The FICA Patrons Programme 2023–2024 marked the eighth edition of the programme, deepening its commitment to fostering conversations around contemporary art through a robust line-up of in-person events, special previews, and studio visits. We extend our heartfelt thanks to our patrons for their steadfast support and belief in our vision. Their continued generosity has played a pivotal role in sustaining FICA’s initiatives, nurturing new collaborations, and creating meaningful engagements with art and artists across the year.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the FICA Patrons 2023 - 24:
Abhinav and Pallavi Khandelwal | Abhishek and Minal Somany | Aditya Ghosh | Aashti Bhartia | Akshay Kumar Chudasama | Alina Vadera | Amit Lodha | Anurag Khanna | Arunima Kukreja | Ashish Jain | Bhavna Bhayana | Deepika Jindal | Devika Kapoor | Gayatri Juneja | Gayatri Rangachari Shah | Gayatri Reddy Bhatia | Gokul Mahna | Gunjan Gupta | Harsha Viji & Sara Vetteth | Heba Zaidi | Iram Sultan | Isheta Dataraj Salgaocar | Jai Danani | Kalyani Chawla | Kanika Kapoor | Kismat Nagpal | Krishna Choudhary | Manisha Gupta | Manpreet Walia | Mitul Uttam | Mohan and Jayati Puri | Monica Davar | Nitya Bharany | Parul Gupta | Payal Sen | Pooja Jhaver | Pooja Singhal | Priya and Gaurav Goel | Priya Kapur | Priya Paul | Priya Sachdev Kapur | Radhika Kapoor | Rajiv Deepak Parekh | Roshni Nadar Malhotra | Ruchika Chanana | Sandeep Gupta | Savneet Anand | Shalini Gupta | Sharuk and Sonia Passi | Sheetal Ansal | Shreya Jain Gambhir | Sumaya Dalmia | Tara Singh Vachani | Tarini Jindal Handa | Taruna Soi | Vandana and Naveen Munjal | Vasudha Prashant Ruia | Vivek Munish Sahni
The eighth edition of the FICA Patrons Programme opened with a warm welcome dinner at Shalini and Vivek Gupta’s home on 20 April. The evening was a fun-filled one that included an art-themed ‘treasure-hunt,’ highlighting some of the stellar pieces in Shalini and Vivek’s wonderful collection. The prize, a print by artist Anupam Roy, was won by our patron, Jayati Puri. We were also thrilled to have at the dinner Mrs Kiran Nadar, artists Anita Dube and Jasmine Nilani Joseph, and writer-curator Anish Gawande.
The launch of each edition of the Patrons Programme is very special as it heralds the start of a new year with our FICA Family, and we’re always very grateful for the opportunity to be able to gather with our ever-generous and supportive Patrons!
In June, we opened an exciting FICA summer in London with gallery walks in collaboration with the Tate. These included a private visit to Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms as well as a a curator-led walkthrough of two ongoing exhibitions featuring works by Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian, and Mária Bartuszova.
In December, the Patrons travelled to Goa for the Serendipity Arts Festival, where a meaningful encounter with Vidya Shivadas’ curation, ‘Turning: On Field and Work’ offered everyone a rich exploration into processes of making, labour, and site-specificity in artistic practice.
In May, we visited the iconic Museo Camera in Gurgaon for a guided tour by founder-photographer and avid collector Aditya Arya.
With a spotlight on vintage cameras from across the world, we spent the day looking at iconic photographs with Mr Arya who led us through the history of photography and the camera, as well as sharing his own passion for taking forward his vision for the space. We closed out our day with a lovely brunch at Fig, the museum cafe.
We were very happy to continue our series of curated Art Walks into August and September. FICA Patrons visited the exhibition Very Small Feelings at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art for a walkthrough with Senior Curator Akansha Rastogi, and also participated in an exclusive preview of the Delhi Contemporary Art Week at Bikaner House which involved exciting tete-a-tetes with the exhibiting galleries and artists, along with a close look at the exquisite works on display.