 3 January 2022)
REVIEW

References

The Mob as Censor
at countercurrents.org
Painting the art world red
in

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskote, Ranjit Indian art critics 1969 births Living people Writers from Mumbai Elphinstone College alumni University of Mumbai alumni Indian art curators Indian male essayists English-language poets from India International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Indian essayists Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award All India Poetry Prize