Gallerist Aparajita Jain on art and her journey in this sphere

NOOR ANAND CHAWLA Aparajita Jain is a tough one to get hold of.

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After all, her plate is quite full – she runs multiple galleries, participates in varied philanthropic ventures, and balances numerous family commitments. Her expert juggling of these varied roles makes it evident that she is a passionate human being, with passions aplenty.

Even though she is coowner and director of Nature Morte, one of India's foremost galleries dedicated to contemporary art, Aparajita describes the art world as something "she stumbled upon". As a young girl, she studied at the prestigious J.B. Petit High School and St. Xavier's College in Mumbai but never pursued a formalised art education. It was her grandmother Kiran Kheruka who sparked the interest. "Apart from being a prolific writer with multiple books to her name, and a keen philanthropist, my grandmother also enjoyed collecting art. Fortunately, not studying art worked to my benefit, as I never assumed a way of seeing something. Even now, I see it as basic and raw. It just is what it is for me," she shares.

In 2010, Aparajita founded the Saat Saath Arts Foundation, as a non-profit platform to spark dialogue between Indian artists and the international art fraternity. Its most distinctive feature to date is its Curatorial Research Grant program aimed at bringing international curators to India.

This foundation was also responsible for the launch of India's first public Sculpture Park for contemporary art in India, located in the Nahargarh Fort of Jaipur.